On clear, moonless nights, the stars still come out with a vengance above the high-altitude La Silla [ http://www.ls.eso.o…] astronomical observatory. Taking advantage of a recent visit to this first European Southern Observatory (ESO [ http://www.eso.org/…]) site constructed on a mountain top in Chile, ESO software engineer Nico Housen recorded this stunning sky view. Difficult to see from light polluted [ http://www.darksky.…] areas, faint stars and dark dust clouds along the plane of our Milky Way [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] Galaxy arc across the gorgeous photo [ http://www.eso.org/…phot-27-04.html ]. In the foreground lies the highly polished 15-meter diameter dish antenna of the Swedish-ESO Submillimeter [ http://kp12m.as.ari…what_is_submillimete r.htm ] Telescope (now decommissioned). Beyond it, silhouetted by starlight, is the dome of one of La Silla's large optical instruments, a 3.6 meter [ http://www.ls.eso.o…] telescope. Dramatically reflected [ http://www.mirrorpr…] in the focusing [ http://www.microsco…simplethinlens/ ], mirror-like surface of the dish, the vista behind the photographer appears [ http://electron9.ph…mirrors.htm ] inverted, with the dark horizon hanging above the Milky Way and the starry night [ http://nightskylive…].
