Very Large Telescope
Very Large Telescope (VLT), observatory located on the mountain Cerro Paranal (2,635 metres [8,645 feet]) in Chile and consisting of four telescopes with mirrors 8.2 metres (27 feet) in diameter and four others with mirrors 1.8 metres (5.9 feet) in diameter. These telescopes can operate individually or together as an interferometer that functions like a telescope with a mirror 200 metres (600 feet) in diameter. The large telescopes are named Antu, Kueyen, Melipal, and Yepun, which are the names for the Sun, the Moon, the Southern Cross, and Venus in the language of the Mapuche people. Construction of the VLT began in 1991, and its first observations were made in 1998. Among the VLT’s notable discoveries are the first direct spectrum of an extrasolar planet, HR 8799c, and the first direct measurement of the mass of an extrasolar planet, HD 209458b. The VLT also discovered the most massive star known, R136a1, which has a mass 320 times that of the Sun. The VLT is operated by the European Southern Observatory, an astrophysical research organization supported by 16 European countries.