After almost four years of work at ESO, I finally had a chance to visit Paranal Observatory in Chile, seeing the place, the telescopes, and the working laser guide star system. The trip was very short and intense. But still it gave me a lot of joy. It was the first time for me being south sphere. We spent all two nights on the telescope platform, watching sky. The laser was fired to sky on one night.
Some photos taken by me:
ＵT1, UT2, UT3
UTI. There is cloud on the sky. Not great for observing.
M1 of UT4
M1 and M3 of UT4
Sunset over Pacific ocean
Auxiliary telescope 2
Very Large Telescopes seen from Residencia
Mars-like Atacama desert
But still there are plants. I also saw trace of birds on stones.
Award wining residencia, where astronomers and other people live. Inside is like a tropical rain forest, there are even two small birds inside.