I took this pic a while back at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile. It shows the four Auxiliary Telescopes of the VLT Interferometer, gazing up to the sky. These telescopes work together, achieving a spatial resolution similar to that of a massive telescope as large as the separation between them.

Curious about how this works? Check out our interferometry explainer: https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/technology/interferometry/

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophotography

Interferometry

ESO, European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere

Before you ask: no, this isn't a replacement for large telescopes! With interferometry we can resolve tiny details, yes, but we can't capture as much light as a single massive telescope, which is key to detect faint objects. Also, when you have just a few telescopes, like 4 in this case, reconstructing the shape of your target is a complex mathematical problem, so this usually works best with objects with relatively simple shapes.