The Planet, the Galaxy and the Laser (IMAGE) ESO Caption Image of the night sky above Paranal on July 21, taken by ESO astronomer Yuri Beletsky. A wide band of stars and dust clouds, spanning more than 100 degrees on the sky, is seen. This is the Milky Way, the galaxy we belong to. At the center of the image, two bright objects are visible. The brightest is the planet Jupiter, while the other is the star Antares. Three of the four 8.2-meter telescopes forming ESO's VLT are seen, with a laser beaming out from Yepun, Unit Telescope number 4. The laser points directly at the Galactic Center. Also visible are three of the 1.8-meter Auxiliary Telescopes used for interferometry. They show small light beams which are diodes located on the domes. The exposure time is 5 minutes and because the tracking was made on the stars, the telescopes are slightly blurred. Credit (c) Y. Beletsky/ESO Usage Restrictions All ESO photographs are Copyright (c) ESO. ESO press photos are clearly marked with as ESO pictures. Regarding permission to reproduce ESO images, editors of newspapers and bona-fide science magazines and journals (including popular science magazines) may use these pictures without any reproduction charge, but reference must be always be given to ESO - e.g. by the line License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.