This is the site where the Europeans are building the world’s largest visible-light telescope, the E-ELT, or European Extremely Large Telescope. The name isn’t exactly poetic, but it’s certainly accurate. The scope will feature a mirror 42 meters across – that’s practically half the size of a football field.
They’re building it in Chile’s Atacama desert. There’s nearly no humidity there (and, from the looks of it, the place is already halfway to Mars). The skies are already breathtaking, even if you’re not looking through Earth’s biggest eye.
Image from the ESO, found [via Squid]