Photo Gallery

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H I S T O R I C A L ...P H O T O ...G A L L E R Y

1976 - 3.6m TELESCOPE CONSTRUCTION PHASE
The horse on its way to the 3.6-m building		A closer view of the horse shoe
	The big horse shoe in the last curves before entering the big door to the 3.6m-building.			Right from the horse shoe and an the hill, where now the NTT is located, the former small Swiss telescope.
	The horse shoe did not fit in the door. The trucks tires had to be a little bit de-pressurized, to get through.			Slowly, the horse shoe is lifted up through the 3 floors. The horse shoe now lifted up with the big crane to the observing floor. The 3.6m-telescope was already completely mounted and moved in the factory Creuzot-Loire in Sant-Chamond, near Sant-Etienne, in France. For the transport it had to be dismantled again. During the montage, everything fitted together immediately without problems or any other surprise.
Photos courtesy of Klaus Teschner, former ESO staff member.

 

About La Silla	ESO Photo Gallery-La Silla	ESO Photo Gallery-Astronomical Images
La Silla: 1963 - 1968	La Silla: 1972 - 1976	360 Telescope Construction: 1976
SEST Construction Phase: 1985	Views from La Silla: 1993 - 1999	A snow storm: 2002

 

 

LA SILLA 1963 -1968
June 1963 - Summit Meeting on Cerro Morado		October 1964 - Exploring La Silla
	When looking for a site for the Observatory, ESO officials on horseback, from left to right: Ch. Fehrenbach, O. Heckmann, Sr. Marchetti, J.H. Oort, N.U. Mayall,F.K. Edmondson and A.B. Muller.			CH. Fehrenbach as Chairman of the Instrumentation Committee, the architect F.W. de Vlaming and A.Blaauw, together with the ESO Staff, explored La Silla when planing the location of the telescope buildings and the associated facilities.
December 1967 - First Residential Quarters		1968 - A view of La Silla..
	La Silla's earliest Residential Quarters, Office Buildings, Catering Facilities for night and day workers, etc.			From foreground to background: The provisional Residential Area, the Schmidt telescope building, and,from left to right, buildings of the GPO, the 1-m, and the 1.5-m telescopes.
Photos and text taken from A. Blauuw's, book "ESO's Early History"

 

 

 

 

 

LA SILLA 1972 -1976
1972 - The Kitchen Staff...	1973 - Christmas Celebration...	... The old ambulance...	...See the cars used in the 70'S...
Photos courtesy of Erich Schumann, former ESO staff member.
November 1974 - Pelicano Airstrip Inauguration		May 1976 - Plane from Santiago to La Silla
	The inauguration took place on November 20, 1974. From left to right: A. Bosker, L. Woltjer, A. Blauuw, H. Ponce, E. Bechmann, S. Ojeda, H. Franza and B. Gronbech. (Photo taken from A. Blauuw's book: ESO's Early History)		The first ESO-chartered plane, bi-motor and 8 passengers. In the first years, only 1 pilot was operating the plane and staff members had always the chance to sit on the copilots seat. Later, it was changed and there were always 2 pilots present.
The service was offered until the change to LAN Chile airline was made due to financial and practical reasons (more passengers). One of the first pilots was an Italian, the son of Mussolinis' private pilot. Also with failing motors or fire on board, one could feel completely safe with him. He was, certainly, one of the best pilots ESO had.		At that time there were 3 or even 4 flights per week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday; except Tuesday, the plane left about 12 AM and arrived about 2 hours later in Pelicano. Arrival in Santiago was about 4 PM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1985 - SEST CONSTRUCTION PHASE
SEST base as seen from the 3.6m	SEST control building	Base construction...
Base construction - Close up	Base in construction with 3.6m telescope behind	Base in construction.. another view
Photos courtesy Felipe Mac-Auliffe, current ESO staff member.

VIEWS FROM LA SILLA: 1993 - 1999
Three of the smaller telescopes	Looking up the summit of cerro La Silla	The CAT seen from the 3.6m dome	...Clouds over the Pacific Ocean
La Silla shortly before sunset	La Silla at evening	Stars trail over La Silla	The moon rises above the horizon
La Silla at full moon	Morning Twilight	Scorpius' Star Trails
		Photo taken on February 27, 2003 from La Silla's aerodrome. On the right, the lights from La Silla can be seen.
Photos courtesy of Henrik Spoon, Visiting Astronomer.		Photo courtesy of Carlos Milovic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A.SNOW.STORM:.2002
...Before sunset...	...After sunset...	Small telescopes	3.6m-telescope, NTT
Road to NTT and Swiss Telescope	Another view...	The 3.6m-telescope	The CAT dome
The 3.6m-telescope and CAT	The day after the storm...	The ESO 1.0m-telescope	The SEST Antenna
Hotel Surroundings...	The Andaluz Garden (1)	The Andaluz Garden (2)
	Panoramic View
Photos courtesy of Peter Sinclaire, current ESO staff member.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Send comments to <Alejandra Mena> Last update: January 25, 2005