The four Unit Telescopes (UTs) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) on ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile have a very special inbuilt technology known as Adaptive Optics (AO). The tech involves firing strong laser beams into the upper atmosphere, which cause it to glow and create fake "stars". By adjusting for how these fakes should look, the mirrors on the UTs can be altered slightly to compensate, producing much clearer astronomical images. This paranoma shows this in action.
Credit: F. Kamphues/ESO
Inspired by his father, Fred Kamphues took his first photographs at the age of five. Ever since he has been intrigued by the the story a powerful image can tell. With a strong appetite for travel and adventure, many of Kamphues projects have epic proportions. His shoots range.. Read more…