A night begins at the Cerro Paranal Observatory in the barren Atacama Desert. An astronomer drives the road to the observatory. Planets Venus and Mercury appear in conjunction at the horizon. With its dark, steady, and transparent sky, Paranal is home to some of the world's leading telescopes. Operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) the Very Large Telescope (VLT) is located on Paranal, composed of four 8-meter telescopes and smaller auxiliary telescopes.