Editing European Southern Observatory (section)

==== Survey telescopes ====
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| image1            = VISTA at Paranal Eso0704b.tif
| image2            = Vst view.jpg
| caption1          = Enclosure of British developed [[VISTA (telescope)|VISTA]]
| caption2          = [[VLT Survey Telescope|VST]] seen in the back between VLT's dome-shaped auxiliary telescopes
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[[Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy]] (VISTA) is housed on the peak adjacent to the one hosting the VLT, sharing observational conditions. VISTA's main mirror is {{convert|4.1|m}} across, a highly curved mirror for its size and quality. Its deviations from a perfect surface are less than a few thousandths the thickness of a human hair, and its construction and polishing presented a challenge.<ref>{{cite news |date=11 December 2009 |title=VISTA: Pioneering New Survey Telescope Starts Work |url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0949/ |publisher=ESO |access-date=2011-05-04 |archive-date=2020-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521205956/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0949/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

VISTA was conceived and developed by a consortium of 18 universities in the United Kingdom led by [[Queen Mary, University of London]], and it became an in-kind contribution to ESO as part of the UK's ratification agreement. The telescope's design and construction were managed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council's [[UK Astronomy Technology Centre]] (STFC, UK ATC). Provisional acceptance of VISTA was formally granted by ESO at the December 2009 ceremony at ESO headquarters in Garching, which was attended by representatives of Queen Mary, University of London and STFC. Since then the telescope has been operated by ESO,<ref>{{cite news |date=11 December 2009 |title=First stunning images captured by VISTA Telescope |url=http://www.stfc.ac.uk/News+and+Events/13651.aspx |publisher=STFC |access-date=2011-05-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308055042/http://www.stfc.ac.uk/News+and+Events/13651.aspx |archive-date=8 March 2011 }}</ref> capturing quality images since it began operation.<ref>{{cite news |date=10 February 2010 |title=Orion in a New Light |url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1006/ |publisher=ESO |access-date=2011-05-04 |archive-date=2020-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520114627/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1006/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=5 January 2011 |title=VISTA Stares Deeply into the Blue Lagoon |url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1101/ |publisher=ESO |access-date=2011-05-04 |archive-date=2020-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520114629/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1101/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[VLT Survey Telescope]] (VST) is a state-of-the-art, {{convert|2.6|m|adj=on}} telescope equipped with OmegaCAM, a 268-megapixel CCD camera with a field of view four times the area of the full moon. It complements VISTA by surveying the sky in visible light. The VST (which became operational in 2011) is the result of a joint venture between ESO and the [[Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte]] (Naples), a research centre at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics [[INAF]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1119/|title=First Images from the VLT Survey Telescope|access-date=2011-10-05|archive-date=2020-05-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521222318/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1119/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://vstportal.oacn.inaf.it/ |title=VLT Survey Telescope Center at Naples Web Portal |access-date=2011-05-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070305031627/http://vstportal.oacn.inaf.it/ |archive-date=2007-03-05 }}</ref>

The scientific goals of both surveys range from the nature of dark energy to assessing [[near-Earth object]]s. Teams of European astronomers will conduct the surveys; some will cover most of the southern sky, while others will focus on smaller areas. VISTA and the VST are expected to produce large amounts of data; a single picture taken by VISTA has 67&nbsp;megapixels, and images from OmegaCam (on the VST) will have 268&nbsp;megapixels. The two survey telescopes collect more data every night than all the other instruments on the VLT combined. The VST and VISTA produce more than 100 terabytes of data per year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/surveytelescopes.html |title=The ESO Survey Telescopes |access-date=2011-05-04 |archive-date=2013-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901065634/http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/surveytelescopes.html |url-status=live }}</ref>