ESO comprises a constellation of telescopes high in the mountains of Chile, including the Very Large Telescope (actually four separate telescopes working together), VISTA, APEX, the La Silla Paranal Observatory, and ALMA, so there were a lot of images to choose from. Some of the most striking are of the telescopes themselves — the scenery in the Chilean desert is as stunning as its skies are clear.

And some lucky astronomy buff will get to go there. ESO just announced a contest they’re calling “Hidden Treasures” for the best images dug out of their archives. Once you’ve chosen an image (or several!) you can process or enhance it any way you want, aside from painting directly on the image.

“The goal is to dig a dataset out of the ESO science archive, process the raw frames and assemble them into a stunning color or greyscale image,” the website explains. “Can you compete with the best astrophotography specialists?”

The grand prize: an all expenses paid trip to the VLT on Cerro Paranal in Chile, where the winner will get to participate in VLT observations. I’m already jealous.

For inspiration, here are some of our favorites from ESO’s top 100.

Images: ESO

Via Universe Today

See Also:

• Spectacular New View of a Cosmic Cat’s Paw
• Beautiful New Image of a Rare Blue Nebula
• Unicorn Nebula Sparkles in Infrared
• A Habitable Exoplanet — for Real This Time
• New View of the Center of the Galaxy

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Authors: Lisa Grossman

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