VISTA (telescope)
VISTA (Credit: ESO)
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| Organisation | European Southern Observatory (ESO) |
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| Location(s) | Paranal Observatory, Atacama desert, Chile |
| Coordinates | 24°36′57″S 70°23′51″W / 24.61583°S 70.39750°WCoordinates: 24°36′57″S 70°23′51″W / 24.61583°S 70.39750°W |
| Altitude | 2,518 m |
| Wavelength | 0.85–2.3 μm (infrared) |
| Built | 2000–2009 |
| First light | 1 December 2009 
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| Telescope style | Quasi-Ritchey-Chrétien |
| Diameter | 4.1 m |
| Secondary diameter | 1.24 m |
| Angular resolution | 0.34" |
| Focal length | 12.1 m, f/3.26 |
| Mounting | Altazimuth |
| Website | ESO VISTA page |
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The VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) is a wide-field reflecting telescope with a 4.1 metre mirror, located at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. It is operated by the European Southern Observatory and started science operations in December 2009. VISTA is a survey telescope working at infrared wavelengths, and is by far the largest telescope in the world dedicated to surveying the sky at near-infrared wavelengths. The telescope has only one instrument: VIRCAM, the Vista InfraRed CAMera. This is a 3-tonne camera containing 16 special detectors sensitive to infrared light, with a combined total of 67 million pixels.
A second-generation instrument (4MOST, a 2400-object fibre-fed multi-object spectrograph) is under development for installation around 2020.
Observing at wavelengths longer than those visible to the human eye allows VISTA to study objects that may be almost impossible to see in visible light because they are cool, obscured by dust clouds or because their light has been stretched towards redder wavelengths by the expansion of space during the light’s long journey from the early Universe.
VISTA was conceived and developed by a consortium of universities in the United Kingdom led by Queen Mary, University of London and became an in-kind contribution to ESO as part of the UK's accession agreement, with the subscription paid by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
VISTA is carrying out surveys of the southern sky at near infrared wavelengths. Such surveys should both return direct scientific results and help select objects for further studies with larger telescopes. There are two related projects: the Wide Field Camera (WFCAM) on the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope in Hawaii carries out infrared surveys of the northern sky, and the VLT Survey Telescope in Chile carries out surveys of the southern sky in visible light.
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