First Images from the VLT Survey Telescope With With Huge 268-Megapixel Camera

The first released VST image shows the spectacular star-forming region Messier 17, also known as the Omega Nebula or the Swan Nebula, as it has never been seen before. This vast region of gas, dust and hot young stars lies in the heart of the Milky Way in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer).
The VST field of view is so large that the entire nebula, including its fainter outer parts, is captured — and retains its superb sharpness across the entire image.
The data were processed using the Astro-WISE software system developed by E.A. Valentijn and collaborators at Groningen and elsewhere.
(Credit: ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM. Acknowledgement: OmegaCen/Astro-WISE/Kapteyn Institute)

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Can't wait to see the other images!

The VST:
- Located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile on the summit of Cerro Paranal,
- Largest telescope in the world designed for the survey of the sky in visible light,
- A wide-field survey telescope with a field of view twice as broad as the full Moon,
- 2.6m aperture,
- Active optics system,
- Omega Cam camera weighs 770 kg
- ....with 32 CCD sensors
- .... join together that create a 268 Megapixels image,
- 30 terabytes of raw data will be produced per year

Not a word about possible inhabitable exoplanet discoveries, anyway.
Is this new telescope planned for this?

beautiful pictures of space always blow my mind! i have memories of travelling to other stars thru space but have no idea if it was real or an overactive toddlers imagination. s & f, thanx

Originally posted by orangutang
beautiful pictures of space always blow my mind! i have memories of travelling to other stars thru space but have no idea if it was real or an overactive toddlers imagination. s & f, thanx

I'd say 'real'. Think about it. Was it you who decided to incarnate, or another greater part of yourself that is simply forgotten? You Higher Self. www.georgekavassilas.org ... may help you to remember who you are. Seriously, check out what this guy has to say about where we all came from, what this is all about, and where it's all headed.

Love this stuff. You can post any of these types of pictures anytime. I find this awe inspiring and am always fascinated by the pic’s that these telescopes come up with. Can’t wait for the newest telescope pictures, can you imagine what the newest optical telescope that they plan on launching in the next few years will see. Thanks for the post.