<![CDATA[This isn't a scene from Star Wars.]]>This isn't a scene from Star Wars.

What you're looking at is the Tarantual Nebula, and those beams come from the lasers installed on the telescopes of our Very Large Telescope Interferometer in . They create artificial stars 90 km above the ground to correct atmospheric turbulence, allowing the VLTI to observe faint targets.

But why are four telescopes observing the same target? Find out: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2616a/

📷 A. Berdeu/ESO

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/dcbff9e9-eb2b-4eec-b864-aefb2e3e2f20/this-isn-t-a-scene-from-star-wars.RSS for NodeThu, 30 Apr 2026 20:28:14 GMTMon, 20 Apr 2026 07:00:15 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to This isn't a scene from Star Wars. on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:53:21 GMT]]>@mespique we set the lasers to stun, don't worry 😉

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/esoastronomy/statuses/116437129707817814https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/esoastronomy/statuses/116437129707817814Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:53:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to This isn't a scene from Star Wars. on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:52:53 GMT]]>@spacelizard that's the spirit 😄

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/esoastronomy/statuses/116437127891428386https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/esoastronomy/statuses/116437127891428386Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:52:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to This isn't a scene from Star Wars. on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 08:51:06 GMT]]>@esoastronomy

Alas! I liked the Tarantula Nebula, and now it's gone.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/mespique/statuses/116436177131398642https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/mespique/statuses/116436177131398642Mon, 20 Apr 2026 08:51:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to This isn't a scene from Star Wars. on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 08:11:56 GMT]]>@esoastronomy Of course that’s not Star Wars… anyone can see that’s Star TREK!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sfba.social/users/jqmcd/statuses/116436023144596208https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sfba.social/users/jqmcd/statuses/116436023144596208Mon, 20 Apr 2026 08:11:56 GMT