Atacama Desert illuminated by lasers.
The Very Large Telescope in the Atacama Desert, Chile, uses powerful lasers to create artificial stars by making sodium atoms in the atmosphere glow, allowing the telescope to correct for atmospheric distortion and capture sharp images of real stars. The telescope has been involved in key research, including studies of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, since its first images were obtained 25 years ago.