SOAR soaring above the Andes foothills

Watch the sky unravel above the 4.1-meter SOAR Telescope at Cerro Pachón in Chile. Perched high in the foothills of the Andes, it is among the best research facilities available to astronomers in the southern hemisphere, producing the best image quality at wavelengths from optical to near-infrared. In the background, the Gemini South telescope is shining lasers at the sky using its GeMS adaptive optics system.