VISTA

VISTA (for Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) is a 4.1 meter reflector telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). It saw first light in 2009. Initially, three fourths of its time will be dedicated to public surveys:

• VIKING, for VISTA Kilodegree Infrared Galaxy Survey.
• UltraVISTA.
• VMC, for VISTA Magellanic Survey.
• VVV, for VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea Survey.
• VHS, for VISTA Hemispheric Survey.
• VIDEO, for VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations Survey, which includes the CFHTLS-D1 survey field.

VISTA's name implies optical capability and it can host visible-light instruments, but currently has none. Its initial and current instrument is VIRCAM (Vista IR camera), which is substantial, and I suspect that its size precludes any other instruments at the moment. Plans are to replace it with the future 4MOST fiber-fed optical multi-object spectrograph (2400 fibers), with the intention of beginning operation in 2024.