4MOST Media: Photo and Video Documentation

Welcome to the media page of the 4MOST project at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP). Here you will find a comprehensive collection of photos and videos documenting the development, integration, and preparation of 4MOST – one of Europe’s largest ground-based astronomical instruments.

These materials are available for editorial use. Please credit the AIP or the indicated source when publishing. For additional media content or inquiries, feel free to contact presse@aip.de.

Currently at AIP

At AIP in Potsdam, the last components are currently being prepared for transportation to Chile. Parts of the AESOP fiber positioner, the fiber system and the high-resolution spectrograph can currently still be seen in the Leibnizhaus integration hall.

Paranal in Chile and VISTA Telescope - Future Home of 4MOST

The 4MOST instrument is being installed at the VISTA telescope, which belongs to ESO'S Paranal Observatorium in the Chilenian Atacama Desert.

Installation of 4MOST at the VISTA telescope in Chile

Since 2024, first components of 4MOST have been installed and tested at the VISTA telescope.

Transport preparations in Potsdam

The ‘Cassegrain Cable Wrap’ unit was the first large 4MOST component to be sent on its way to Chile in February 2024 after extensive testing in Potsdam.

Integration and testing at AIP in Potsdam

The AIP is equipped with two integration halls. There, technicians, engineers and scientists can thoroughly examine various observation instruments and their individual components and test their interaction with each other.

Videos

The video shows some steps of the final testing of the 4MOST components in the integration hall of the AIP in Potsdam and the first delivery to the telescope in Chile.
Credit: AIP/A. Saviauk
Installation of the Cassegrain Cable Wrap for 4MOST at the VISTA telescope in Chile, June 2024
Credit: AIP/A. Saviauk
Integration, Testing, Verification of the different 4MOST components at the VISTA telescope in Chile, October 2024.
Credit: AIP/A. Saviauk
The VISTA telescope (left) at night. Here the 4MOST instrument is being installed. In the background (right), you can see the four domes of the Very Large Telescope. The laser beams are used as "Laser Guide Stars".
Credit: AIP/A. Saviauk
Sunrise at the Cerro Paranal in Chile
Credit: AIP/A. Saviauk
In this time-lapse image, the camera's tracking is set on the stars, so they do not move - instead you can see the rotation of the Earth.
Credit: AIP/A. Saviauk

General Information about 4MOST

News about 4MOST at the AIP website

Talk about 4MOST on YouTube

4MOST project website

Technical illustration of 4MOST

Overview of the components of the 4MOST instrument

Credit: 4MOST Consortium
Last update: 15. May 2025