Oy, Mate, That's Not a Laser

THIS is a laser

This is part of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) which is a telescope operated by the European Southern Observatory.  (WIKI:  Very Large Telescope)

The laser creates a 'laser guide star' and that requires knowledge of adaptive optics of which we have zero here at the Rockhouse.  Apparently it creates an artificial star image in the upper atmosphere by exciting sodium atoms.  This allows astronomers to work in parts of the sky which do not have many stars.  To get any idea how that works you will need to read the article.  (WIKI:  Laser Guide Star)

The location is in the Atacama Desert in Chile which is one of the clearest places for astronomy in the world.