Named for the 2600-m high mountain in northern Chile, approximately 130 km south of the city of Antofagasta, upon which the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory is being erected. Although La Silla {see planet  (2187)} ranks among the best astronomical sites in the world, subsequent studies have shown that Paranal has a substantially lower frequency of clouds and very much lower humidity. The mean value of the seeing is less than 1 arcsecond. (M 27332) _ _.