The Multiconjugate adaptive Optics Relay For ELT Observations (MORFEO, previously known as MAORY), an upcoming instrument for ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), has recently passed its preliminary design review. MORFEO’s adaptive optics system will use special sensors to measure the blurring effects of the Earth’s atmosphere, correcting them with deformable mirrors. This will allow astronomers to get an unprecedented view into the Universe, offering detailed observations of distant galaxies and stars at the centre of the Milky Way.  

ALMA observations in Band 1 will be offered from Cycle 10. The science verification targets chosen for Band 1 are Orion KL and W51. The observations of these targets demonstrate the imaging and spectral scan capabilities in Band 1. The data are planned to be taken with about 20 antennas and will be released for public use. More information about the Band 1 science verification observations can be found here.

The European ALMA Regional Centre invites European ALMA users to a virtual community assembly on April 17 at 11:00 CEST, in connection with the Cycle 10 call for proposals. At this meeting, more information will be provided on the procedures for Joint Proposals with other facilities, including the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, the Space Telescope Science Institute's James Webb Space Telescope, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array.

The annual public release of ESO VLT/VLTI instruments data reduction software packages is scheduled for end of May 2023. Please note that the new pipeline packages will be released for the following operating systems: Fedora 34, 35, 36, 37; Scientific Linux 7; CentOS 7; macOS 11, 12, 13.

Galaxies transform throughout their lifetimes as a result of internal processes, interactions with other galaxies, their environments, and the cosmic web. The interplay of these processes alters the distribution of properties used to characterise the galaxy population. Understanding the impact and relative importance of the interplay of these processes is critical to galaxy evolution as whole.This conference will aim at connecting observations and simulations of galaxy transformations across cosmic time.

With the end of VIRCAM@VISTA operations (first light June 2008, decommissioned March 2023) and OmegaCam@VST becoming a hosted telescope (first light Oct 2011, now managed by INAF), a decade of targeted wide-field imaging at ESO is coming to an end. Both instruments were largely dedicated to public imaging surveys, which have amassed a total of nearly 60,000 hours of telescope time. To commemorate these milestones, ESO organizes a 5-day workshop that reviews the legacy left by these instruments and summarizes the variety of scientific impact that these imaging surveys have on a wide range of research topics in astronomy, both in galactic and extra-galactic science.

The deadline for proposal submission for Period 112 (1 October 2023 - 31 March 2024) was 28 March 2023: 895 valid proposals were submitted, of which 37 are Large Programmes.  On the VLT, the most demanded ESO instrument was MUSE with a request of 425 nights, followed by ESPRESSO with 347 nights and X-Shooter with 257 nights. HARPS/NIRPS on the ESO 3.6-metre telescope was the most demanded instrument at La Silla, with a combined request of 297 nights.  

The Spectral Fidelity conference will be held in Firenze (Italy) from 4 September to 8 September 2023.  The conference is jointly organised by ESO, INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, and University of Geneva. More information and  the registration page can be found at the conference web site.

In its efforts to promote the scientific exchange among astronomers, ESO, through the Directorate for Science, continues to provide support and funding for the organisation of scientific workshops in Santiago and in Garching as well as co-funding for some external workshops. Science workshops are an essential component of ESO's programmes and represent a unique opportunity to promote and foster ideas and collaborations within the scientific community.

The Users Committee (UC) represents ESO's astronomical community at large and acts as an advisory body to the ESO Director General on matters related to the performance, scientific access, operation and user interfaces to the La Silla Paranal Observatory and ALMA. The annual meeting of the UC is scheduled on 20 and 21 April 2023. During the UC meeting updates from ESO and feedback from the user community are exchanged and openly discussed. Each year one topic is explored in more detail and this year the Special Topic session is dedicated to Archive Science.