Announcements

28 June 2016: The construction of the concrete shell of the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre has been completed and the exciting “double-star system” design of the building is now coming to life. The ESO Supernova will provide visitors with an immersive experience of astronomy and ESO’s scientific and technological achievements. The building, donated by the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, has been designed by architects Bernhardt + Partner. Other companies involved in the planning and construction include Bollinger + Grohmann (support structure planning), engineering firm Hausladen (HVACR planning), engineering firm Burnickl (electrical planning), Grossmann Bau (rough construction), Frener & Reifer (facades) and more. Over 700 completely unique formwork elements for the concrete shell have been accurately designed from the architects’ 3D model. These crucial components were designed and built by the company Doka. Surveyors checked all formwork parts were in the correct positions, maintaining the necessary millimetre accuracy of the shell, before pouring ...

24 June 2016: The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the EU has no direct consequences for the UK’s membership of ESO. The UK has been a Member State of ESO since 2002 and will remain so should it leave the EU, without any immediate impact. ESO is an intergovernmental astronomical research organisation that is independent of the European Union. A country’s membership of ESO is independent of its membership of the EU. ESO was established by international treaty between its Member States, which now number 15, not all of which are members of the EU. The broader implications of the UK’s exit from the EU cannot be anticipated at present and the impact of this process on the European research landscape may take many years to become clear. In the meantime, ESO will be actively working with international stakeholders at all levels to promote excellent science in its Member States, in Europe, including ...

24 June 2016: ESO’s observatories at La Silla and Paranal and the ALMA Operations Support Facility (OSF) already operate a schedule of public visits. But now that schedule is expanding, as for the first time La Silla Observatory will open its doors to the public during the Chilean winter. Until now, the observatory has been closed to visitors during July and August due to extreme weather conditions. Henceforth La Silla will receive visitors every Saturday from 14.00 to 17.00, offering them the opportunity to see in person ESO’s first observatory in Chile. Located 600 kilometres north of Santiago de Chile at the edge of the Atacama Desert, La Silla Observatory hosts two of the most productive 4-metre-class telescopes in the world, the ESO 3.6-metre telescope and the 3.58-metre New Technology Telescope (NTT). Alongside other facilities in the complex, both telescopes will from now on be open to visitors throughout the year, on Saturdays ...

21 June 2016: ESO's telescopes are sited in Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of the driest and most inhospitable places on Earth. These challenging conditions mean that the observatories benefit from some of the clearest and darkest skies imaginable, making this a perfect place from which to observe the heavens. In this ESOcast, we meet some of the visitors to this magical region, visitors both human and animal, both terrestrial and celestial. From astronomers, to viscachas, to comets — they are all part of the ever-changing world of the Atacama. You can subscribe to the ESOcasts in iTunes, receive future episodes on YouTube or follow us on Vimeo. Many other ESOcast episodes are also available. Find out how to view and contribute subtitles to the ESOcast in multiple languages.

20 June 2016: ESO has signed an agreement with Teledyne Scientific & Imaging [1] to build the detectors for the new MOONS instrument that will be mounted on ESO’s flagship telescope, the Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, Chile. The detectors are the HAWAII-4RG and they are the next generation of near-infrared detectors for astronomy. Each detector will have 16.7 million pixels, each 15 micrometers square, making them the largest near-infrared detectors currently available. The technology draws on a long and successful heritage of similar, but smaller, detectors which have been in use at ESO’s telescopes for more than 10 years. This new next generation of detectors is expected to show the same excellent performance, and will exploit a larger active area. The detectors represent the final stage in the construction of the very complex instrument called MOONS, the Multi-Object Optical and Near-infrared Spectrograph. MOONS, designed and built by an international consortium ...

17 June 2016: ALMA Sounds, a project that brings together artists and astronomers in the search for a common language, has launched a new interactive website. In late 2015, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Department of Astronomy of the Universidad de Chile, in conjunction with Sónar+D and Corporación Chilena de Video, invited musicians and artists to work with sounds created from observations made by the most powerful radio telescope in the world. “The ALMA sound bank is made up of a series of drum shots created from the sound pattern of electromagnetic spectra from the Orion Nebula,” explains astronomer Antonio Hales. “The emission lines of molecules present in the Orion Nebula were transformed into musical notes, transposing the 'chords' from the skies into sound chords. The sound bank is, as its name implies, a digital library of sounds available to the musical community.” The ALMA Sounds project will also feature ...

16 June 2016: The latest issue of the free magazine Science in School is now available online and in printed form. This European journal for science teachers offers inspiring articles and hands-on activities for students in every issue. It aims to promote science teaching by encouraging communication between teachers, scientists and everyone else involved in European science education. From this issue onwards, reuse of articles and activities will be even easier as all Science in School content will be published under a Creative Commons attribution (CC BY) licence. CC BY lets you distribute, tweak, and build upon the articles, even for commercial uses, as long as you acknowledge the original author. Some of the highlights of this issue include: how plankton gets jet-lagged; teaching with Rosetta and Philae; using smartphones to measure the heavens; and cracking the genetic code. For students interested in science writing, a science writing competition is also being launched, ...

16 June 2016: The ESO Annual Report 2015 is now available, presenting an overview of ESO’s many activities throughout the year. The contents include: Research highlights from ESO facilities, including the latest results from fields of astronomy stretching from studies of the Solar System to surveys of very distant galaxies. A summary of operations at ESO’s observatories in Chile. The latest news from the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) projects. News about ESO staff and buildings — including preparations for the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre. This product is available for sale in the ESOshop.

2 June 2016: ESO has released a new video Compilation showing its telescope facilities at the La Silla observatory in Chile. The Compilation was filmed during the recent the ESO Fulldome Expedition and is released in Ultra HD resolution. High above the Atacama Desert, the observatory is home to an array of world-class telescopes, equipped with sophisticated instruments to observe the cosmos. Even though some of these telescopes are now decades old, they still amount to some of the finest observing facilities in the world, and benefit from the continuous advances in instrument technology that ESO encourages. Added to the superb observing conditions at the site, these telescopes are still making significant astronomical discoveries. In the video you are introduced to the telescopes in order of size, from the largest, ESO’s 3.6-metre telescope, to the smallest, the Belgian 0.6-metre TRAPPIST telescope. All have made major contributions to our understanding of the Universe, proving ...

31 May 2016: ESO and its Science Outreach Network are collaborating with the science education event organiser Sterrenlab and the Astronomical Observatory of the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley (OAVdA) to arrange the fourth ESO Astronomy Camp on the topic of the multiwavelength universe. The camp will take place from 26 December 2016 to 1 January 2017 in the Aosta Valley, Italy. The camp will explore the theme of “The Visible and Hidden Universe” through several astronomical sessions, including lectures, hands-on activities, and night-time observations with the telescopes and instruments at the observatory. Social activities, winter sports and excursions will contribute to making the camp a memorable experience for the participants. ESO and OAVdA will be responsible for the scientific programme of the ESO Astronomy Camp, and will provide lecturers and material together with several other partners. Some highlights from this year’s programme include: use of a spectrograph, lectures from ESO astronomers ...

25 May 2016: As ESO signs a contract to begin building the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), this ESOcast takes a close look at this mammoth instrument and outlines some of the scientific advances we can expect from it. The ESOcast features amazing computer generated images of the E-ELT, showing in remarkable detail what the monster telescope will look like on top of Cerro Armazones in the Chilean Andes. On 25 May 2016, ESO signed a contract with the ACe engineering consortium of Italy, to build the dome and main telescope structure of the E-ELT. With a main mirror 39 metres across, and a protective dome almost 80 metres high, this will be one of the biggest astronomical projects ever undertaken. The light-gathering power of the E-ELT will exceed that of all the professional telescopes currently operating, and its adaptive optics systems will permit it to produce images far sharper than any other ...

20 May 2016: Ten years ago the Universe Awareness project was launched. To celebrate this anniversary, and the launch of the new Space Scoop website, a global contest has been launched inviting the readers of Space Scoop to create their own Space Scoop comic. Space Scoop provides a comic template — all you have to do is to select a released text and let your creativity flow! Artwork using traditional media such as watercolour, pencils, mosaic or chalk is welcome, as is work created using digital software like Paint, GIMP or Adobe Illustrator. Three winners will be selected in each participating country, one for each age category (8-11 years, 12-15 years, and 16-18 years). Each winner will receive a cosmic goody bag and a certificate. In addition, the winning artwork will be displayed on the international Universe Awareness website. The winning entries from all countries will then be evaluated by an international panel ...

18 May 2016: ESO will hold an online press conference at 15:00 CEST on Wednesday 25 May to unveil the construction design of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), to announce further details of the contract to build the dome and main telescope structure, and to update the media on the status and future plans for the world’s largest optical telescope. This is the largest contract ever awarded by ESO and the largest contract ever in ground-based astronomy. The contract will be signed during a ceremony earlier in the day at ESO’s Headquarters in Garching, Germany. After presentations, journalists will have the opportunity to ask questions of the ESO Director General Tim de Zeeuw, a representative of the ACe Consortium, and the E-ELT Programme Manager Roberto Tamai. To participate in the online conference, bona fide members of the media must register by completing this online RSVP form. The conference will be held using ...

2 May 2016: Where is the best place to look for signs of life in the Universe? New findings by an international team of astronomers suggest we should be looking at nearby stars known as ultracool dwarf stars. These are very dim stars, much cooler and redder than the Sun, and not much larger than Jupiter. But they are quite common, accounting for around 15% of the stars near to the Sun. 2MASS J23062928-0502285, also known as TRAPPIST-1, is an ultracool dwarf in the constellation of Aquarius. It is only 40 light-years from Earth, so despite its being very dim, astronomers were able to make very precise measurements using a specialist telescope called TRAPPIST at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. In this ESOcast, you will hear how they discovered three Earth-sized planets in orbit around TRAPPIST-1, which may have regions on them that could sustain life. These are the first such planets ...

22 April 2016: To enhance its programmes of scientific cooperation with the host country Chile, ESO provides and manages an annual fund for the development of astronomy- and technology-related disciplines in Chile. A board consisting of members from ESO and the Chilean Government, working through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, evaluates and selects programmes to be supported by this fund. These fall in five areas: ESO grant funding to postdoctoral programmes in astronomy at Chilean academic institutions. Funding for academic faculty positions for periods of up to two years at Chilean academic institutions. Funding to support the development and presentation of educational programmes for the teaching and dissemination of astronomy in Chile. Funding to support development programmes and the construction of technological systems for astronomy. Funding to support the development of astronomy in areas not covered by the above four categories. The Joint Committee of ESO and Government of Chile will consider all ...

15 April 2016: The GALACSI adaptive optics module, built by ESO’s engineers at its headquarters in Garching, Germany, has been thoroughly tested and has passed with flying colours. It will be shipped to Chile later this year to be fitted to ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), on Cerro Paranal. GALACSI is a part of the adaptive optics system which will significantly increase the performance of the MUSE instrument, a panoramic integral-field spectrograph working at visible wavelengths. The MUSE instrument and the GALACSI system together will be known as the MUSE facility. Adding GALACSI to MUSE will essentially double the amount of energy in each image pixel, providing astronomers with a much more powerful tool. As well as bringing about a huge improvement in the VLT’s capabilities, GALACSI and the other elements of the adaptive optics system are advancing technology that will be used on the forthcoming European Extremely Large Telescope. Adaptive optics systems ...

12 April 2016: On 12 April 2016 the impressive Star-roof for the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre building was installed. The roof, which weighs almost 30 tonnes, consists of glass panels set into a metal framework made of triangular sections — 262 of them, arranged to artistically represent some of the constellations of the southern sky. It was constructed by South Tyrolean family company, Frener-Reifer after an idea from Bernhardt + Partner architects working together with ESO’s astronomers. The whole roof was installed in one single lift using a special 500-tonne crane. The roof will allow visitors to the centre to see the sky above, while beneath it they are introduced to the full majesty of the Universe in ESO’s new educational and public outreach facility. It will be studded with lights, to mimic in a modest way the spectacular view of the sky that astronomers at ESO's observatory sites can expect ...

5 April 2016: ESO Photo Ambassador Petr Horálek is in Chile at the moment, as a member of ESO’s Fulldome Expedition, amassing photographic images to use in planetarium shows. The material will be used in ESO’s Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre, currently under construction at ESO’s Headquarters in Garching, Germany. As a warm-up he captured this astonishingly rich image of the skies above ESO’s Paranal Observatory, home of the Very Large Telescope facility. Thanks to the magic of photography, Petr himself also appears in this image, gazing in wonder at the display above him. The Milky Way arches above the illuminated dome of the astronomers’ hotel — La Residencia, as it is called — which has been specially designed so as not to produce any light pollution that would interfere with the operation of the telescopes. Other splendours of the southern sky, including the Magellanic Clouds just above the dome of the Residencia, ...

1 April 2016: The ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre, in collaboration with the Haus der Astronomie, Heidelberg, is organising a one day workshop on Kepler’s Laws for secondary school teachers, on Friday 1 July 2016. German speaking teachers from any of the ESO Member States are welcome to attend. The aim of the workshop is to show how important Kepler’s Laws are to modern astronomy. In particular, Kepler’s Third Law allows scientists to estimate the masses of supermassive black holes and of planets orbiting other stars, while deviations from Kepler’s laws exhibited by galaxy rotation curves led to the discovery of dark matter. Through a combination of short introductory talks and interactive workshops, participating teachers will be provided with educational materials they can use directly in the classroom. The ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre is currently under construction and as such, the training session will be held at ESO Headquarters in ...

31 March 2016: The latest edition of ESO's quarterly journal, The Messenger, is now available online. Find out the latest news from ESO on topics ranging from new instruments to the latest science discoveries. Highlights of this edition include: The Growth of the User Community of the La Silla Paranal Observatory Science Archive New Eyes on the Sun — Solar Science with ALMA The Central Role of FORS1/2 Spectropolarimetric Observations for the Progress of Stellar Magnetism Studies The KMOS AGN Survey at High Redshift (KASHz) Light Phenomena over the ESO Observatories I: Airglow Download The Messenger in PDF format or visit The Messenger website to subscribe and receive a free printed copy. This product is also available in the ESOshop.