Meddelelser

16. april 2014: Thanks to a new app developed in partnership with the Polish company Bridge, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) will appear in 3D before your eyes by using your tablet or smartphone along with a print-out of a PDF file, called a tracker. The app can be just for fun or used as an educational tool to learn more about ALMA by visualising the array of 66 antennas at a touch of your screen. By zooming in on selected antennas you will be able to see details in the three-dimensional model. To download the ALMA augmented reality app for free please visit Google Play and the iTunes AppStore. The tracker document is also available in PDF form on the ESO web pages. ALMA is an array of 66 antennas spread out over up to 16 kilometres on the Chajnantor Plateau at 5000 metres above sea level in northern Chile. It ...

15. april 2014: ESO’s Paranal–Armazones site in Chile has been shortlisted as one of two potential sites in the southern hemisphere for the international Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) — a large array for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy. This is an important step towards the realisation of the project and if the site is selected, this will open up a new frontier for ESO. On 10 April 2014 Government representatives from the 12 of the countries [1] involved in the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project met in Munich and decided to start negotiations with the two sites — Aar in Namibia and ESO's Paranal–Armazones site in Chile — keeping Leoncito in Argentina as a third option. The CTA project is an initiative to build the next generation of ground-based, very high energy gamma-ray instruments. The CTA project aims to use detection of high-energy gamma-rays to provide a deeper insight into the high-energy Universe. The representatives ...

11. april 2014: Astronomy enthusiasts across the world can now enjoy the best ESO images and news from the Universe on their Samsung Smart TV devices. The company launched the application AstroImages in December 2013 in Latin America and they are now expanding and releasing this product in Smart TVs around the world. AstroImages allows users to see the beautiful images obtained and made available exclusively by ESO in their homes. Featuring content ranging from press releases, with the latest news in astronomy, the Pictures of the Week , and the top 100 images taken by ESO. "With this application you can enjoy the beauty and splendour of our Universe through the spectacular images of ESO on your TV. Discover more about the Solar System, nebulae and star clusters, and many other wonders of the skies in your home," says Daniel Petrini of Samsung Electronics. AstroImages can be found within the Educational category ...

4. april 2014: Auer Weber has won a Best in Interior and Architecture award for the ESO Headquarters extension project at the Architecture, Interior, Technical Solutions (AIT), Awards 2014. After being shortlisted as one of six finalists in the category of Office/Administration, the ESO Headquarters extension project went on to receive a special mention at the award ceremony at the Light+Building Trade Fair 2014 held in Frankfurt, Germany on 2 April 2014. The AIT Award was first launched in 2012 and immediately became one of the largest competitions for architecture and interior design worldwide. An internationally renowned jury of architects and interior designers judge the awards — this year from a total of 573 submitted works from 31 countries. The award is divided into eight different categories [1] where all types of architectural projects and interior spaces can be submitted. On 10 March 2014, an international jury selected the ten to fifteen best ...

4. april 2014: During the week of 16 June 2014 there will be a major media event at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in northern Chile to mark the blasting of the top of Cerro Armazones, the 3000-metre peak that will be the home of the European Extremely Large Telescope. The ceremony will be attended by VIPs from both Chile and the ESO Member States as well as representatives of the local communities, senior officials from the project and ESO staff. It will be a significant milestone in the construction of the largest optical/infrared telescope in the world. Members of the media are invited to attend in person to both witness the ceremony and to visit ESO’s Paranal Observatory at its spectacular site in the Atacama Desert. Please express your interest by filling out the ESO media visit form, noting that you wish to attend the E-ELT mountain blasting event under “Objective of the Visit.” ...

2. april 2014: A magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck northwest Chile at 20:46 local time (01:46 CEST) on Tuesday 1 April 2014. The epicentre was about 95 kilometres north-west of the city of Iquique. The earthquake has caused significant casualties and damage in coastal regions. Large parts of the Pacific coast were evacuated in response to tsunami warnings. ESO expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and its sympathy and support for all those affected by the earthquake. The epicentre was about 500 kilometres from both the ALMA/APEX and Paranal sites. No casualties among ESO staff have been reported, and no damage to any ESO facilities, but this is affecting staff with families and friends in the north of Chile. Some of the staff at Paranal come from the most affected regions in Iquique and Arica. To our knowledge all staff currently on site have in the meantime been able to ...

28. marts 2014: 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: Laser Guide Star Facility upgrade The calibration of ALMA using radio sources The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey: 10 000 galaxies to study the early phases of galaxy assembly at 2 < z < 6+ When VLT meets HST: The HUGS survey Celebrating 50 years of ESO in Chile Download The Messenger in PDF format or visit The Messenger website to subscribe and receive a free printed copy.

28. marts 2014: The ESO Science Outreach Network (ESON) has grown wider following the appointment of national representatives for Hungary, Serbia and Australia. The network now covers 30 countries, including the 15 ESO Member States. The core of the ESO website is now available in 21 different languages. Press releases are translated into 18 different languages, and the Pictures of the Week and announcements are also being made available in more languages. The nodes of the ESO Science Outreach Network act as ESO’s local media and outreach contacts, with the general aim of promoting ESO's mission and demonstrating the many inspirational aspects of astronomy. They also serve as contacts between the media and scientists in their local area and can also be approached in connection with ESO’s projects and other science outreach initiatives. The 30 countries in the ESO Science Outreach Network are the 15 ESO Member States: Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, ...

27. marts 2014: ESO's Ultra HD Expedition team have begun their journey to capture ESO's three unique observing sites in Chile in all their grandeur. ESO's videographer Herbert Zodet and three ESO Photo Ambassadors, Yuri Beletsky, Christoph Malin and Babak Tafreshi are equipped with powerful Ultra HD tools [1] supplied by the technology's front runners [2]. The expedition provides an opportunity to demonstrate this state-of-the-art technology and to deliver crisp, breathtaking Ultra HD footage — bringing the Universe closer than ever before. The team continues to share their personal accounts of their 17-day adventure on the ESO Ultra HD Expedition blog and you can follow their travels through the journey schedule as the expedition unfolds. The team have now reached ESO's Paranal Observatory in northern Chile, home to the Very Large Telescope array (VLT) — ESO's flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy. Next, they will drive to ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array ...

26. marts 2014: This episode of the ESOcast presents the recent discovery that the remote asteroid Chariklo is surrounded by two dense and narrow rings. Telescopes at seven locations in South America, including the 1.54-metre Danish and TRAPPIST telescopes at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile were used to make this surprise discovery in the outer Solar System. This unique finding has sparked much interest and debate since it is the smallest object by far to have rings and only the fifth body in the Solar System — after the much larger planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — to have this feature. Astronomers think that this sort of ring is likely to be formed from debris left over after a collision. The story of this unique and unexpected discovery is told in ESOcast 64: First Ring System Around an Asteroid. More episodes of the ESOcast are also available. Find out how to ...

25. marts 2014: An international team of astronomers, led by Felipe Braga-Ribas (Observatório Nacional/MCTI, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), has used telescopes at seven locations in South America, including the 1.54-metre Danish and TRAPPIST telescopes at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, to make a surprise discovery in the outer Solar System. This unexpected result raises several unanswered questions and is expected to provoke much debate. A press conference will be held in Brazil to present the new results and allow opportunities for questions. Note that all information regarding these findings is under strict embargo until 19:00 CET (15:00 BRT) on Wednesday 26 March 2014. When: The conference will be held on 26 March 2014 at 14:30 local time (BRT) and will take place in Portuguese with a summary in English. Who: The conference presenters are: Felipe Braga-Ribas, Observatório Nacional/MCTI, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Bruno Sicardy, LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Paris, France Prof. ...

24. marts 2014: A new 22-watt laser has now been accepted from the system supplier TOPTICA and its partner MPB following nearly five years of sustained collaboration and effort (see ann1045, ann1048, ann11039, ann12012 and ESOcast 34). This laser system will form part of the Adaptive Optics Facility at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) [1]. This laser, and four further similar units (including one spare) that will be delivered later, constitute key elements of the new facility and this acceptance marks a major step forward for the project. Five years ago the options for obtaining high power, reliable lasers in a compact format suitable for the requirements of the Adaptive Optics Facility were very limited. But now new technology and dedicated research and development have changed the landscape. After three months of acceptance testing at ESO, the project team was very happy with the performance of the new hardware, which holds great promise ...

14. marts 2014: I dag er byggearbejdet for European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) begyndt. Det chilenske firma ICAFAL Ingeniería y Construcción S.A. (ICAFAL) har begyndt bygning af vejen til toppen af Cerro Armazones-bjerget. Hidtil har der ikke været en brolagt vej fra de offentlige motortrafikveje til toppen af bjerget. Det er forventet at byggearbejdet tager 16 måneder og vil give adgang til bjergets top for den fremtidige konstruktion af kæmpeteleskopet.Når vejen er færdiglavet, vil den være 11 meter bred og have en asfalt kørebane 7meter bred.ICAFAL også tager ansvaret at fladgøre bjergets top senere på året og andet ingeniørarbejde. Bjergets spids skal laves om for at danne en platform hvorpå teleskopet og andre støttefaciliteter kan bygges.Operationerne med teleskopet er planlagt først i det kommende årti, således at E-ELT kan begynde at undersøge de største astronomiske udfordringer i vores tid. Kæmpeteleskopet vil give mulighed for at gå på spændende opdagelsesture gennem hidtil ukendte steder ...

14. marts 2014: A survey of the number of peer-reviewed scientific papers published in 2013 using data from ESO’s telescopes and instruments has shown that ESO remains the world’s most productive ground-based observatory. Astronomers used observational data from ESO facilities to produce 840 refereed papers last year. The number of papers published from ESO data in 2013 has even remained slightly higher than the number of papers using data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Nearly 70% of all papers credited to ESO in 2013 used data acquired using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) or VLT Interferometer facilities. The most productive VLT instruments in terms of papers remain FORS2 and UVES. X-shooter also showed a steep increase in the number of publications and has produced a total of almost 170 papers from 2010 to 2013. Other facilities at the La Silla Paranal Observatory — including the survey telescope VISTA at Paranal, as well ...

12. marts 2014: The ESO Director General, Tim de Zeeuw, together with ESO Council President Xavier Barcons, ESO Representative in Chile Fernando Comerón, and Director of Operations Andreas Kaufer met Michelle Bachelet, the incoming President of Chile, on 10 March 2014, the day before her inauguration. The delegation passed on their congratulations, and looked forward to a fruitful and productive collaboration between ESO and its host nation. This meeting took place at the Academia Diplomática de Chile (Diplomatic Academy of Chile) where Michelle Bachelet also held meetings with several high level organisations and delegations from all over the world who had been invited to the ceremonies marking the handover of power in Chile. Later in the afternoon, Fernando Comerón and Tim de Zeeuw attended an official reception with the outgoing President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, at the Palacio de La Moneda in Santiago, where they had the opportunity of personally thanking him for ...

7. marts 2014: ESO inviterer alle til at deltage i den første udgave af Photo Nightscape Awards (PNA) - en international konkurrence med astrofotografiske natttetemaer. ESO er partner i konkurrencen, som er organiseret af Ciel et Espace Photos, og ESO tildeler vinderen af kategorien professionelle fotografer en rejse til Paranal som præmie. Her befinder Very Large Telescope sig, og i nærheden er konstruktionen af ELT teleskopet på bjergtoppen Cerro Armazones i gang. I denne første udgave af konkurrencen kan man deltage i kategorierne Pro og Espoir (Håb). Pro delen er åben for alle fotografer fra hele Verden, som allerede har offentliggjort eller solgt billeder. Espoir er for franske fotografer, som endnu ikke har publiceret eller solgt af deres billeder. Ønsker man at deltage i konkurrencen, skal man indsende et registreringsskema, og, hvis man er umyndig, en forældreerklæring. Detaljerede oplysninger om deltagelse i konkurrencen findes på konkurrencens webside. Informationer bliver offentliggjort på PNA Facebook ...

4. marts 2014: Den prisbelønnede franske skuespillerinde Juliette Binoche og den irske skuespiller Gabriel Byrne var på besøg hos ESOs Paranal-observatorium i det nordlige Chile den 22. februar 2014. Derefter rejste Juliette Binoche videre til ALMA den 24. februar. Juliette Binoche og Gabriel Byrne er begge blevet berømte for deres medvirken i mange succesfulde film, og har udtrykt interesse for at besøge de meste prominente observatorier i det nordlige Chile i deres fritid. De er i gang med at lave en film med titlen 'De 33' - baseret på den sande historie om minearbejderne som blev reddet efter mange ugers fangeskab under jorden som følge af en ulykke ved San José-minen i 2010. ESO representanter Patrick Geeraert og Fernando Comerón var værter for de to skuespillere. De to kom til observatoriet i tide til at se solnedgangen ved Cerro Paranal den 22. februar 2014, og kiggede på mens VLT kuplerne blev åbnet som ...

19. februar 2014: I vores nyeste afsnit af ESOcast, fortæller vi teleskopspejlets historie og udvikling gennem tiden. Enorme teleskopspejle gør det muligt for astronomer at se langt dybere ind i nattehimlen end de kan med det lille lyssamlende areal som det menneskelige øje har. I dette afsnit berettes grunden til teleskopernes evigt voksende størrelse og vi fortæller historien bag disse fleksible kæmper. Udfordringerne i at bygge altid større, men lettere, spejle har banet vejen for innovative nytænkning og har ført til teleskopdesigner som ESOs New Technology Telescope (NTT) og det kommende European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).For at find ud af hvorfor og hvordan disse design har revolutioneret teleskoper udforsk fortiden, nutiden og fremtiden af teleskopspejldesign i ESOcast 63: fleksible kæmper - udviklingen af teleskopspejle Mere Information ESOcast er en video podcast serie dedikeret til at bringe seerne de nyeste nyheder og forskningsresultater fra ESO –Det Europæiske Syd Observatorium. Tilmeld dig nu til vores ...

18. februar 2014: SPHERE — the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch instrument — is a powerful new facility for finding and studying exoplanets. The instrument has recently successfully completed testing in France, passed preliminary acceptance by ESO, and has now been shipped to Chile. It will then be installed on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and first light is foreseen for May 2014. SPHERE was built by a consortium of astronomers and engineers in many ESO states in conjunction with industry [1]. The consortium is led by the Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, France. SPHERE’s main goal is to find and characterise giant exoplanets orbiting nearby stars by direct imaging [2]. This is an extremely challenging task as such planets are both very close to their parent stars in the sky and also very much fainter. In a normal image, even in the best conditions, the light from the star totally swamps ...

13. februar 2014: As part of the Austrian contribution when it joined ESO, a specialist team from institutes in Linz [1] has developed adaptive optics algorithms and software methods that are much faster than those using more traditional approaches. These methods are used for the correction of images that are degraded due to atmospheric turbulence — and are in particular intended for use with the future 39-metre European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The challenging goal was to invent a new and different approach to this problem that is as effective as current techniques while, at the same time, greatly reducing the computing load on the computer that performs the calculations. This four-year project has just completed a very successful final review. The new adaptive optics algorithms are very fast and provide excellent quality results. This leads to enormous savings in computing power required to handle adaptive optics data from the E-ELT. But probably ...