Communiqué de presse

Scientific Papers in the Paranal Time Capsule

12 mai 1997

ESO Messenger no. 87 (March 1997) contains information (on Page 5) about the content of the Time Capsule, deposited by President Frei of the Republic of Chile on December 4, 1996, in the wall of VLT Enclosure no. 1. This capsule, an aluminium cylinder of 15 cm diameter and 45 centimeter long, was filled with nitrogen gas and sealed hermetically. A commemorative plaque was fixed in front of the cavity. In addition to the various items listed below, the capsule also contains a list of contents etched on a metal plate which will survive virtually indefinitely in this environment, while it cannot be excluded that the papers may deteriorate with time.

Contents of the Time Capsule

1. Document signed by President Frei on the occasion; 2. Copy of the Acuerdo between ESO and Chile; 3. A number of outstanding scientific papers (see below); 4. Copy of December 4 issues of the Chilean newspapers "El Mercurio" and "La Epoca"; 5. Copies of the written version of the speeches delivered on the occasion; 6. Viewgraph and description of VLT, as presented at the exhibition; 7. List of VLT Team members; 8. Photos of Paranal before and after construction; and 9. Photo of the VLT model at exhibition.

Selected Scientific Papers

As indicated above, selected scientific papers were included in the Time Capsule, one from each ESO member country, from the host nation of ESO's observatories, and also from ESO itself. A list of these papers is given below.

Belgium: Discovery of a quadruply lensed quasar: the "clover leaf" H1413+117. P. Magain, J. Surdej, J.-P. Swings, U. Borgeest, R. Kayser, H. Kuehr, S. Refsdal, M. Remy: 1988, Nature 334, 325 Chile: ER 8: A very low luminosity degenerate star. M.T. Ruiz, J. Maza, M. Wischnjewski, L.E. Gonzales: 1986, ApJ 304, L25 Denmark: The discovery of a type Ia supernova at a redshift of 0.31. H.U. Noergaard-Nielsen, L. Hansen, H.E. Joergensen, A. Arag=F3n Salamanca, R.S. Ellis, W.J. Couch: 1989, Nature 339, 523 France: Evidence for gravitational microlensing by dark objects in the Galactic halo. E. Aubourg, P. Bareyre, S. Brahin, M. Gros, M. Lachieze-Rey, B. Laurent, E. Lesquoy, C. Magneville, A. Milsztajn, L. Moscoso, F. Queinnec, J. Rich, M. Spiro, L. Vigroux, S. Zylberajch, R. Ansari, F. Cavalier, M. Moniez, J.-P. Beaulieu, R. Ferlet, Ph Grison, A. Vidal-Madjar, J. Guibert, O. Moreau, F. Tajahmady, E. Maurice, L. Prevot, C. Gry: 1993, Nature 365, 623 Germany: Observations of stellar proper motions near the Galactic Centre. A. Eckart, R. Genzel: 1996, Nature 383, 415 Italy: Results form an Extensive Einstein Stellar Survey. G.S. Vaiana, J.P. Casinelli, G. Fabbiano, R. Giacconi, L. Golub, P. Gorenstein, B.M. Haisch, F.R. Harnden, Jr., H.M. Johnson, J.L. Linsky, C.W. Maxson, R. Mewe, R. Rosner, F. Seward, K. Topka, C. Zwaan: 1981, ApJ 245, 163 The Netherlands: A High Resolution Radio Continuum Survey of M51 and NGC 5195 at 1415 MHz. D.S. Mathewson, P.C. van der Kruit, W.N. Brouw: 1972, A&A 17, 468 Sweden: The chemical evolution of the galactic disk. B. Edvardsson, J. Andersen, B. Gustafsson, D.L. Lambert, P.E. Nissen, J. Tomkin: 1993, A&A 275, 101 Switzerland: A Jupiter-mass companion to a solar-type star. M. Mayor, D. Queloz: 1995, Nature 378, 355 ESO: SN 1987A: Observational Results Obtained at ESO. I.J. Danziger, P. Bouchet, R.A.E. Fosbury, C. Gouiffes, L.B. Lucy, A.F.M. Moorwood, E. Oliva, F. Rufener. 1988, in M. Kafatos & A.G. Michalitsianos (eds.) Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud, Proceedings of the 4th George Mason Astrophysics Workshop, Cambridge University Press Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud. I.J. Danziger, C. Gouiffes, P. Bouchet, L.B. Lucy, 1989, IAU Circular No. 4746

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