Announcements

17 March 2015: Following an open call for applications, Ars Electronica in Austria has announced that the winner of the Art & Science residency is the Chilean artist María Ignacia Edwards. The decision was reached by a jury of ten, made up of representatives of Ars Electronica and the seven cultural institutions that make up the Art & Science Network, along with ESO’s Representative in Chile, Fernando Comerón. Edwards’ latticeworks combine delicacy and poise with an intricate spatial awareness, underpinned by mathematical and physical calculations. She will be spending the residency at ESO in Chile and the Ars Electronica Futurelab in Austria. Aesthetics, originality, innovation, a compelling conception, the technique and quality of the presentation, as well as an interest in the ideas of science as expressed by ESO were all criteria under which submissions were evaluated. Fostering interdisciplinary work and intercultural exchange, as well as gaining access to new target audiences, are ...

17 March 2015: ALMA’s Operations Support Facility will open its doors to the public for the first time on 29 March 2015, offering members of the public a rare opportunity to experience what everyday life is like for those working on one of the most advanced pieces of scientific equipment in the world. ALMA is a state-of-the-art telescope to study light from some of the coldest objects in the Universe. This light has wavelengths of around a millimetre, between infrared light and radio waves, and is therefore known as millimetre and submillimetre radiation. ALMA comprises 66 high-precision antennas, spread over distances of up to 16 kilometres. This global collaboration is the largest ground-based astronomical project in existence. Serving as a centre of operations, the ALMA Operations Support Facility is located 28 kilometres from the telescope array itself and accommodates up to 250 workers, including contractors, maintenance staff and astronomers. Visits to the Operations ...

13 March 2015: 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, fun games 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. Some of the highlights of this issue include: the challenging logistics of lunar exploration. and the psychology of the perfect meal. Teaching activities include: how to demonstrate the different colours of stars with a light bulb, making pH-sensitive inks from vegetables, and how to turn your students into robots using paper cups. Science in School is published by EIROforum, a collaboration between eight European intergovernmental scientific research organisations, of which ESO is a member. The journal addresses science teaching both across Europe and across disciplines: highlighting the best in teaching and cutting-edge research. ...

11 March 2015: ESO invites you to take part in AstroCamera 2015 — an international competition in support of the popularisation of astronomy and astrophotography. The competition is organised by the Hewelianum Centre in Gdańsk, Poland. The winners will receive grants from the organisers. ESO, as one of the sponsors of the event, will award prizes in the form of books and DVDs for the entries that receive honourable mentions from the judges. Initially launched on 28 January 2011, in conjunction with the 400th anniversary of the birth of the 17th century astronomer, Johannes Hevelius, the competition is open to all astronomy and astrophotography enthusiasts. The life and achievements of Hevelius, a renowned observer of the night sky, have been an inspiration for the Hewelianum Centre to make the AstroCamera competition a regular event, with this marking the fifth time it has been held. The competition is organised into the following categories: Category ...

6 March 2015: ESO invites you to take part in the second Photo Nightscape Awards (PNA) — an international photo nightscape competition for astrophotographers. As a partner in the competition organised by Ciel et Espace Photos, ESO will award the first place winner of the Nightscape category a trip to Paranal, home of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in northern Chile. The competition categories are: Nightscape, In Town and Timelapse, and they are open to photographers from all countries. The PNA Junior categories for ages 9–12 and 13–17 years are reserved for French nationals only. Those who wish to take part in the competition should submit a registration form, their photo or video submission and, if they are under age, a parental consent form, to the following email address: pna@photonightscapeawards.com. For detailed information please check the rules of the competition on the dedicated web page. Announcements will be made on the PNA Facebook ...

6 March 2015: On Thursday 16 April at 16:00 ESO invites students and staff from all institutions on the Forschungscampus Garching to a presentation of the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre which will be held at ESO Headquarters in the Eridanus auditorium. The ESO Supernova is being built at the site of ESO Headquarters and will open in mid-2017. This event will allow students, staff and anyone else at Forschungscampus Garching to hear about the opportunities associated with this project that are relevant to them. The project coordinator, Fabian Reckmann and the head of the public outreach department, Lars Lindberg Christensen, will present the status of the project and explain how other interested institutions and individuals can become part of the project or otherwise support it. The ESO Supernova will be a cutting-edge astronomy centre providing visitors with an immersive experience that will leave them in awe of the Universe we live ...

5 March 2015: ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, has successfully combined its immense collecting area and sensitivity with that of APEX (Atacama Pathfinder Experiment) to create a new, single instrument through a process known as Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). Larger telescopes can make sharper observations, and interferometry allows multiple telescopes to act like a single telescope as large as the separation — or baseline — between them. In VLBI, data from two independent telescopes are combined to form a virtual telescope that spans the geographic distance between them — potentially up to the diameter of the Earth — yielding extraordinary magnifying power. An essential intermediate step is to test the technique on a short baseline. On 13 January 2015 ALMA and the nearby APEX telescope simultaneously studied the quasar 0522-364. This distant galaxy was used for this first-of-its-kind observation due to its remarkable brightness at radio wavelengths. To ensure the telescopes ...

5 March 2015: A survey of the number of peer-reviewed scientific papers published in 2014 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 864 refereed papers last year, equalling the all-time high of 2012. The number of papers published from ESO data in 2014 has even remained slightly higher than the number of papers published based on data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Nearly 65% of all papers credited to ESO in 2014 used data acquired with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) or VLT Interferometer facilities. The most productive VLT instruments in terms of papers are UVES and FORS2 with VIMOS in third place. In addition GIRAFFE and SINFONI both show strong upwards trends. The VISTA survey telescope on Paranal provided data for almost twice as many papers as in 2013. FEROS, SOFI ...

4 March 2015: In January 1954, twelve astronomers from six different European nations congregated in the Senate Room of Leiden University in the Netherlands. The party had met with the intention of discussing a joint venture with the aim of establishing a European observatory under the favourable skies of the southern hemisphere. In the course of the meeting, chaired by Bertil Lindblad of Saltsjöbaden, the twelve astronomers formulated and duly signed their names to a document intended to garner governmental support for their ambitious plan. The subsequently named Leiden Statement laid the groundwork for the ESO Convention of 1962 and so marked the birth of a venture that has since far exceeded even the ambitious vision of those twelve founding astronomers. Today, ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe, operating some of the most advanced scientific equipment ever built and supported by sixteen countries, with several more having expressed an interest ...

26 February 2015: The MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope has given astronomers the best ever three-dimensional view of the deep Universe. Staring at the Hubble Deep Field South region for 27 hours, the new observations reveal the distances, motions and other properties of far more galaxies than ever before in this tiny piece of the sky; extending even beyond Hubble’s reach to reveal previously invisible objects. This ESOcast takes a look at what MUSE found in the Hubble Deep Field South and the way in which it has made life a little easier for astronomers, by compiling thousands of images of these remote galaxies into a three-dimensional stack of images, each at a different wavelength. 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 for the ESOcast in ...

24 February 2015: A groundbreaking ceremony for the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre took place today at ESO’s Headquarters in Garching, Germany. This event marked the beginning of the main construction phase of the facility. The ESO Supernova will be a magnificent showcase for astronomy for the public. It is made possible by a collaboration between the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) and ESO. The Klaus Tschira Stiftung (KTS), a German foundation that supports the natural sciences, mathematics and computer science, offered to fully fund the construction and ESO will run the facility. The striking building was designed by the architects Bernhardt + Partner. This new facility will provide visitors with an immersive experience of astronomy and ESO’s scientific results, projects and technological breakthroughs. It will include a fulldome planetarium and more than 2000 square metres of permanent and temporary exhibitions. Further rooms housing conference facilities will also host a variety ...

10 February 2015: A team of astronomers and engineers from ESO, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) and INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma has achieved first light and successful commissioning of the ESO Wendelstein Laser Guide Star system [1] at the IAC's Observatorio del Teide on Tenerife in Spain. Following an agreement in April 2014 between ESO and the IAC, the required infrastructure for the experiment was built at the observatory. The team carried out the installation and commissioning of the ESO Wendelstein Laser Guide Star Unit laser, the receiver system and the automated observing software. These joint activities are research and development studies to optimise the laser guide star return brightness from the upper atmosphere with special attention being paid to the influence of the geomagnetic field on the performance. The experimental setup uses fibre laser technologies developed at ESO to produce a 20-watt continuous wave ...

10 February 2015: ESO would like to extend a warm welcome to our 100 000th Facebook friend and a thank you to everyone who has become our friend on Facebook and, in doing so, helped to spread an interest in astronomy, space, and what everyone at ESO is working hard to achieve. Every like, share and mention goes a little way towards helping more people share in the wonders of the Universe, and we are thankful to all those who have participated for their support in helping ESO to reach more people than ever before.

4 February 2015: The Board of Education for the German Astronomical Society, in collaboration with ESO and the Excellence Cluster Universe of the Technical University of Munich, is organising a two-day teacher-training workshop on stellar evolution on Friday 6 and Saturday 7 March 2015. The course aims to help those teaching the subject as part of the grade 12 astrophysics curriculum in Germany and will feature lecture and discussion sessions as well as workshops. Teachers who are interested in this opportunity are invited to obtain further details and register at the following web site. Teachers participating in the course will also be provided with a wealth of material to use in the classroom, including presentation slides, computer software, literature and a collection of useful web links. The training session will be held at ESO Headquarters in Garching bei München and will be in German.

2 February 2015: Louise Mayor has won the 2014 European Astronomy Journalism Prize. Her prize consists of a trip to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) — a state-of-the-art telescope to study light from some of the coldest objects in the Universe — in northern Chile. The winning article explores the quest to directly detect gravitational waves using a technique involving studying pulsars with radio telescopes. Entitled “Hunting Gravitational Waves Using Pulsars”, the article was published in the October 2014 issue of Physics World, the magazine for members of the Institute of Physics. It was also promoted via a short clip. As features editor of Physics World, Louise Mayor is helping physicists and science writers to tell their stories in different areas of cutting-edge physics. Before joining Physics World in 2010, Louise did a PhD in dye-sensitised solar cells at the University of Nottingham. “I am absolutely delighted to win the prize. My ...

26 January 2015: On 24 February 2015, at 12:30, a groundbreaking ceremony will be held at ESO’s Headquarters in Garching bei München, Germany, to mark the start of construction work for the ESO Supernova Planetarium and Visitor Centre. The centre will be a magnificent showcase for astronomy and will be open to the public free of charge. It is made possible by a collaboration between the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), the research institute of the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, and ESO. The Klaus Tschira Stiftung offered to fully fund the construction and ESO will run the facility. This new facility will provide visitors with an immersive experience of astronomy in general, along with ESO’s scientific results, projects, and technological breakthroughs. It will include a fulldome planetarium and more than 2000 square metres of permanent and temporary exhibitions. Further rooms housing conference facilities will also host a programme of lectures, workshops and conferences. ...

20 January 2015: The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope has increased its capacity for remote transmission of data by a factor of 25. A new connection consisting of 150 kilometres of fibre optic cables has been successfully installed between the observatory — situated 34 kilometres from San Pedro de Atacama — and the city of Calama in northern Chile. From Calama, the system connects with the Corporación Red Universitaria Nacional (REUNA) network, which is already established in Antofagasta and, from there onwards, to the offices of ALMA in Santiago, through existing infrastructure (the EVALSO project). This milestone for ALMA means that in future an enormous amount of data can be delivered, with astonishing speed, to the ALMA scientific community around the world. This important step for the scientific work of ALMA is the result of a contract signed between AUI, the institution that represents the North American partners of ALMA, with ...

16 January 2015: The construction contract to build the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Residencia has been awarded to the consortium L y D - Axis, consisting of Constructora L y D S.A. and Axis Desarrollos Constructivos S.A. Both are Chilean companies that have experience in constructing residential-type buildings in the challenging environment of the north of Chile. The ALMA Residencia will be the new home for staff and visitors to the facility. The shape of the buildings and the colour of the exteriors of this major architectural project have been designed to meld with the topography, the environment and the landscape of the ALMA site. The design was undertaken by the Finnish architects Kuovo & Partanen and was then adapted to the Chilean market by Rigotti & Simunovic Arquitectos, a Chilean firm of architects. Ever since the construction of ALMA began in 2008, with the delivery of ALMA’s first antenna (eso0849), staff ...

16 January 2015: ESO has signed parallel contracts with CESA (Spain) and VDL (the Netherlands) for the design and production of qualification models [1] for mirror segment support and related auxiliary equipment for the primary mirror of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). This follows the earlier design and development of prototypes, their intensive testing at the ESO facility and a detailed assessment of lessons learned. The complete E-ELT primary mirror will be 39 metres in diameter. The mirror surface will comprise 798 hexagonal segments, plus a maintenance set, for a total of 931 segments. The hexagonal shape means that a common support structure can be used for all segments. These contracts include the delivery of detailed and complete instructions and engineering drawings for the production of the series. They also include the development of the procedures required to integrate the supports with the E-ELT glass segments, to handle and transport the segment ...

14 January 2015: This ESOcast takes a close look at an unusual new group of small telescopes that has recently achieved first light at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in northern Chile. The Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) will search for transiting exoplanets — planets that pass in front of their parent star and hence produce a slight dimming of the star’s light that can be detected by sensitive instruments. The telescopes will focus on discovering Neptune-sized and smaller planets, with diameters between two and eight times that of Earth. NGTS is designed to operate in a robotic mode and it will continuously monitor the brightness of hundreds of thousands of comparatively bright stars in the southern skies. The NGTS discoveries, and follow-up observations by telescopes on the ground and in space, will be important steps in our quest to study the atmospheres and composition of small, Earth-like planets. More episodes of the ESOcast are also ...