Mededelingen 2019

8 mei 2019: Astronomer Bianca Poggianti of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica has been awarded a grant of 2.5 million euros by the European Research Council (ERC) for a project based on data from ESO facilities. GAs Stripping Phenomena in galaxies (GASP) is one of 222 projects across Europe to be awarded the highly competitive advanced grant, as announced by the ERC. The ERC project GASP is based on the ESO Large Programme of the same name that studies the mechanisms of gas removal in galaxies and their consequences for star formation. GASP uses vast quantities of data, much of which was gathered with the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), as well as with ALMA and APEX. According to Poggianti, this use of data across a wide range of wavelengths is one aspect that makes GASP unique, for the first time allowing astronomers to study various phases of gas and ...

6 mei 2019: 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 up-to-date information on cutting-edge science, teaching materials, science education projects, interviews with inspiring scientists and teachers, reviews of books, and many other useful resources for science teachers. It aims to promote science teaching by encouraging communication between teachers, scientists and others involved in European science education. Some of the highlights of this issue include: an article about how highly sophisticated lasers on new satellites help to improve weather forecasting; a review of the important influence that tree canopies have on our climate; and an introduction to how to build a particle trap with 3D printers at home. Teaching activities include: creating artwork using microorganisms; identifying subatomic particles using bubble chamber photographs; and an experiment to determine the best laundry detergent for different stains. Science in ...

30 april 2019: On 17 April 2019, the Senate of Chile awarded the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) a medal for its instrumental role in capturing the first-ever image of a black hole. The picture, unveiled by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) on 10 April to enormous public interest and excitement, was created using data taken at eight radio telescopes around the world, including two in which ESO is a major partner: ALMA and APEX, the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. These telescopes’ location in the extremely dry conditions of the Atacama desert in Northern Chile is ideal for millimeter-submillimeter astronomy, and the large combined collecting area of the ALMA antennas was indispensable in achieving the unprecedented resolution and sensitivity required for this breakthrough. In addition to recognising the role of the observatory as a whole, the Chilean Senate honoured seven scientists individually with medals for their work. Among them were Rubén Herrero-Illana, an ESO ...

29 april 2019: De Olivier Chesneau-prijs2019 is toegekend aan Jos de Boer, voor zijn proefschrift met de titel ‘High-contrast Imaging of Protoplanetary Disks’. Jos is momenteel postdoc bij de Sterrewacht Leiden en promoveerde daar in 2018. De prijs is in het leven geroepen door ESO en het Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, ter herinnering aan leven en werken van de baanbrekende astronoom Olivier Chesneau[1]. Hij wordt tweejaarlijks toegekend voor het beste proefschrift dat is voltooid op het gebied van de hoge-resolutie-astronomie. Jos maakte indruk op het jurybestuur met de reikwijdte van zijn onderzoek waarbij erkende vaardigheden met nieuwsoortige instrumenten werden gecombineerd, waaronder SPHERE– het Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch -instrument dat aanESO’s Very Large Telescopeis gekoppeld. Het onderzoek van planeetvormende schijven vormt een grote uitdaging voor astronomen, omdat zulke schijven erg weinig licht geven in vergelijking met de sterren die ze omringen. Jos overwon deze uitdaging door middel van zorgvuldige kalibratie, gegevensvergaring ...

9 april 2019: On 10 April, at 15:00 CEST, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) invites members of the general public to watch the live webcast of a press conference announcing a groundbreaking result from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). The event is organised by the European Commission, the European Research Council, and the EHT. It will be streamed online on the ESO website, by the ERC, and on social media. We will take a few questions from viewers on social media using the hashtag #AskEHTeu . An ESO press release will be issued shortly after the start of the conference. A total of six major press conferences will be held simultaneously around the globe in Belgium (Brussels, English), Chile (Santiago, Spanish), China (Shanghai, Mandarin), Japan (Tokyo, Japanese), Taiwan (Taipei, Mandarin), and the USA (Washington, D.C., English). Starting at 15:07 CEST, a Reddit Ask Science “Ask Me Anything (AMA)” thread will be open. ESO ...

3 april 2019: 2018 was another banner year for research at ESO, leading to ESO’s retaining the distinction of being the world’s most productive observatory. ESO’s observatories continue to set the bar for astronomical research, and with 1093 publications in 2018 ESO exceeded the productivity of any other ground- or space-based observatory. The largest contributor to this result was ESO’s flagship facility, the VLT (Very Large Telescope)/VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer) at Paranal. A total of 618 papers were published using data from the VLT in 2018. The most productive instrument this year was UVES with 139 publications, closely followed by X-shooter, MUSE, and FORS2. Other telescopes at Paranal made significant contributions to ESO’s research output in 2018, especially the VST (VLT Survey Telescope) and VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy). Data from these facilities contributed to 48 and 105 papers respectively. ESO’s telescopes at La Silla Observatory continued to be ...

1 april 2019: The European Commission, European Research Council, and the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project will hold a press conference to present a groundbreaking result from the EHT. When: On 10 April 2019 at 15:00 CEST Where: The press conference will be held at the Berlaymont Building, Rue de la Loi (Wetstraat) 200, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium. The event will be introduced by European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, and will feature presentations by the researchers behind this result. What: A press conference to present a groundbreaking result from the EHT. Who: The European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, will deliver remarks. Anton Zensus, Chair of the EHT Collaboration Board will also make remarks and introduce a panel of EHT researchers who will explain the result and answer questions: Heino Falcke, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands (Chair of the EHT Science Council) Monika Mościbrodzka, Radboud University, Nijmegen, ...

14 maart 2019: The European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of Czechia (MEYS) have signed an agreement which will facilitate an on-the-job training programme for Czech students and interns at ESO. The agreement was signed by Pavel Doleček, Deputy Minister Research and Higher Education of Czechia, and Xavier Barcons, ESO Director General, at a ceremony held today at ESO Headquarters in Garching, Germany. Also in attendance were: Kristina Larischová, Consul General of Czechia in Munich; Jan Kreuter, Consul for Politics and Commerce; and the ESO Council Delegates of Czechia, Jan Buriánek and Jan Palouš. The programme will be funded by MEYS with the core aim of carrying out training to match the needs of the Czech industry and research organisations. The training will be provided by ESO to students from universities in Czechia and young interns in science and engineering. This agreement aligns with the values of ...

13 maart 2019: ESO will host the 2019 IAU Astronomy Education Conference on 16–18 September 2019 at the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre. The conference will bring together astronomers, astronomy education researchers, and education practitioners to further the IAU’s commitment to improving the quality, quantity, community, and impact of astronomy education research and practice. Hosting this conference will leverage the ESO Supernova’s standing as a cutting-edge astronomy education centre offering a diverse educational programme to school children, kindergartners, and teachers. Conference attendees will be able to fully explore the Supernova’s activities, including workshops, tours, and over 2200 m2 of interactive exhibits, as well as the largest tilted planetarium dome in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The conference will focus on three main themes: astronomy education research; astronomy education standards, curriculum and instruction; and primary and secondary teacher education. These themes will be covered in talks, posters and workshops. The topics will be examined ...

11 maart 2019: ESO has signed contracts for the manufacture of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) M5 Mirror with the French companies Safran Reosc and Mersen Boostec. Safran Reosc will supply the M5 Mirror along with the auxiliary equipment required for its handling, transport, operation and maintenance. Mersen Boostec will supply the mirror’s lightweight substrate to Safran Reosc’s specifications, and will also be responsible for the supply of the M5 replacement blanks if necessary [1]. The contracts were signed by Philippe Rioufreyt, CEO of Safran Reosc, Jérôme Lavenac, Operations Managing Director of Mersen Boostec, and Xavier Barcons, ESO Director General, at a ceremony held today at ESO Headquarters in Garching, Germany. Also in attendance were French Consul General in Munich, Pierre Lanapats, and Deputy Consul General in Munich, Benoît Schneider, as well as ESO Council Delegate for France, Laurent Vigroux. The contract with Safran Reosc builds on an existing cooperative relationship with the ...

8 maart 2019: 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. In this special issue of the ESO Messenger, several articles give an overview of the upcoming 4-meter Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST). 4MOST is a new wide-field spectroscopic survey facility under development for the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. Paranal is one of the finest observing sites worldwide and provides access to astronomical objects in the southern hemisphere, such as the galactic center and the Magellanic Clouds. The 4MOST design allows tens of millions of spectra to be obtained via five-year surveys, even for targets distributed over a significant fraction of the sky. Highlights of this edition include: 4MOST: Project Overview and Information for the Call for Proposals - de Jong ...

7 maart 2019: ESO is sinds vandaag officieel aandeelhouder in de Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory gGmbH (CTAO). De noodzakelijke formele handelingen werden op 7 en 8 maart afgesloten tijdens de vergadering van de CTA-Raad in het hoofdkantoor van ESO in Garching bei München, Duitsland, nadat ESO al enige tijd als waarnemer aan het project had deelgenomen. De Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is een nieuwe geavanceerde sterrenwacht voor de detectie van zeer energierijke gammastraling. Na voltooiing zal de array bestaan uit 118 telescopen, verspreid over locaties op het noordelijk en zuidelijk halfrond. ESO heeft al op 19 december 2018 een overeenkomst getekend om de zuidelijke locatie van het CTA een plek te geven in de Chileense Atacama-woestijn nabij de ESO-sterrenwacht op Paranal. Paranal is de thuisbasis van de Very Large Telescope en biedt uitstekende waarnemingsomstandigheden en een goed ontwikkelde infrastructuur, waardoor het een aantrekkelijke locatie is voor nieuwe faciliteiten zoals CTA-South. De noordelijke site ...

26 februari 2019: Over the past few months, the ESO Supernova team has been preparing the latest programme of exciting events and shows for the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre. We are delighted to announce that our April–June 2019 programme is now available for booking online. Since its official inauguration on 26 April 2018, the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre has entertained and educated visitors with a range of captivating planetarium shows, guided tours, educational workshops, and special events. The April–June programme features new additions to the exciting range of shows in the ESO Supernova’s state-of-the-art digital planetarium, as well as a wonderful array of special events. The new programme is now available online and bookings can be made for all public events. Tickets are available either online or at the ESO Supernova reception. The ESO Supernova offers a captivating variety of planetarium shows in both German and English which explore ...

18 februari 2019: The Armenian President, Armen Sarkissian, visited ESO’s Headquarters today in Garching bei München, Germany, as part of a wider tour of the Garching Forschungszentrum, one of the largest centres for scientific research in Germany. During his visit, the President met with the Director General Xavier Barcons and a diverse cross-section of ESO staff. He was also given a guided tour of ESO’s Headquarters, including ESO’s high-tech integration hall, where instruments are prepared to be mounted on ESO’s world-leading telescopes. The President has a longstanding involvement in science, particularly physics; he has a PhD in theoretical physics and mathematics, and has held various research positions at prestigious institutes. Prior to his career in politics, the President was a professor of physics at Yerevan State University and later at the University of Cambridge. Among his various research topics, President Sarkissian used to work on the internal structure of neutron stars. As well ...

18 februari 2019: ESO’s observatories operate a suite of the most advanced ground-based astronomical telescopes in the world, providing researchers with state-of-the-art facilities to study the Universe. Observing time on the telescopes is highly sought-after due to the remarkable detail in which they can capture the sky. Every year, ESO receives thousands of observing proposals from researchers across the globe – up to ten times more hours of observations than are actually available. ESO therefore has to decide which cutting-edge astronomical questions should be awarded valuable telescope time . In this ESOcast, six of the astronomers who help to make these decisions tell us about the hottest topics in contemporary astronomy. Covering topics ranging from dark matter to exoplanets, these astronomers make the case for why these cutting-edge fields deserve time at ESO’s telescopes. You can subscribe to the ESOcasts on iTunes or receive future episodes on YouTube. Many other ESOcast episodes are ...

15 februari 2019: De aanvragen voor het door ESO ondersteunde zomerkamp AstroCamp 2019 gaan op 1 april 2019 van start. AstroCamp is een academisch programma op het gebied van astronomie en fysica, georganiseerd door het Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto (CAUP), dat nieuwsgierigheid en kritisch denken wil bevorderen. Het kamp vindt plaats van 4 tot 18 augustus 2019 op een afgelegen en rustige plek, weg van de stedelijke stress. Het programma is bedoeld voor middelbare scholieren uit 40 verschillende landen, waaronder alle ESO-lidstaten, in een van hun laatste drie jaren vóór de universiteit. Studenten van alle achtergronden komen samen en volgen twee cursussen, bestaande uit dagelijkse lessen, opdrachten en een eindexamen. Enkele andere hoogtepunten zijn: • Het waarnemen van de donkere nachthemel (onder meer de Perseïden-meteorenzwerm) met het blote oog en telescopen; • Skypen met astronomen en natuurkundigen uit verschillende landen; • Een computerproject, waarbij met gegevens van ’s werelds beste ...

11 februari 2019: The EIROforum, a collaboration of eight scientific research and technology organisations consisting of CERN, EMBL, ESA, ESO, ESRF, European XFEL, EUROfusion and ILL, aims to improve the quality and impact of research throughout Europe. Their combined resources, facilities and expertise supports European science to reach its full potential. In seeking to inspire the next generation of researchers, the EIROforum reaffirms its commitment toward providing equal opportunities for all, ensuring a positive impact of science in society, worldwide. In this spirit, and in particular today, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the EIROforum pays special tribute to the contribution of women and girls whose critical role in science and technology serves to strengthen the scientific community and its collective, global achievements.

31 januari 2019: The winners of the Catch a Star 2018 Contest have been announced. Each winner will receive a mounted image featuring ESO telescopes in Chile, courtesy of ESO, such as the awe-inspiring Whirling Southern Star Trails over ALMA. Additionally, the European Association for Astronomy Education is providing the top 2 winners and the new special category winners with the unique opportunity to hold a video conference with a professional astronomer. The prizes were awarded as follows: First prize: “Detecting the exoplanet HD189733b” by Carl-Fuhlrott-Gymnasium Wuppertal/Germany Second prize: “Cosmic rays” by Specialised Language High School "N.Y. Vaptsarov", Shumen, Bulgaria Third prize: “Low Cost Astrobiology Studies” by Colegio Huerta de la Cruz, Cádiz, Spain Fourth prize: “Calculations of the energy escaping from a black hole” by Evangelisches Gymnasium, Lippstadt, Germany Fifth prize: “The 13th constellation Ophiuchus” by Skrundas Secondary School, Latvia Special category winner (students up to 15 years old): “Sidereus Nuncius, a ...

30 januari 2019: 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 SPECULOOS Southern Observatory Begins its Hunt for Rocky Planets ALMA Observations of the Epoch of Planet Formation The Early Growth and Life Cycle of Galaxies with KMOS3D Riccardo Giacconi (1931–2018) Download The Messenger in PDF format or visit The Messenger website to subscribe and receive a free printed copy.

30 januari 2019: January 2019 marks 50 years since the publication of the first issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics, which ESO played an important role in founding. Since its inception, Astronomy & Astrophysics has become recognised as a prestigious publication counted amongst the top journals in the field. In January 1969 Astronomy & Astrophysics — known as A&A — published its first issue. This debut was achieved within a year of the first meeting of the founders in April 1968. The motivation behind its creation was to unite the individual astronomy publications of the founding European member states into a single larger journal, garnering increased recognition worldwide. In the 50 intervening years, A&A has grown into a highly influential publication. Though itself only a few years older than A&A, ESO played a significant role in its establishment; as an existing European intergovernmental astronomy organisation, ESO was able to lend its legal status to ...