Dear Fellow Communicators,
We are slowly emerging after the ESO Supernova opening and getting back to normal operation. The opening of the centre went exceptionally well. ESO outreach has been working on this project since 2013 when we got the amazing news of the donation from the Klaus Tschira Stiftung (KTS). Our team started producing content and also learning how to produce planetarium shows. In 2015 we started a small management group with Tania Johnston and later Wolfgang Vieser. After years of planning for the momentous completion of this remarkable centre, the last few weeks were — as expected — a bit busier than usual. But there were huge smiles and laughter in the offices here, and everything “out in the open” was (miraculously….) in place on the big day. Enjoy the photos, and our new Virtual Tour.
The entire team at ESO outreach has laboured extremely hard for this cause — as have the many companies involved and KTS/HITS! A big thanks to everyone! A project like this only comes along once in a lifetime! This is something which is so much bigger than individuals — an immense collaboration, and definitely the biggest project I’ve ever worked on.
Behind the scenes we are now left with some considerable work (and sleep) to catch up on. Almost all our activities for the first quarter of operations are fully booked and we have started working on the Q3 activities. These days we are working on opening the first temporary exhibition inside the ESO Supernova — Our Place in Space. This small free-of-charge showcase of art and science is inspired by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and encourages visitors to consider where humanity fits into the grand scheme of the Universe. The exhibition will be on display from 17 May to 2 September 2018.
On 25 May, our flagship observatory, the Very Large Telescope, will celebrate 20 years since its first light. The VLT remains the world's most advanced optical instrument and we are very proud and honoured to be still sharing its results with the world.
We take this opportunity to inform you that the publication of the CAPjournal has been handed over to our colleagues at the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach, based at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). They are currently seeking your feedback on how to improve the journal. We would like to wish our colleagues best of luck with the journal!
Finally, don’t forget that 14 December is the deadline for school students to enter the 2018 Catch a Star contest, which has recently open for entries.
Let’s reach new heights in astronomy together!
Lars Lindberg Christensen (lars@eso.org)
Head, ESO education and Public Outreach Department (ePOD)
|
17 May 2018: From 17 May to 2 September 2018, the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre will display it’s first temporary exhibition — Our Place in Space. This small free-of-charge showcase of ...
|
| Read more |
|
11 May 2018: The cutting-edge ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre provides unforgettable learning experiences for students of all ages. Engaging workshops, tours and two new educational planetarium shows all capture the night ...
|
| Read more |
|
5 April 2018: Over the past months, the ESO Supernova team has been preparing the programme for the new Planetarium & Visitor Centre, due to open to the public on 28 April 2018 ...
|
| Read more |
|
3 April 2018: The latest issue of the free magazine Science in School is now available online and in print. This European journal for science teachers offers up-to-date information on cutting-edge science, teaching ...
|
| Read more |
|
Interview with: Allison Man
11 May 2018: In April this year, four ESO astronomers travelled to Ghana in West Africa to spend a week teaching astronomy to everyone from postgraduate students to local fishermen. Their aim was ...
|
| Read more |
|
Author: Stephen Molyneux
4 May 2018: The ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre opened its doors to the public on 28 April 2018 and one of our writers, Stephen Molyneux, was there to check it out ...
|
| Read more |
|
Interview with: Suzanna Randall
27 April 2018: Over the last 40 years, 12 German men have journeyed into space — but no German women. The initiative Astronautin wants to change that. The ambitious programme is currently training ...
|
| Read more |
|
Interview with: Domenico Bonaccini Calia
20 April 2018: Scheduled for first light in the 2020s, a powerful new class of giant telescopes will study the Universe in more detail than ever before — as long as their adaptive ...
|
| Read more |
|
Interview with: Anita Zanella
13 April 2018: When most people picture an astronomer, they imagine a man in glasses peering up at the Universe through the lens of a huge telescope. While this might have been accurate ...
|
| Read more |
|
Interview with: Luigi Guzzo
6 April 2018: ESO’s telescopes are used to study everything from the tiny dust particles spinning around distant suns to the large-scale structure of galaxies. The Very Large Telescope has recently undertaken a ...
|
| Read more |
|
16 May 2018: Astronomers have used observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) to determine that star formation in the very distant galaxy MACS1149-JD1 started at ...
|
|
9 May 2018: An international team of astronomers has used ESO telescopes to investigate a relic of the primordial Solar System. The team found that the unusual Kuiper Belt Object 2004 EW95 is ...
|
| View and/or download |
|
7 May 2018: Most supernovae occur at the end of a massive star’s life, whose dramatic and catastrophic destruction is marked by one final explosion.
|
|
27 April 2018: On 26 April 2018, the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre was officially inaugurated, and its doors will be open to the public from tomorrow 28 April 2018. The centre, ...
|
|
25 April 2018: The ALMA and APEX telescopes have peered deep into space — back to the time when the Universe was one tenth of its current age — and witnessed the beginnings ...
|
|
11 April 2018: New images from the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope are revealing the dusty discs surrounding nearby young stars in greater detail than previously achieved. They show a bizarre ...
|
|
5 April 2018: New images from ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile and other telescopes reveal a rich landscape of stars and glowing clouds of gas in one of our closest neighbouring galaxies, ...
|
