Italian Involvement with ESO

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), Italian astronomers found six galaxies lying around a supermassive black hole, as illustrated in this artist’s impression (Credit: ESO/L. Calçada)

Italy joined ESO as a Member State on 24 May 1982. As a long-standing member, the country’s community of scientists and engineers have contributed to ESO projects in many key ways, from Italian staff taking up leading roles in developing ESO telescopes to Italian industry being awarded valuable contracts to develop instruments and telescope components. 

Italy currently contributes 11.27% of ESO’s revenue (2021 contribution), worth 21 642 000 EUR. 

As of mid 2022, there are 80 Italian nationals employed at ESO, 64 in Germany and 16 in Chile. Furthermore, ESO has awarded 72 studentships, 36 fellowships and 16 internships to Italian nationals since 2004. 

Italy is represented in the various ESO governing and advisory bodies by astronomers and policy experts; the current Italian representatives of ESO’s various committees with national representation can be found here. 

The ESO Science Outreach Network (ESON) includes Italian representatives who act as ESO’s media and outreach local contacts. 

Here follows some information about Italy’s involvement with ESO. 

Discoveries by Italy-based astronomers using ESO telescopes 

Italy has led and contributed towards a considerable number of astronomical discoveries with the use of ESO telescopes. Some recent examples include 

• Marco Mignoli (INAF, Bologna) and collaborators who found six galaxies, trapped in the web of a supermassive black hole. The discovery marked the first time such a high density of galaxies was found close to a supermassive black hole early in the Universe’s history (less than a billion years after the Big Bang), and the discovery helped support the theory on how these types of black holes form.
• Yazan Momany (INAF Astronomical Observatory of Padua) who led a team that discovered giant spots on the surface of extremely hot stars, using several instruments on ESO’s VLT and the VLT Survey Telescope (VST). The findings help astronomers better understand these puzzling stars. 
• A study led by Víctor Rivilla (INAF Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Florence) in which astronomers traced the origin of phosphorus-bearing molecules and showed how these essential building blocks for life as we know it ended up on Earth. 
• The discovery of the galaxy proto-supercluster “Hyperion” by Italian astronomer Olga Cucciati (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Bologna) and her team using the VIMOS instrument on the VLT. The cluster is the most massive and largest structure ever found so early in the history of the Universe – only 2 billion years after the Big Bang.  

Italian involvement in ESO instruments and telescopes at ESO sites 

Italy has contributed to many aspects of ESO, with many Italian institutions behind a plethora of instruments, ESO telescopes and telescopes based at ESO sites. A subset of these includes  

• Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES), which is installed on Unit Telescope 2 of the VLT. The instrument was built by the Observatory of Trieste together with ESO and made first light in October 1999.  
• The 2.6-metre VST which was inaugurated in 2011 and designed by the Astronomical Observatory of INAF at Capodimonte, Naples. All components apart from the main optics, were built by Italian industries, and INAF managed the construction and assembly at Paranal. The VST’s OmegaCAM instrument was also designed and built by an Italian-led consortium. 
• The development of the future MAVIS instrument, to be installed on the VLT and which the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) has a major role in. 
• Several VLT instruments, which Italian institutes have played key roles in the development and design of, include: ESPRESSO (INAF Osservatorio di Trieste, INAF Osservatorio di Brera), the upgraded CRIRES (INAF Osservatorio di Arcetri, INAF Osservatorio di Bologna), FLAMES (INAF Osservatorio di Bologna, INAF Osservatorio di Capoterra, INAF Osservatorio di Palermo, and INAF Osservatorio di Trieste) and VIMOS (Istituto di Radioastronomia, Milano’s Istituto di Fisica Cosmica e Tecnologie Relative, INAF Osservatorio di Capodimonte), to name just a few.  
• The Rapid Eye Mount (REM) telescope which is an INAF-operated telescope hosted at ESO on La Silla. The purpose of the telescope is to do follow-up observations of gamma-ray bursts. 
• Italy's future membership of CTA ERIC, the European Research Infrastructure Consortium, that will construct and operate the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The CTA will be a ground-based observatory for very high energy gamma-ray astronomy. It will consist of two arrays of dishes, a southern-hemisphere array hosted at ESO’s Paranal Observatory and a northern array on the island of La Palma, Spain. ESO will also be a member of the CTA ERIC and is represented in the council of the CTA. Italy will also host the future CTA ERIC headquarters in Bologna. 

Italian involvement in ELT instruments 

Italy is part of the development of many of the instruments for ESO’s upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), namely 

• MORFEO (previously known as MAORY), which will help compensate for the distortion of light caused by turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere which makes astronomical images blurry. INAF is the lead institute in the MORFEO consortium, responsible for the design and construction of the instrument at system level. 
• ANDES (previously known as HIRES), a high-resolution spectrograph with the main scientific aim of characterising exoplanetary atmospheres. INAF is also the lead technical institute for the ANDES instrument.
• MICADO, the ELT’s Multi-AO Imaging Camera for Deep Observations. INAF, represented by the Observatory of Padova, is part of the consortium behind this instrument
• MOSAIC, a multi-object spectrograph which can study many objects at once, with the main scientific aim of studying the first galaxies. INAF Roma is part of the consortium. 

Italian industry and technology contributions to ESO 

Italy has contributed to many aspects of ESO, with many contracts awarded to Italian industry, including  

• The 4 Laser Guide Star Facility for the VLT, which is key for obtaining sharp images, and has been developed by Italian companies Optec and Astel in collaboration with the INAF Roma.
• In 2005, when ESO signed a contract with a consortium led by Italy’s Alcatel Alenia Space and composed also of European Industrial Engineering (Italy) and MT Aerospace (Germany), to supply 25 antennas for ALMA, along with an option for another seven antennas. The contract covers the design, manufacture, transport and on-site integration of the antennas.
• Alcatel Alenia Space, which developed fringe sensor units for ESO’s VLT interferometer 
• Microgate Srl, which developed a deformable mirror for ESO's Very Large Telescope
• Costruzioni Apparecchiature, which produced a front-end DC power supply for ALMA 

Italian industry contributions to the ELT 

Italian companies have been instrumental in the design and construction of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope. Some of the most valuable industrial partners include 

• The ACe consortium, composed of Italian companies Astaldi and Cimolai. On 25 May 2016 ESO awarded the largest ever ground-based astronomy contract with this consortium. The contract covers the design, manufacture, transport, construction, on-site assembly and verification of the dome and telescope structure of the ELT.  
• The Italian E.I.E. Group, which conducted a design study for the ELT dome. 
• The AdOptica consortium, which was awarded a contract to design and manufacture the M4 and the M4 gas cooling unit. 
• Microgate Srl, which has been responsible for the design study for the M4 adaptive unit.