Galaxy Clusters At Vircam (GCAV) is a survey (programme 198.A-2008, PI M. Nonino) belonging to the second cycle of ESO VISTA Public Surveys. It aims to observe 20 massive galaxy clusters covering in total ~30 deg² in the infrared Y, J, and Ks bands. Those clusters have also been observed in many ground- and space-based programmes (e.g. CLASH, RELICS, HFF/ BUFFALO). The survey will mainly explore galaxy evolution over a wide, and still largely unexplored, diversity of cluster environments. This second release adds new data of 15 galaxy clusters to the previous DR1.

After its success in the past two editions, ESO is now ready to launch its Summer Research Programme 2021. This fully-funded initiative is open to all university students not yet enrolled in a PhD programme from any country, although priority will be given to students from ESO Member States, Strategic Partners (Australia) and the Host State (Chile). Applications are now open with deadline 3rd of February 2021, 23:59 CET, and full details can be found on the Programme webpage.

Following the announced suspension of the regular Call for Proposals for ESO Period 107 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, ESO is implementing a special call for the submission of projects consisting of novel and urgent observations that could be executed during P107. This Special Call for Period 107 will be open only to proposals concerning a highly compelling and competitive scientific topic, requiring urgent observations; proposals of a risky nature, requiring a small amount of observing time to test the feasibility of a programme; and proposals asking for follow-up observations of a programme recently conducted from ground-based and/or space telescope facilities, where rapid implementation holds the promise of breakthrough results.

The gradual ramp-up of observing facilities at La Silla and Paranal continues, with FORS2, UVES, X-Shooter and MUSE (no-AO) being in operation on Paranal, and EFOSC2 and HARPS in operation on La Silla.  It is planned to add most of the remaining telescope and instrument systems by the end of the year, including the Adaptive Optics Facility at UT4 and the VLTI. The current status of the systems in operations can be consulted here.

ALMA started the ‘Operation Support Facility (OSF) Ramp-up phase’ on 21 October. During this phase, the focus of the recovery is on returning to normal services at the OSF, including food service, opening of labs and offices, and the confirmation of the stability of critical services.

The second data release from the Fornax Deep Survey with VST projects is now available on the ESO archive and it is accessible to the community via the Science Portal, programmatically, and via the Catalogue Query Interface. This data release follows the publication of the refereed paper by Cantiello et al. (2020).

Following the ongoing ramp-up to minimal science operations at Paranal, La Silla and APEX, observations with MUSE have resumed, and the instrument is now available for Director's Discretionary Time proposals.

The Space Telescope Science Institute, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, the Johns Hopkins University, European Southern Observatory, and Associated Universities, Inc. organized a Memorial Symposium to celebrate the life and work of our late friend and colleague Riccardo Giacconi. The Symposium was held in Washington, DC at the National Academy of Sciences on 29-30 May 2019. Presentations from the Symposium are now posted.

ESO is organising a virtual guided tour of the ESO sites to facilitate the interaction between recent ESO students in Chile and Germany and candidates interested in applying to the currently open programme. If you are considering applying for a studentship, ESO invites you to attend the tour on 5 November 2020, 14:00 CEST/10:00 CLT to discover the sites and learn more about the life of students at ESO, tips for your application or ask any other questions you might have. 

Due to the implications of the global pandemic and the suspension of science operations at the Paranal observatory since the end of March, ESO has postponed the end of VIRCAM operations, which were originally expected to take place until the end of Period 107 (30 September 2021). VIRCAM operations are now planned to go on until the end of Period 108 (31 March 2022). This extension should allow the completion of the remaining ongoing ESO Public Surveys, as well as Large Programmes approved by the OPC in previous periods.