The 106^th Observing Programmes Committee (OPC) met online on 29-30 June 2020. Based on the committee's recommendations to the ESO Director General, a total of 2688 (8-hour equivalent) nights of Visitor Mode and Service Mode observations were allocated on the VLT/VLTI, VISTA, VST, the 3.6-metre, and NTT, and APEX telescopes. The submission deadline for Phase 2 Service Mode observations is 3 September 2020; see the separate announcement for further details.

With the release of the telescope schedule, the preparation of Service Mode (SM) observations (Phase 2) starts. The deadline for the submission of the Phase 2 material for Period 106 observations is 3 September 2020.

ESO’s prestigious postdoctoral fellowship programme in both Garching (Germany) and Santiago (Chile) offers outstanding early-career scientists the opportunity to further develop their independent research programmes. From exoplanets to cosmology, observational, theoretical and fundamental astrophysics, these are all areas where ESO Fellows can benefit from a highly dynamic scientific environment, at some of the most advanced ground-based telescopes in the world. Do watch ESOCast 165 to hear what current ESO fellows have to say about the fellowship programme.

Due to the evolving situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in Chile, all ESO observatories continue in a  safe state with no science operations taking place. Visitor mode runs until September 10 have been cancelled. Users have been informed individually by ESO.

ESO Headquarters, Garching, Germany, 7-8 September 2020

ESO will organise the second edition of the La Silla Paranal Users Workshop as a series of online events, the first of which will take place in early September. If you are a La Silla Paranal Observatory user and are interested in the most up-to-date information, learning how to use the ESO Science Archive Facility, reducing ESO data or "face-to-face" contact with ESO experts working on various support services, this first instalment of the workshop is for you.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the lives of ALMA staff and users around the world. Although in some of the ALMA regions the situation is slowly improving, in other regions, including Chile, the evolution of the outbreak remains highly uncertain. Because of the on-going situation in Chile, ALMA operations unfortunately remain suspended. ALMA staff continue to monitor the situation very carefully and work on the development of detailed plans for the return to operations, which will be initiated when the situation allows. ALMA will keep updating the user community on the developments.

The APEX website has been renewed and improved in various areas. Some of the most remarkable updates are related to information about the recently upgraded telescope and new instrumentation available and the procedures to follow in order to apply for telescope time in the different queues. Also several tools, at the service of researchers who want to user APEX for their research, have been improved. Among these are the observing time estimators, the atmospheric tool calculator and the instrument setup tool.

Online, 12-16 October 2020

Ground-based astronomical observations in the thermal infrared wavelength regime (3-30 microns) provide a powerful tool to discover and characterise the most obscured and cool sources in the Universe. This workshop aims to bring together the experts in the field to review the science highlights from various thermal infrared instruments, from protoplanetary discs to active galactic nuclei. Some future facilities will be reviewed, and techniques and approaches for observations and calibrations will be compared, with the aim to reach the theoretical limit, the background-limited performance. This conference was originally planed for earlier this year and had to be postponed due to the Covid crisis. It will now be held online on 12-16 October. Participation is free of charge and all sessions will be recorded. Please see the conference webpage for more information.

The exceptional global conditions due to the Covid-19 pandemic have deeply affected science operations at ESO observatories, causing an unprecedented backlog of observations for high-priority programmes, including Large Programmes. ESO is studying a variety of measures to complete those programmes at the earliest possible time once operations are resumed, which may require the exceptional suspension of the Call for Proposals for Period 107 (April-October 2021). While the decision is not firm yet, researchers preparing or planning to submit proposals for Period 107 should take into account that such suspension is a real possibility.

Version 6 of the ESO Science Data Products standard is now published. It is a complete revision and restructuring of the previously published version available on the ESO Phase 3 web site. It now integrates the information published as separate addenda and in the Phase 3 frequently asked questions also. A major effort has been devoted to improve the readability and clarity of the text. Errors and typos have been corrected. The new version of the standard can be downloaded as a PDF document.