ESO Top News

Astronomers detect matter torn apart by black hole

information@eso.org (ESO education and Public Outreach Department) — 18 Nov 2008 15:40:00 +0100

ESO 41/08 - Science release: Astronomers have used two different telescopes simultaneously to study the violent flares from the supermassive black hole in the centre of the Milky Way. They have detected outbursts from this region, known as Sagittarius A*, which reveal material being stretched out as it orbits in the intense gravity close to the central black hole.

APEX reveals glowing stellar nurseries

information@eso.org (ESO education and Public Outreach Department) — 11 Nov 2008 11:40:00 +0100

ESO 40/08 - Photo release: Illustrating the power of submillimetre-wavelength astronomy, an APEX image reveals how an expanding bubble of ionised gas about ten light-years across is causing the surrounding material to collapse into dense clumps that are the birthplaces of new stars. Submillimetre light is the key to revealing some of the coldest material in the Universe, such as these cold, dense clouds.

A Pool of Distant Galaxies

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 07 Nov 2008 15:30:00 +0100

ESO 39/08 - Photo release: Anyone who has wondered what it might be like to dive into a pool of millions of distant galaxies of different shapes and colours, will enjoy the latest image released by ESO. Obtained in part with the Very Large Telescope, the image is the deepest ground-based U-band image of the Universe ever obtained. It contains more than 27 million pixels and is the result of 55 hours of observations with the VIMOS instrument.

Blockbuster starring ESO Paranal opens tomorrow

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 30 Oct 2008 00:01:00 +0100

ESO 38/08 - Organisational release: The 22nd James Bond adventure is due for release tomorrow, 31 October 2008, in the UK and a week later in the rest of the world. A key location in the movie is the Residencia, the hotel for astronomers and staff at ESO's Paranal Observatory.

A claret-coloured cloud with a massive heart

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 21 Oct 2008 16:30:00 +0200

ESO 37/08 - Press Photo: A new image released by ESO shows the amazing intricacies of a vast stellar nursery, which goes by the name of Gum 29. In the centre, a small cluster of stars - called Westerlund 2 - has been found to be the home of one of the most massive double star systems known to astronomers.

Violent flickering in Black Holes

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 14 Oct 2008 15:00:00 +0200

ESO 36/08 - Science Release: Unique observations of the flickering light from the surroundings of two black holes provide new insights into the colossal energy that flows at their hearts. By mapping out how well the variations in visible light match those in X-rays on very short timescales, astronomers have shown that magnetic fields must play a crucial role in the way black holes swallow matter.

Infant stars at feeding time

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 10 Oct 2008 15:00:00 +0200

ESO 35/08 - Science Release: Astronomers have used ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer to conduct the first high resolution survey that combines spectroscopy and interferometry on intermediate-mass infant stars. They obtained a very precise view of the processes acting in the discs that feed stars as they form. These mechanisms include material infalling onto the star as well as gas being ejected, probably as a wind from the disc.

Born from the Wind

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 8 Oct 2008 08:30:00 +0200

ESO 34/08 - Press Photo: Telescopes on the ground and in space have teamed up to compose a colourful image that offers a fresh look at the history of the star-studded region NGC 346. This new, ethereal portrait, in which different wavelengths of light swirl together like watercolours, reveals new information about how stars form.

Sharpening Up Jupiter

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 2 Oct 2008 13:30:00 +0200

ESO 33/08 - Press Photo: A record two-hour observation of Jupiter using a superior technique to remove atmospheric blur has produced the sharpest whole-planet picture ever taken from the ground. The series of 265 snapshots obtained with the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator prototype instrument mounted on ESO's Very Large Telescope reveal changes in Jupiter's smog-like haze, probably in response to a planet-wide upheaval more than a year ago.

The Wild, Hidden Cousin of SN 1987A

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 25 Sep 2008 13:30:00 +0200

ESO 32/08 - Science Release: Over a decade after it exploded, one of the nearest supernovae in the last 25 years has been identified. This result was made possible by combining data from the vast online archives from many of the world's premier telescopes.

The Hibernating Stellar Magnet

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 24 Sep 2008 19:00:00 +0200

ESO 31/08 - Science Release: Astronomers have discovered a most bizarre celestial object that emitted 40 visible-light flashes before disappearing again. It is most likely to be a missing link in the family of neutron stars, the first case of an object with an amazingly powerful magnetic field that showed some brief, strong visible-light activity.

Pinning down the Milky Way's spin

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 19 Sep 2008 17:40:00 +0200

ESO 30/08 - Science Release: New, very precise measurements have shown that the rotation of the Milky Way is simpler than previously thought. A remarkable result from the most successful ESO instrument HARPS, shows that a much debated, apparent 'fall' of neighbourhood Cepheid stars towards our Sun stems from an intrinsic property of the Cepheids themselves.

Future Looks Bright for Interferometry

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 18 Sep 2008 21:00:00 +0200

ESO 29/08 - Instrument Release: The PRIMA instrument of the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) recently saw "first light" at its new home atop Cerro Paranal in Chile. When fully operational, PRIMA will boost the capabilities of the VLTI to see sources much fainter than any previous interferometers, and enable astrometric precision unmatched by any other existing astronomical facility. PRIMA will be a unique tool for the detection of exoplanets.

The Double Firing Burst

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 10 Sep 2008 19:00:00 +0200

ESO 28/08 - Science Release: Astronomers from around the world combined data from ground- and space-based telescopes to paint a detailed portrait of the brightest explosion ever seen. The observations reveal that the jets of the gamma-ray burst called GRB 080319B were aimed almost directly at the Earth.

Mind the Gap

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 8 Sep 2008 12:00:00 +0200

ESO 27/08 - Science Release: Astronomers have been able to study planet-forming discs around young Sun-like stars in unsurpassed detail, clearly revealing the motion and distribution of the gas in the inner parts of the disc. This result, which possibly implies the presence of giant planets, relies on the use of a very clever method enabled by ESO's Very Large Telescope.

A Fine-Tooth Comb to Measure the Accelerating Universe

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 4 Sep 2008 20:00:00 +0200

ESO 26/08 - Instrument Release: Astronomical instruments needed to answer crucial questions, such as the search for Earth-like planets or the way the Universe expands, have come a step closer with the first demonstration at the telescope of a new calibration system for precise spectrographs. The method uses a Nobel Prize-winning technology called a 'laser frequency comb', and is published in this week's issue of Science.

The Thousand-Ruby Galaxy

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 2 Sep 2008 10:00:00 +0200

ESO 25/08 - Press Photo: ESO's Wide Field Imager has captured the intricate swirls of the spiral galaxy Messier 83, a smaller look-alike of our own Milky Way. Shining with the light of billions of stars and the ruby red glow of hydrogen gas, it is a beautiful example of a barred spiral galaxy, whose shape has led to it being nicknamed the Southern Pinwheel.

How Do Galaxies Grow?

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 26 Aug 2008 11:00:00 +0200

ESO 24/08 - Science Release: Astronomers have caught multiple massive galaxies in the act of merging about 4 billion years ago. This discovery, made possible by combining the power of the best ground- and space-based telescopes, uniquely supports the favoured theory of how galaxies form.

The Quiet Explosion

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 24 Jul 2008 20:00:00 +0200

ESO 23/08 - Science Release: A European-led team of astronomers are providing hints that a recent supernova may not be as normal as initially thought. Instead, the star that exploded is now understood to have collapsed into a black hole, producing a weak jet, typical of much more violent events, the so-called gamma-ray bursts. This discovery represents a crucial milestone in the understanding of the most violent phenomena observed in the Universe.

Watching a 'New Star' Make the Universe Dusty

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 24 Jul 2008 13:00:00 +0200

ESO 22/08 - Science Release: Using ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer, and its remarkable acuity, astronomers were able for the first time to witness the appearance of a shell of dusty gas around a star that just erupted, and follow its evolution for more than 100 days. This provides the astronomers with a new way to estimate the distance of this object and obtain invaluable information on the operating mode of stellar vampires, dense stars that suck material from a companion.

Accretion Discs Show Their True Colours

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 23 Jul 2008 19:00:00 +0200

ESO 21/08 - Science Release: Quasars are the brilliant cores of remote galaxies, at the hearts of which lie supermassive black holes that can generate enough power to outshine the Sun a trillion times. These mighty power sources are fuelled by interstellar gas, thought to be sucked into the hole from a surrounding 'accretion disc', and new observations verify a long-standing prediction about the intensely luminous radiation emitted by these accretion discs.

Austria to join ESO on 1 July 2008

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 30 Jun 2008 16:30:00 +0200

ESO 20/08 - Organisation Release: At a ceremony in Vienna, the Austrian Minister for Science and Research, Johannes Hahn and the ESO Director General, Tim de Zeeuw, signed the formal Accession Agreement between Austria and ESO, paving the way for Austria to join ESO as its 14th member state by 1 July this year.

A Trio of Super-Earths

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 16 Jun 2008 09:30:00 +0200

ESO 19/08 - Science Release: Using the HARPS instrument at the ESO La Silla Observatory, European astronomers have found a system of three super-Earths around the star HD 40307. The astronomers also found that one solar-like star out of three harbours short orbit, low-mass planets.

Shaw Prize Goes to Reinhard Genzel

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 10 Jun 2008 16:00:00 +0200

ESO 18/08 - Organisation Release: The Shaw Prize in Astronomy for 2008 is awarded to Professor Reinhard Genzel, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), in recognition of his outstanding contribution in demonstrating that the Milky Way contains a supermassive black hole at its centre, a result largely obtained with the help of ESO's telescopes.

The Little Man and the Cosmic Cauldron

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 27 May 2008 17:00:00 +0200

ESO 17/08 - Press Photo: On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Very Large Telescope's First Light, ESO is releasing two stunning images of different kinds of nebulae, located towards the Carina constellation. The first one, Eta Carinae, has the shape of a 'little man' and surrounds a star doomed to explode within the next 100 000 years. The second image features a much larger nebula, whose internal turmoil is created by a cluster of young, massive stars.

The Perfect Science Machine

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 27 May 2008 17:00:00 +0200

ESO 16/08 - Organisation Release: Today marks the 10th anniversary since First Light with ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), the most advanced optical telescope in the world. Since then, the VLT has evolved into a unique suite of four 8.2-m Unit Telescopes (UTs) equipped with no fewer than 13 state-of-the-art instruments, and four 1.8-m moveable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs).

The Behemoth Has a Thick Belt

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 27 May 2008 12:00:00 +0200

ESO 15/08 - Science Release: Talk about a diet! By resolving, for the first time, features of an individual star in a neighbouring galaxy, ESO's VLT has allowed astronomers to determine that it weighs almost half of what was previously thought, thereby solving the mystery of its existence. The behemoth star is found to be surrounded by a massive and thick torus of gas and dust, and is most likely experiencing unstable, violent mass loss.

Stellar students win fantastic prizes

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 23 May 2008 12:00:00 +0200

ESO 14/08 - Organisation Release: School students and teachers across Europe and around the world are discovering today who has won fantastic prizes in 'Catch a Star', the international astronomical competition run by ESO and the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE).

A Molecular Thermometer for the Distant Universe

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 13 May 2008 00:01:00 +0200

ESO 13/08 - Science Release: Astronomers have made use of ESO's Very Large Telescope to detect for the first time in the ultraviolet the carbon monoxide molecule in a galaxy located almost 11 billion light-years away, a feat that had remained elusive for 25 years. This detection allows them to obtain the most precise measurement of the cosmic temperature at such a remote epoch.

Solar Games at Paranal

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 2 May 2008 14:00:00 +0200

ESO 12/08 - Press Photo: Cerro Paranal, home of ESO's Very Large Telescope, is certainly one of the best astronomical sites on the planet. Stunning images, obtained by ESO staff at Paranal, of the green and blue flashes, as well as of the so-called 'Gegenschein', are real cases in point.

Austria Declares Intent To Join ESO

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 24 Apr 2008 18:00:00 +0200

ESO 11/08 - Organisation Release: At a press conference today at the University of Vienna's Observatory, the Austrian Science Minister Johannes Hahn announced the decision by the Austrian Government to seek membership of ESO from 1 July this year.

Paranal Receives New Mirror

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 17 Apr 2008 12:00:00 +0200

ESO 10/08 - Organisation Release: A 4.1-metre diameter primary mirror, a vital part of the world's newest and fastest survey telescope, VISTA (the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) has been delivered to its new mountaintop home at Cerro Paranal, Chile. The mirror will now be coupled with a small camera for initial testing prior to installing the main camera in June. Full scientific operations are due to start early next year. VISTA will form part of ESO's Very Large Telescope facility.

The Drifting Star

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 15 Apr 2008 09:00:00 +0200

ESO 09/08 - Science Release: By studying in great detail the 'ringing' of a planet-harbouring star, a team of astronomers using ESO's 3.6-m telescope have shown that it must have drifted away from the metal-rich Hyades cluster. This discovery has implications for theories of star and planet formation, and for the dynamics of our Milky Way.

A Burst to See

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 2 Apr 2008 21:00:00 +0100

ESO 08/08 - Science Release: On 19 March, Nature was particularly generous and provided astronomers with the wealth of four gamma-ray bursts on the same day. But that was not all: one of them is the most luminous object ever observed in the Universe. Despite being located in a distant galaxy, billions of light years away, it was so bright that it could have been seen, for a brief while, with the unaided eye.

A Giant of Astronomy and a Quantum of Solace - James Bond filming at Paranal

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 25 Mar 2008 04:01:00 +0100

ESO 007/08 - Organisation Release: Cerro Paranal, the 2600m high mountain in the Chilean Atacama Desert that hosts ESO's Very Large Telescope, will be the stage for scenes in the next James Bond movie, "Quantum of Solace".

Seeing through the Dark

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 7 Mar 2008 11:01:00 +0100

ESO 06/08 - Science Release: Astronomers have measured the distribution of mass inside a dark filament in a molecular cloud with an amazing level of detail and to great depth. The measurement is based on a new method that looks at the scattered near-infrared light or 'cloudshine' and was made with ESO's New Technology Telescope. Associated with the forthcoming VISTA telescope, this new technique will allow astronomers to better understand the cradles of newborn stars.

Light echoes whisper the distance to a star

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 11 Feb 2008 01:01:00 +0100

ESO 05/08 - Science Release: Taking advantage of the presence of light echoes, a team of astronomers have used an ESO telescope to measure, at the 1% precision level, the distance of a Cepheid - a class of variable stars that constitutes one of the first steps in the cosmic distance ladder.

New Light on Dark Energy

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 30 Jan 2008 19:00:00 +0100

ESO 04/08 - Science Release: Astronomers have used ESO's Very Large Telescope to measure the distribution and motions of thousands of galaxies in the distant Universe. This opens fascinating perspectives to better understand what drives the acceleration of the cosmic expansion and sheds new light on the mysterious dark energy that is thought to permeate the Universe.

The Growing-up of a Star

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 29 Jan 2008 11:01:00 +0100

ESO 03/08 - Science Release: Using ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer, astronomers have probed the inner parts of the disc of material surrounding a young stellar object, witnessing how it gains its mass before becoming an adult.

Cosmic Interactions

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 21 Jan 2008 11:01:00 +0100

ESO 02/08 - Press Photo: An image based on data taken with ESO's Very Large Telescope reveals a triplet of galaxies intertwined in a cosmic dance.

ESO PR Highlights in 2007

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 02 Jan 2008 12:01:00 +0100

ESO 01/08 - Organisation Release: Another great year went by for ESO, the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere.

Anatomy of a Bird

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 21 Dec 2007 00:01:00 +0100

ESO 55/07 - Press Photo: Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, an international team of astronomers has discovered a stunning rare case of a triple merger of galaxies. This system, which astronomers have dubbed 'The Bird' - albeit it also bears resemblance with a cosmic Tinker Bell - is composed of two massive spiral galaxies and a third irregular galaxy.

2009 to be the International Year of Astronomy

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 20 Dec 2007 09:01:00 +0100

ESO 54/07 - Organisation Release: Today, the 62nd General Assembly of the United Nations has proclaimed 2009 the International Year of Astronomy, with the aim of increasing awareness among the public of the importance of astronomical sciences and of promoting widespread access to new knowledge and experiences of astronomical observation.

Speedy Mic's Photograph

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 19 Dec 2007 12:01:00 +0100

ESO 53/07 - Science Release: Using observations from ESO's VLT, astronomers were able for the first time to reconstruct the site of a flare on a solar-like star located 150 light years away. The study of this young star, nicknamed 'Speedy Mic' because of its fast rotation, will help scientists better understand the youth of our Sun.

Discovering Teenage Galaxies

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 28 Nov 2007 00:01:00 +0100

ESO 52/07 - Science Release: Staring for the equivalent of every night for two weeks at the same little patch of sky with ESO's Very Large Telescope, an international team of astronomers has found the extremely faint light from teenage galaxies billions of light years away. These galaxies, which the research team believes are the building blocks of normal galaxies like our Milky Way, had eluded detection for three decades, despite intensive searches.

ESO Helps Antofagasta Region after the Earthquake

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 23 Nov 2007 19:00:00 +0100

ESO 51/07 - Organisation Release: In an act of solidarity with the local community and its authorities, ESO, following the major earthquake, announced a donation of 30 millions Chilean pesos (around 40,000 euros) to Antofagasta's Regional Government to support reconstruction in the Region II.

Close to the Sky

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 23 Nov 2007 14:00:00 +0100

ESO 50/07 - ALMA Release: Today, a new ALMA outreach and educational book was publicly presented to city officials of San Pedro de Atacama in Chile, as part of the celebrations of the anniversary of the Andean village.

A Galaxy for Science and Research

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 9 Nov 2007 15:00:00 +0100

ESO 49/07 - Press Photo: During his visit to ESO's Very Large Telescope at Paranal, the European Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potocnik, participated in an observing sequence and took images of a beautiful spiral galaxy.

Commissioner Potočnik at Paranal Observatory

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 29 Oct 2007 15:00:00 +0100

ESO 48/07 - Organisation Release: As part of his first official trip to Brazil and Chile, the European Science and Research Commissioner, Janez Potočnik, visited Europe's flagship for ground-based astronomy, the ESO Paranal Observatory.

Drizzly Mornings on Xanadu

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 11 Oct 2007 20:00:00 +0100

ESO 47/07 - Science Release: Noted for its bizarre hydrocarbon lakes and frozen methane clouds, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, also appears to have widespread drizzles of methane. New near-infrared images from ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile and the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii show for the first time a nearly global cloud cover at high elevations and, dreary as it may seem, a widespread and persistent morning drizzle of methane over the western foothills of Titan's major continent, Xanadu.

Catch a Star 2008

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 5 Oct 2007 12:00:00 +0200

ESO 46/07 - Organisation Release: ESO and the European Association for Astronomy Education have just launched the 2008 edition of 'Catch a Star', their international astronomy competition for school students. Now in its sixth year, the competition offers students the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to ESO's flagship observatory in Chile, as well as many other prizes.

A Colossus Gets its Name

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 5 Oct 2007 12:00:00 +0200

ESO 45/07 - ALMA Release: Today, the first of the two ALMA antenna transporters was given its name at a ceremony on the compounds of the manufacturer, the heavy-vehicle specialist Scheuerle Fahrzeugfabrik GmbH, in Baden-Wuerttemberg. The colossus, 10 metres wide, 20 metres long and 6 metres high, will be shipped to Chile by the end of the month. The second one will follow in a few weeks.

A Grand Vision for European Astronomy

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 28 Sep 2007 12:00:00 +0200

ESO 44/07 - ASTRONET Release: Today, and for the first time, astronomers share their global Science Vision for European Astronomy in the next two decades. This two-year long effort by the ASTRONET network of funding agencies, sponsored by the European Commission and coordinated by INSU-CNRS, underscores Europe's ascension to world leadership in astronomy and its will to maintain that position. It will be followed in just over a year by a prioritised roadmap for the observational facilities needed to implement the Vision. Implementation of these plans will ensure that Europe fully contributes to Mankind's ever deeper understanding of the wonders of our Universe.

Into the Chrysalis

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 27 Sep 2007 14:00:00 +0200

ESO 43/07 - Science Release: A team of European astronomers has used ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer and its razor-sharp eyes to discover a reservoir of dust trapped in a disc that surrounds an elderly star. The discovery provides additional clues about the shaping of planetary nebulae.

The Frugal Cosmic Ant

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 27 Sep 2007 14:00:00 +0200

ESO 42/07 - Science Release: Using ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer and its unique ability to see small details, astronomers have uncovered a flat, nearly edge-on disc of silicates in the heart of the magnificent Ant Nebula. The disc seems, however, too 'skinny' to explain how the nebula got its intriguing ant-like shape.

A Warm South Pole? Yes, on Neptune!

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 18 Sep 2007 10:00:00 +0200

ESO 41/07 - Science Release: An international team of astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope has discovered that the south pole of Neptune is much hotter than the rest of the planet. This is consistent with the fact that it is late southern summer and this region has been in sunlight for about 40 years.

Galaxy 'Hunting' Made Easy

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 14 Sep 2007 10:30:00 +0200

ESO 40/07 - Science Release: Astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope have discovered in a single pass about a dozen otherwise invisible galaxies halfway across the Universe. The discovery, based on a technique that exploits a first-class instrument, represents a major breakthrough in the field of galaxy 'hunting'.

Edge-on!

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 24 Aug 2007 08:30:00 +0200

ESO 37/07 - Press Photo: As Uranus coasts through a brief window of time when its rings are edge-on to Earth - a view of the planet we get only once every 42 years - astronomers peering at the rings with ESO's Very Large Telescope and other space or ground-based telescopes are getting an unprecedented view of the fine dust in the system, free from the glare of the bright rocky rings. They may even find a new moon or two.

HAWK-I Takes Off

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 22 Aug 2007 15:30:00 +0200

ESO 36/07 - Instrument Release: Europe's flagship ground-based astronomical facility, the ESO VLT, has been equipped with a new 'eye' to study the Universe. Working in the near-infrared, the new instrument - dubbed HAWK-I - covers about 1/10th the area of the Full Moon in a single exposure. It is uniquely suited to the discovery and study of faint objects, such as distant galaxies or small stars and planets.

First Light for World's Largest 'Thermometer Camera'

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 4 Aug 2007 22:00:00 +0200

ESO 35/07 - Instrument Release: The world's largest bolometer camera for submillimetre astronomy is now in service at the 12-m APEX telescope, located on the 5100m high Chajnantor plateau in the Chilean Andes. LABOCA was specifically designed for the study of extremely cold astronomical objects and, with its large field of view and very high sensitivity, will open new vistas in our knowledge of how stars form and how the first galaxies emerged from the Big Bang.

Star Caught Smoking

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 3 Aug 2007 14:00:00 +0200

ESO 34/07 - Science Release: Using ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer, astronomers from France and Brazil have detected a huge cloud of dust around a star. This observation is further evidence for the theory that such stellar puffs are the cause of the repeated extreme dimming of the star.

The Planet, the Galaxy and the Laser

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 2 Aug 2007 13:00:00 +0200

ESO 33/07 - Press Photo: On the night of 21 July, ESO astronomer Yuri Beletsky took images of the night sky above Paranal, the 2600m high mountain in the Chilean Atacama Desert home to ESO's Very Large Telescope. The amazing images bear witness to the unique quality of the sky, revealing not only the Milky Way in all its splendour but also the planet Jupiter and the laser beam used at Yepun, one of the 8.2-m telescopes that make up this extraordinary facility.

Birth of a Colossus on Wheels

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 30 Jul 2007 15:00:00 +0200

ESO 32/07 - ALMA Release: The first of two spectacular vehicles for the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) Observatory rolled out of its hangar and passed successfully a series of tests. This vehicle, the ALMA antenna transporter, is a rather exceptional 'lorry' driving on 28 tyres. It is 10m wide, 20m long and 6m high, weighs 130 tons and has as much power as two Formula 1 engines. This colossus will be able to transport a 115-ton antenna and set it down on a concrete pad within millimetres of a prescribed position.

The Gobbling Dwarf that Exploded

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 12 Jul 2007 20:00:00 +0200

ESO 31/07 - Science Release: A unique set of observations, obtained with ESO's VLT, has allowed astronomers to find direct evidence for the material that surrounded a star before it exploded as a Type Ia supernova. This strongly supports the scenario in which the explosion occurred in a system where a white dwarf is fed by a red giant.

GROND Takes Off

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 6 Jul 2007 18:00:00 +0200

ESO 30/07 - Instrument Release: A new instrument has seen First Light at the ESO La Silla Observatory. Equipping the 2.2-m MPI/ESO telescope, GROND takes images simultaneously in seven colours. It will be mostly used to determine distances of gamma-ray bursts.

Star Surface Polluted by Planetary Debris

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 6 Jul 2007 18:00:00 +0200

ESO 29/07 - Science Release: Looking at the chemical composition of stars that host planets, astronomers have found that while dwarf stars often show iron enrichment on their surface, giant stars do not. The astronomers think that the planetary debris falling onto the outer layer of the star produces a detectable effect in a dwarf star, but this pollution is diluted by the giant star and mixed into its interior.

Back on Track

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 19 Jun 2007 16:00:00 +0200

ESO 28/07 - Science Release: Observing the image of a faint object that lies close to a star is a demanding task as the object is generally hidden in the glare of the star. Characterising this object, by taking spectra, is an even harder challenge. Still, thanks to ingenious scientists and a new ESO imaging spectrograph, this is now feasible, paving the way to an eldorado of many new thrilling discoveries.

Free from the Atmosphere

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 13 Jun 2007 08:30:00 +0200

ESO 27/07 - Instrument Release: An artificial, laser-fed star now shines regularly over the sky of Paranal, home of ESO's Very Large Telescope, one of the world's most advanced large ground-based telescopes. This system provides assistance for the adaptive optics instruments on the VLT and so allows astronomers to obtain images free from the blurring effect of the atmosphere, regardless of the brightness and the location on the sky of the observed target. Now that it is routinely offered by the observatory, the skies seem much sharper to astronomers.

Matter Flashed at Ultra Speed

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 12 Jun 2007 13:30:00 +0200

ESO 26/07 - Science Release: Using a robotic telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory, astronomers have for the first time measured the velocity of the explosions known as gamma-ray bursts. The material is travelling at the extraordinary speed of more than 99.999% of the velocity of light, the maximum speed limit in the Universe.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 31 May 2007 13:30:00 +0200

ESO 25/07 - Science Release: Using ESO's VLTI on Cerro Paranal and the VLBA facility operated by NRAO, an international team of astronomers has made what is arguably the most detailed study of the environment of a pulsating red giant star, leading to significant progress in our understanding of the mechanism of how, before dying, evolved stars lose mass and return it to the interstellar medium.

A Brown Dwarf Joins the Jet-Set

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 23 May 2007 13:00:00 +0200

ESO 24/07 - Science Release: Jets of matter have been discovered around a very low mass 'failed star', mimicking a process seen in young stars. This suggests that these 'brown dwarfs' form in a similar manner to normal stars but also that outflows are driven out by objects as massive as hundreds of millions of solar masses down to Jupiter-sized objects.

A Galactic Fossil

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 10 May 2007 20:00:00 +0200

ESO 23/07 - Science Release: How old are the oldest stars? Using ESO's VLT, astronomers recently measured the age of a star located in our Galaxy. The star, a real fossil, is found to be 13.2 billion years old, not very far from the 13.7 billion years age of the Universe. The star, HE 1523-0901, was clearly born at the dawn of time.

Astronomers Find First Earth-like Planet in Habitable Zone

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 25 Apr 2007 01:00:00 +0200

ESO 22/07 - Science Release: Astronomers have discovered the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date, an exoplanet with a radius only 50% larger than the Earth and capable of having liquid water.

ESO Messenger No. 127 is available for download

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 20 Apr 2007 12:55:00 +0200

ESO Messenger No. 127 (March 2007; 80pp). Highlights: X. Barcons: Astronomy in Spain; R. Gilmozzo, J. Spyromilio: The European Extremely Large Telescope; F. Malbet et al.: AMBER Science; C. Franson et al. and J. Danziger, 20 years of SN 1987A; M. Grenon: Nature around the ALMA site.

School students "Catch a Star"!

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 13 Apr 2007 15:00:00 +0100

ESO 21/07 - Organisation News: School students from across Europe and beyond have won prizes in an astronomy competition, including the trip of a lifetime to one of the world's most powerful astronomical observatories, on a mountaintop in Chile. ESO, the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, together with the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE), has just announced the winners of the 2007 "Catch a Star!" competition.

Breathing Stars

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 3 Apr 2007 09:00:00 +0100

ESO 20/07 - ALMA Release: The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) astronomical project will not only enlarge our knowledge of the vast Universe beyond the imaginable. It will also help scientists learn more about the human body.

New Adaptive Optics Technique Demonstrated

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 30 Mar 2007 15:00:00 +0100

ESO 19/07 - Instrument Release: On the evening of 25 March 2007, the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) achieved First Light at the Visitor Focus of Melipal, the third Unit Telescope of the Very Large Telescope (VLT). MAD allowed the scientists to obtain images corrected for the blurring effect of atmospheric turbulence over the full 2x2 arcminute field of view. This world premiere shows the promises of a crucial technology for Extremely Large Telescopes.

The Impossible Siblings

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 29 Mar 2007 10:00:00 +0100

ESO 18/07 - Press Photo: Combining precise observations obtained by ESO's Very Large Telescope with those gathered by a network of smaller telescopes, astronomers have described in unprecedented detail the double asteroid Antiope, which is shown to be a pair of rubble-pile chunks of material, of about the same size, whirling around one another in a perpetual pas de deux. The two components are egg-shaped despite their very small sizes.

Controlled by Distant Explosions

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 28 Mar 2007 10:00:00 +0100

ESO 17/07 - Press Photo: At 11:08 pm on 17 April 2006, an alarm rang in the Control Room of ESO's Very Large Telescope on Paranal, Chile. Fortunately, it did not announce any catastrophe on the mountain, nor with one of the world's largest telescopes. Instead, it signalled the doom of a massive star, 9.3 billion light-years away, whose final scream of agony - a powerful burst of gamma rays - had been recorded by the Swift satellite only two minutes earlier. The alarm was triggered by the activation of the VLT Rapid Response Mode, a novel system that allows for robotic observations without any human intervention, except for the alignment of the spectrograph slit.

The Purple Rose of Virgo

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 27 Mar 2007 10:00:00 +0100

ESO 16/07 - Press Photo: Until now NGC 5584 was just one galaxy among many others, located to the West of the Virgo Cluster. Known only as a number in galaxy surveys, its sheer beauty is now revealed in all its glory in a new VLT image. Since 1 March, this purple cosmic rose also holds the brightest stellar explosion of the year, known as SN 2007af.

Fingerprinting the Milky Way

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 22 Mar 2007 15:00:00 +0100

ESO 15/07 - Science Release: Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, an international team of astronomers has shown how to use the chemical composition of stars in clusters to shed light on the formation of our Milky Way. This discovery is a fundamental test for the development of a new chemical tagging technique uncovering the birth and growth of our Galactic cradle.

Waking up to science!

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 15 Mar 2007 15:00:00 +0100

ESO 14/07 - EIROforum Release: How is Europe to tackle its shortage of scientists? The EIROforum Science on Stage festival aims to give European teachers some of the answers they need to take up this urgent challenge. This unique event, showcasing the very best of today's science education, will feature science demonstrations, a science teaching fair with some 66 stands, and a Round Table discussion with the participation of the European Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potocnik.

A Roof for ALMA

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 14 Mar 2007 07:30:00 +0100

ESO 13/07 - ALMA Release: On 10 March, an official ceremony took place on the 2,900m high site of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Operations Support Facility, from where the ALMA antennas will be remotely controlled. The ceremony marked the completion of the structural works, while the building itself will be finished by the end of the year. This will become the operational centre of one of the most important ground-based astronomical facilities on Earth.

Star Family Seen Through Dusty Fog

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 13 Mar 2007 13:00:00 +0100

ESO 12/07 - Science Release: Images made with ESO's New Technology Telescope at La Silla by a team of German astronomers reveal a rich circular cluster of stars in the inner parts of our Galaxy. Located 30,000 light-years away, this previously unknown closely-packed group of about 100,000 stars is most likely a new globular cluster.

Solar Power at Play

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 7 Mar 2007 12:00:00 +0100

ESO 11/07 - Science Release: For the very first time, astronomers have witnessed the speeding up of an asteroid's rotation, and have shown that it is due to a theoretical effect predicted but never seen before. The international team of scientists used an armada of telescopes to discover that the asteroid's rotation period currently decreases by 1 millisecond every year, as a consequence of the heating of the asteroid's surface by the Sun. Eventually it may spin faster than any known asteroid in the solar system and even break apart.

The Antenna Bride and Bridegroom

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 07 Mar 2007 12:00:00 +0100

ESO 10/07 - ALMA Release: The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international telescope project, reached a major milestone on 2 March, when two 12-m ALMA prototype antennas were first linked together as an integrated system to observe an astronomical object.

The Giant that Turned Out to be a Dwarf

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 07 Mar 2007 12:00:00 +0100

ESO 09/07 - Press Photo: New data obtained on the apparent celestial couple, NGC 5011 B and C, taken with the 3.6-m ESO telescope, reveal that the two galaxies are not at the same distance, as was believed for the past 23 years. The observations show that NGC 5011C is not a giant but a dwarf galaxy, an overlooked member of a group of galaxies in the vicinity of the Milky Way.

SN1987A's Twentieth Anniversary

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 24 Feb 2007 12:00:00 +0100

ESO 08/07 - Science Release: The unique supernova SN 1987A has been a bonanza for astrophysicists. It provided several observational 'firsts,' like the detection of neutrinos from an exploding star, the observation of the progenitor star on archival photographic plates, the signatures of a non-spherical explosion, the direct observation of the radioactive elements produced during the blast, observation of the formation of dust in the supernova, as well as the detection of circumstellar and interstellar material.

The Celestial Whirligig

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 23 Feb 2007 12:00:00 +0100

ESO 07/07 - PR Photo: Comet McNaught, the Great Comet of 2007, has been delighting those who have seen it with the unaided eye as a spectacular display in the evening sky. Pushing ESO's New Technology Telescope to its limits, a team of European astronomers have obtained the first, and possibly unique, detailed observations of this object. Their images show spectacular jets of gas from the comet spiralling several thousands of kilometres into space, while the spectra reveal the presence of sodium in its atmosphere, something seen very rarely.

The Sky Through Three Giant Eyes

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 23 Feb 2007 12:00:00 +0100

ESO 06/07 - Instrument Release: The ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, which allows astronomers to scrutinise objects with a precision equivalent to that of a 130-m telescope, is proving itself an unequalled success every day. One of the latest instruments installed, AMBER, has led to a flurry of scientific results, an anthology of which is being published this week as special features in the research journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The Great Cometary Show

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 19 Jan 2007 17:00:00 +0100

ESO 05/07 - Press Photo: Comet McNaught, the Great Comet of 2007, is no more visible for observers in the Northern Hemisphere. It does put an impressive show in the South, however, and observers in Chile, in particular at the Paranal Observatory, were able to capture amazing images, including a display reminiscent of an aurora!

Big Red Eye is Ready

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 18 Jan 2007 18:00:00 +0100

ESO 04/07 - Instrument Release: The world's biggest infrared camera for Europe's newest telescope left the UK today for Chile. The 67 million pixel camera will equip VISTA - a UK provided survey telescope being constructed in Chile for ESO. VISTA will map the infrared sky faster than any previous telescope, studying areas of the Universe that are hard to see in the visible due to either their cool temperature, surrounding dust or high redshift.

Tim de Zeeuw to Become the Next Director General of ESO

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 11 Jan 2007 12:00:00 +0100

ESO 03/07 - Organisation Release: The ESO Council has just appointed Tim de Zeeuw, 50, as the next Director General of ESO, effective as of 1 September 2007, when the current Director General, Catherine Cesarsky, will complete her mandate.

Little Brother Joins the Large Family

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 8 Jan 2007 12:00:00 +0100

ESO 02/07 - Science Release: Using ESO's Very Large Telescope and the W.M. Keck Observatory, astronomers at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland and the California Institute of Technology, USA, have discovered what appears to be the first known triplet of quasars. This close trio of supermassive black holes lies about 10.5 billion light-years away towards the Virgo (The Virgin) constellation.

ESO PR Highlights in 2006

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 4 Jan 2007 12:00:00 +0100

ESO 01/07 - Press Photo: Last year proved to be another exceptional year for ESO.

Little Brother Joins the Large Family

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 22 Dec 2006 21:00:00 +0100

ESO 51/06 - Press Photo: On the night of 15 December 2006, the fourth and last-to-be-installed VLTI Auxiliary Telescope (AT4) obtained its 'First Light'. The first images demonstrate that AT4 will be able to deliver the excellent image quality already delivered by the first three ATs. It will soon join its siblings to perform routinely interferometric measurements.

Czech Republic to Become Member of ESO

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 22 Dec 2006 19:00:00 +0100

ESO 52/06 - Organisation Release: Today, an agreement was signed in Prague between ESO and the Czech Republic, aiming to make the latter become a full member of ESO as of 1 January 2007.

Portrait of a Dramatic Stellar Crib

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 21 Dec 2006 12:00:00 +0100

ESO 50/06 - Press Photo: A new, stunning image of the cosmic spider, the Tarantula Nebula and its surroundings, finally pays tribute to this amazing, vast and intricately sculpted web of stars and gas. The newly released image, made with ESO's Wide Field Imager on the 2.2-m ESO/MPG Telescope at La Silla, covers 1 square degree on the sky and could therefore contain four times the full Moon.

The Dark Side of Nature: the Crime was Almost Perfect

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 20 Dec 2006 19:00:00 +0100

ESO 49/06 - Science Release: Nature has again thrown astronomers for a loop. Just when they thought they understood how gamma-ray bursts formed, they have uncovered what appears to be evidence for a new kind of cosmic explosion. These seem to arise when a newly born black hole swallows most of the matter from its doomed parent star.

It Is Too Early To Be Santa's Sleigh, Isn't It?

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 20 Dec 2006 08:00:00 +0100

ESO 48/06 - Press Photo: Astronomers at ESO's frontline Paranal Observatory got a surprise on the morning of 18 December when looking at the observatory's all-sky camera, MASCOT. For about 45 minutes in the early morning, an object appeared first as a bright stripe then as a cloud that dissolved.

Magna Carta for Researchers

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 14 Dec 2006 17:00:00 +0100

ESO 47/06 - EIROforum Release: Today, Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for Science and Research received a statement of support for the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers from EIROforum.

The Rise of a Giant

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 11 Dec 2006 14:00:00 +0100

ESO 46/06 - News Release: European astronomy received a tremendous boost with the decision from ESO's governing body to proceed with detailed studies for the European Extremely Large Telescope. This study, with a budget of 57 million euro, will make it possible to start, in three years time, the construction of an optical/infrared telescope with a diameter in the 30 to 60-m range that will revolutionise ground-based astronomy.

Do Galaxies Follow Darwinian Evolution?

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 6 Dec 2006 19:00:00 +0100

ESO 45/06 - Science Release: Using VIMOS on ESO's Very Large Telescope, a team of French and Italian astronomers have shown the strong influence the environment exerts on the way galaxies form and evolve. The scientists have for the first time charted remote parts of the Universe, showing that the distribution of galaxies has considerably evolved with time, depending on the galaxies' immediate surroundings. This surprising discovery poses new challenges for theories of the formation and evolution of galaxies.

Asymmetric Ashes. Astronomers Study Shape of Stellar Candles

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 30 Nov 2006 19:00:00 +0100

ESO 44/06 - Science Release: Astronomers are reporting remarkable new findings that shed light on a decade-long debate about one kind of supernovae, the explosions that mark a star's final demise: does the star die in a slow burn or with a fast bang? From their observations, the scientists find that the matter ejected by the explosion shows significant peripheral asymmetry but a nearly spherical interior, most likely implying that the explosion finally propagates at supersonic speed.

The Topsy-Turvy Galaxy. VLT Image of Starburst Galaxy NGC 1313

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 23 Nov 2006 12:00:00 +0100

ESO 43/06 - Science Release: The captivating appearance of this image of the starburst galaxy NGC 1313, taken with the FORS instrument at ESO's Very Large Telescope, belies its inner turmoil. The dense clustering of bright stars and gas in its arms, a sign of an ongoing boom of star births, shows a mere glimpse of the rough times it has seen. Probing ever deeper into the heart of the galaxy, astronomers have revealed many enigmas that continue to defy our understanding.

Catch a Star! Fifth Edition of Astronomical Competition Launched

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 12 Nov 2006 12:00:00 +0100

ESO 42/06 - Organisation Release: ESO and the European Association for Astronomy Education are launching today the 2007 edition of 'Catch a Star!', their international astronomy competition for school students. Now in its fifth year, the competition offers students the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to ESO's flagship observatory in Chile, as well as many other prizes. Students are invited to 'become astronomers' and embark on a journey to explore the Universe.

Cut from Different Cloth

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 7 Nov 2006 13:00:00 +0100

ESO 41/06 - Science Release: A large survey, made with ESO's VLT, has shed light on our Galaxy's ancestry. After determining the chemical composition of over 2000 stars in the four nearest dwarf galaxies to our own, astronomers have demonstrated fundamental differences in their make-up, casting doubt on the theory that these diminutive galaxies could ever have formed the building blocks of our Milky Way Galaxy.

ELT Selected in ESFRI Roadmap

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 22 Oct 2006 20:00:00 -0300

ESO 40/06 - Organisation News: In its first Roadmap, the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) choose the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), for which ESO is presently developing a Reference Design, as one of the large scale projects to be conducted in astronomy, and the only one in optical astronomy. The aim of the ELT project is to build before the end of the next decade an optical/near-infrared telescope with a diameter in the 30-60m range.

List of prize winners of the Quiz and Passport Game

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 20 Oct 2006 12:00:00 +0200

The list of prize winners of the 2006 Open House Day Quiz and Passport Game is now available.

The Star, the Dwarf and the Planet

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 19 Oct 2006 10:00:00 -0300

ESO 39/06 - Science Release: Astronomers have detected a new faint companion to the star HD 3651, already known to host a planet. This companion, a brown dwarf, is the faintest known companion of an exoplanet host star imaged directly and one of the faintest T dwarfs detected in the Solar neighbourhood so far. The detection yields important information on the conditions under which planets form.

Increasing the Odds of the Sweep

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 04 Oct 2006 19:00:00 +0200

ESO 38/06 - Science Release: Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have confirmed the extrasolar planet status of two of the 16 candidates discovered by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. One of the two confirmed exoplanets has a mass a little below 10 Jupiter masses, while the other is less than 3.8 Jupiter masses.

Stellar Vampires Unmasked

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 02 Oct 2006 10:00:00 +0200

ESO 37/06 - Science Release: Astronomers have found possible proofs of stellar vampirism in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae. Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, they found that some hot, bright, and apparently young stars in the cluster present less carbon and oxygen than the majority of their sisters. This indicates that these few stars likely formed by taking their material from another star.

Watching How Planets Form

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 28 Sep 2006 20:00:00 +0200

ESO 36/06 - Science Release: With the VISIR instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have mapped the disc around a star more massive than the Sun. The very extended and flared disc most likely contains enough gas and dust to spawn planets. It appears as a precursor of debris discs such as the one around Vega-like stars and thus provides the rare opportunity to witness the conditions prevailing prior to or during planet formation.

To Be or Not to Be: Is It All About Spinning?

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 20 Sep 2006 12:00:00 +0200

ESO 35/06 - Science Release: Thanks to the unique possibilities offered by ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), astronomers have solved a 140-year-old mystery concerning active hot stars. They indeed show that the star Alpha Arae is spinning almost on the verge of breaking and that its disc rotates the same way planets do around the Sun.

A "Genetic Study" of the Galaxy

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 12 Sep 2006 12:00:00 +0200

ESO 34/06 - Science Release: Looking in detail at the composition of stars with ESO's VLT, astronomers are providing a fresh look at the history of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. They reveal that the central part of our Galaxy formed not only very quickly but also independently of the rest.

ESO Call for Proposals for Period 79 released

visas@eso.org (Visiting Astronomers Department) — 01 Sep 2006 16:02:01 +0200

ESO Call for Proposals for Period 79 has been released. The next deadline (for Period 79, 1 April 2007 - 30 September 2007) is: 29 September 2006 (12:00 noon, CEST).

Long-lasting but Dim Brethren of Cosmic Flashes

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 30 Aug 2006 19:00:00 +0200

ESO 33/06 - Science Release: Astronomers, using ESO's Very Large Telescope, have for the first time made the link between an X-ray flash and a supernova. Such flashes are the little siblings of gamma-ray bursts (GRB) and this discovery suggests the existence of a population of events less luminous than 'classical' GRBs, but possibly much more numerous.

Catherine Cesarsky elected President of the IAU

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 24 Aug 2006 19:00:00 +0200

ESO 32/06 - Organisation Release: The General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), meeting in Prague (Czech Republic), has elected the ESO Director General, Dr. Catherine Cesarsky, as President for a three-year period (2006-2009). The IAU is a body of distinguished professional astronomers, founded in 1919 to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation. It now has almost 10 000 individual members drawn from all continents. Dr. Cesarsky is the first woman to receive this high distinction. At the same General Assembly, Dr. Ian Corbett, ESO's Deputy Director General, was elected Assistant General Secretary for 2006-2009, with the expectation of becoming General Secretary in 2009-2012.

Far Away Galaxy Under The Microscope

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 24 Aug 2006 19:00:00 +0200

ESO 31/06 - Science Release: SINFONI Discovers Rapidly Forming, Large Proto-Disc Galaxies Three Billion Years After The Big Bang -- An international group of astronomers have discovered large disc galaxies akin to our Milky Way that must have formed on a rapid time scale, only 3 billion years after the Big Bang. In one of these systems, the combination of adaptive optics techniques with the new SINFONI spectrograph on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) resulted in a record-breaking resolution of a mere 0.15 arcsecond, giving an unprecedented detailed view of the anatomy of such a distant proto-disc galaxy.

Call for LABOCA/APEX Science Verfication

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 14 Aug 2006 12:00:00 +0200

The Large Bolometer Camera for APEX (LABOCA), a 295-element bolometer array operating at 870ym, has successfully passed its pre-shipment review, and will be installed on the APEX 12m telescope on Chajnantor in September 2006. ESO now invites proposals for science verification from the ESO community. Pending successful on-sky commissioning, ESO also proposes to schedule its share of LABOCA observing time on the telescope in October and December 2006 as further Science Verification. All observations will be performed in service mode by the local APEX staff. All proposals should be sent to cdebreuc@eso.org by noon CEST on Monday 4 September 2006.

Stars Too Old to be Trusted?

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 10 Aug 2006 12:00:00 +0200

ESO 30/06 - Science Release: A possible Stellar Solution to the Cosmological Lithium Problem -- Analysing a set of stars in a globular cluster with ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers may have found the solution to a critical cosmological and stellar riddle. Until now, an embarrassing question was why the abundance of lithium produced in the Big Bang is a factor 2 to 3 times higher than the value measured in the atmospheres of old stars. The answer, the researchers say, lies in the fact that the abundances of elements measured in a star's atmosphere decrease with time.

The 'Planemo' Twins

information@eso.org (ESO Public Affairs Department) — 04 Aug 2006 12:00:00 +0200

ESO 29/06 - Science Release: Astronomers Discover Double Planetary Mass Object -- The cast of exoplanets has an extraordinary new member. Using ESO's telescopes, astronomers have discovered an approximately seven-Jupiter-mass companion to an object that is itself only twice as hefty. Both objects have masses similar to those of extra-solar giant planets, but they are not in orbit around a star - instead they appear to circle each other. The existence of such a double system puts strong constraints on formation theories of free-floating planetary mass objects.