ESO

ESO (European Southern Observatory) is the preeminent inter-governmental organization focused on astronomy and technology headquartered in Garching, Germany. ESO operates La Silla Paranal Observatory in Chile. The flagship facility is the Very Large Telescope (VLT) on top of the Paranal Mountain. The VLT sets the standard for ground-based optical and infrared astronomy and the data it produces are used every day in scientific publications. The next step for ESO is Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA), an inter-continental effort with North America, East Asia and Chile expected to be completed by 2012. The next generation VLT in the planning stages is the Extremely Large optical/infrared Telescope with a primary mirror between 30m and 60m that will make visible the earth-like planets around other stars.

Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
D-85748 Garching bei M?nchen
News Office
Email
information [at] eso [dot] org
Phone
+49 89 320060
Fax
 3202362
Contact

VLT takes most detailed infrared image of the Carina Nebula

(PhysOrg.com) -- ESO's Very Large Telescope has delivered the most detailed infrared image of the Carina Nebula stellar nursery taken so far. Many previously hidden features, scattered across a spectacular ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

A pocket of star formation

(PhysOrg.com) -- This new view shows a stellar nursery called NGC 3324. It was taken using the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. The intense ultraviolet ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The wild early lives of today's most massive galaxies

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using the APEX telescope, a team of astronomers has found the strongest link so far between the most powerful bursts of star formation in the early Universe, and the most massive galaxies ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jan 25, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

The Helix Nebula in new colors

(PhysOrg.com) -- ESO's VISTA telescope, at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, has captured a striking new image of the Helix Nebula. This picture, taken in infrared light, reveals strands of cold nebular gas ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jan 19, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The smoky pink core of the Omega Nebula

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new image of the Omega Nebula, captured by ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), is one of the sharpest of this object ever taken from the ground. It shows the dusty, rose-coloured central parts ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jan 04, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Christmas comet Lovejoy captured at Paranal Observatory

(PhysOrg.com) -- The recently discovered Comet Lovejoy has been captured in stunning photos and time-lapse video taken from ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. The comet graced the southern sky after ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 24, 2011 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (15) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

A galaxy blooming with new stars

(PhysOrg.com) -- The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) has captured the beauty of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 253. The new portrait is probably the most detailed wide-field view of this object and its surroundings ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 15, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

The European Extremely Large Telescope moves closer to reality

(PhysOrg.com) -- The governing body of the European Southern Observatory, the ESO Council, has approved ESO’s budget for 2012. This includes preparatory work on the road to the European Extremely Large ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 09, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 4

Vampire star reveals its secrets

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers have obtained the best images ever of a star that has lost most of its material to a vampire companion. By combining the light captured by four telescopes at ESO’s Paranal ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 07, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (8) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

VLT finds fastest rotating star

(PhysOrg.com) -- ESO's Very Large Telescope has picked up the fastest rotating star found so far. This massive bright young star lies in our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 160 000 light-years ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 05, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

The cool clouds of Carina

(PhysOrg.com) -- Observations made with the APEX telescope in submillimetre-wavelength light reveal the cold dusty clouds from which stars form in the Carina Nebula. This site of violent star formation, which ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Lutetia: A rare survivor from the birth of the Earth

(PhysOrg.com) -- New observations indicate that the asteroid Lutetia is a leftover fragment of the same original material that formed the Earth, Venus and Mercury. Astronomers have combined data from ESA’s ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 11, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Gamma-ray burst reveals surprising ingredients of early galaxies

(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of astronomers has used the brief but brilliant light of a distant gamma-ray burst as a probe to study the make-up of very distant galaxies. Surprisingly the new observations, ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 02, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (12) | comments 117 | with audio podcast

Faraway Eris is Pluto's twin: Dwarf planet sized up accurately as it blocks light of faint star

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers have measured the diameter of the dwarf planet Eris by catching it as it passed in front of a faint star. This was seen by telescopes in Chile, including the TRAPPIST telescope ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 26, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

VISTA finds new globular star clusters

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two newly discovered globular clusters have been added to the total of just 158 known globular clusters in our Milky Way. They were found in new images from ESO’s VISTA survey telescope ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 19, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast