ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It operates three sites in Chile, on behalf of its fourteen member states.
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- 1962
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ESO images of the weekActualizado hace aproximadamente 2 semanas
Paranal ResidenciaCreado el 26 de marzo de 2008 a las 5:14
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- Astronomers Find World with Thick, Inhospitable Atmosphere and an Icy Heart 16 de diciembre de 2009 10:00|3 comentarios
- VISTA: Pioneering New Survey Telescope Starts Work 11 de diciembre de 2009 2:30|3 comentarios
- VISTA: Pioneering New Survey Telescope Starts Work 11 de diciembre de 2009 2:30
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Astronomers have discovered the second super-Earth exoplanet [1] for which they have determined the mass and radius, giving vital clues about its structure. It is also the first super-Earth where an atmosphere has been found...
ESO Astronomy
14 December 2009: The European Extremely Large Telescope
ESO is currently designing the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), which, at 42 metres in diameter, will be the world’s biggest eye on the sky when it becomes operational in 2018. The E-ELT will tackle the biggest scientific challenges of our time, and ai ...m for a number of notable firsts, including tracking down Earth-like planets around other stars in the “habitable zones” where life could exist — one of the Holy Grails of modern observational astronomy. A description of the exciting science this telescope will allow is available in a new brochure ESO has just released.
The mirror design itself is revolutionary and is based on a novel five-mirror scheme that results in an exceptional image quality. The primary mirror consists of almost 1000 segments, each 1.45 metres wide, but only 50 mm thick. The optical design calls for an immense secondary mirror 6 metres in diameter, almost as large as the biggest primary telescope mirrors in operation today.
Adaptive mirrors are incorporated into the optics of the telescope to compensate for the fuzziness in the stellar images introduced by atmospheric turbulence. One of these mirrors is supported by more than 5000 actuators that can distort its shape a thousand times per second.
The telescope will have several science instruments. It will be possible to switch from one instrument to another within minutes. The telescope and dome will also be able to change positions on the sky and start a new observation in a very short time.
Credit: ESO
This image is available in high-resolution on this link: http://www.eso.org/public/images/elt-ill
ESO 49/09 - Organisation Release: A new telescope - VISTA (the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) - has just started work at ESO's Paranal Observatory and has made its first release of pictures...
ESO Astronomy
VISTA (the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) is a new telescope that has just started work at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile and has made its first release of pictures. VISTA is a survey telescope working at infrared wavelengths and is the world’s largest survey telescope. Its large mirror, wide ...field of view and very sensitive detectors will reveal a completely new view of the southern sky. Spectacular pictures of the Flame Nebula, the Centre of the Milky Way and the Fornax Galaxy Cluster show that it is working very well.
Credit: ESO. Acknowledgments: J. Emerson/VISTA/UK ATC. Visual design and editing: Martin Kornmesser. Cinematography: Peter Rixner. Editing: Herbert Zodet. Web and technical support: Lars Holm Nielsen and Raquel Yumi Shida. Written by: Richard Hook and Adam Hadhazy. Host: Dr. J. Narration: Gaitee Hussain. Music: John Dyson from the CD darklight and movetwo. Footage and photos: ESO. Directed by: Herbert Zodet. Executive producer: Lars Lindberg Christensen.
Download it from: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/Videos/esoc
ESO 48/09 - Science Release: An extensive study made with ESO's Very Large Telescope deepens a long-standing mystery in the study of stars similar to the Sun...
ESO Astronomy
07 December 2009: Transporting an Auxiliary Telescope
ESO astronomer Yuri Beletsky captured images of the transport of one of the 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes (AT) that compose, together with their larger 8.2-metre companions, ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) array. The AT was moved with the utmost care from the base ...camp, where it had been undergoing maintenance, including the recoating of its mirrors, back to the VLT platform on top of Cerro Paranal.
The ATs form part of the VLT Interferometer (VLTI), allowing this unique facility to operate every night. The ATs are mounted on tracks and can be moved between precisely defined observing positions, collecting light that is then combined in the VLTI. The ATs are very unusual telescopes, as they are self-contained in individual ultra-compact protective domes, and travel with their own electronics, ventilation, hydraulics and cooling systems. Each AT has a transporter that lifts the telescope and moves it from one position to the next. Although for the transfer down to base camp, ESO engineers and technicians rely on a more traditional means of transport, the truck.
Credit: ESO/Y. Beletsky
This image in high-resolution is available on: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/Para
ESO Astronomy
This short sequence zooms in on the open young cluster of stars, Trumpler 14, which was imaged in great detail thanks to the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) mounted on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Trumpler 14, inside the Carina Nebula, towards the constellation of Carina (the Keel), is located 8000 li ...ght-years away. It is the adaptive optics image that covers the largest area of sky so far. Credits: ESO, H. Sana, Digitized Sky Survey 2 and A. Fujii.
This video can be downloaded in high-definition from: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/Videos/Star
Duración:0:52
ESO 47/09 - Photo Release: The young star cluster Trumpler 14 is revealed in another stunning ESO image...
ESO 46/09 - Science Release: Which come first, the supermassive black holes that frantically devour matter or the enormous galaxies where they reside? A brand new scenario has emerged from a recent set of outstanding observations of a black hole without a home: black holes may be .building...
ESO Astronomy
30 November 2009: GalileoMobile Completes Exciting Journey
After almost two months of life-changing experiences, bringing the excitement of astronomy to young children in Chile, Bolivia and Peru, the journey of the GalileoMobile Project has come to an end.
As illustrated in this image, the astronomers and educators in t ...he Galilomobile team visited numerous schools and villages during their expedition, engaging young students in educational activities about astronomy and science, and offering amazing stargazing opportunities to the local communities, in a region with one of the clearest skies on Earth.
Last week the team visited ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), then continued to Taltal, the closest town to the VLT’s home, Cerro Paranal. Around sunset on 26 November, the GalileoMobile team showed the community of Taltal the highlights of the whole voyage, a voyage that covered around 5000 kilometres through the Andes. The GalileoMobile was received with great enthusiasm by the people of Taltal. Hundreds of students took part to a ceremony that took place in the main square in Taltal, led by Guillermo Hidalgo, the town’s Mayor. The event ended up with a massive star party, which marked the perfect closing of this Special Project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009.
The GalileoMobile is supported by the European Southern Observatory, whose host country is Chile, the Max Planck Society (MPG/MPE/MPA/MPS), NORDITA, Regione Molise and the Optical Society of America.
This image in full resolution is available on:
http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/peop
ESO 45/09 - Science Release: Peering through the thick dust clouds of our galaxy's "bulge" (the myriads of stars surrounding its centre), and revealing an amazing amount of detail, a team of astronomers has unveiled an unusual mix of stars in the stellar grouping known as Terzan 5...
ESO Astronomy
23 November 2009: The Moon in Conjunction with Venus and Jupiter
This dramatic triptych shows the Moon rise from left to right through the night sky over ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) observatory at Paranal in northern Chile. Already aloft in the heavens and glowing in the centre of the image is Venus, Earth’s closes ...t planetary neighbour. Shining to Venus’s right, the giant, though more distant planet, Jupiter appears as a small orb that seems to rotate around Venus as time passes. Such apparent celestial near misses — although the heavenly bodies are actually tens to hundreds of millions of kilometres apart — are called conjunctions.
Still other sights delight in the sky over Paranal. The radiant, reddish plane of the Milky Way smoulders on the horizon, with massive bands of dust giving this bright region a mottled complexion. On the ground, an 8.2-metre VLT Unit Telescope on the right and a 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescope to the left silently witness the splendour above, while probing the sky to address some of astronomy’s remaining mysteries.
Credit: ESO/Y. Beletsky
This image in high-resolution is available on:
http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/Para
ESO 44/09 - Photo Release: A new technique using near-infrared images, obtained with ESO.s 3.58-metre New Technology Telescope (NTT), allows astronomers to see through the opaque dust lanes of the giant cannibal galaxy Centaurus A, unveiling its "last meal" in unprecedented detail - a smaller...
ESO 43/09 - Science Release: Using ESO's Very Large Telescope and its ability to obtain images as sharp as if taken from space, astronomers have made the first time-lapse movie of a rather unusual shell ejected by a "vampire star", which in November 2000 underwent an outburst after gulping down...
