Announcements 2015

18 December 2015: ESO and the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) have signed a cooperation agreement, providing a framework for future close cooperation and the exchange of information. The agreement addresses many areas, including scientific research, technology, and education and public outreach activities. There is a considerable overlap of interests between ESO, the world’s most productive ground-based observatory, and CERN, one of the largest centres for particle physics research in the world. The new agreement will promote the strategic coordination of the two organisations’ long-term plans as well as the coordination of scientific and training programmes. The agreement encourages the coordination of services, tools and resources, in addition to the sharing of best practices in many areas. The organisation of joint seminars and workshops is another area of proposed coordination, along with possible exchange of staff. Specific areas of possible technology coordination include those pertaining to astroparticle physics, and to particle physics ...

18 December 2015: A trilateral agreement between ESO, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS), concerning the operation of ALMA was signed in Tokyo, Japan, on 15 December 2015. The contributions of the three international partners ensure the continued success of this transformational (sub-)millimetre observatory located on Chajnantor Plateau in northern Chile. The new agreement provides the framework for the long-term operations of ALMA over the next 20 years Tim de Zeeuw, ESO Director General, Katsuhiko Sato, NINS President, and F. Fleming Crim, NSF Assistant Director (on behalf of France Córdova, NSF Director), represented the three partners at the ceremony and signed the ALMA Trilateral Agreement. Other staff members from ESO, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and NSF were also in attendance. The construction and first observations from ALMA were undertaken based on agreements signed in 2003 and 2004. The inauguration ceremony, held in 2013 ...

18 December 2015: The latest edition of ESO's quarterly journal, The Messenger, is now available online. Find out the latest news from ESO on topics ranging from new instruments to the latest science discoveries. Highlights of this edition include articles on: The Scientific Return of VLT Programmes The First Component of the Adaptive Optics Facility Enters Operations: The Laser Traffic Control System on Paranal The European ALMA Regional Centre Network: A Geographically Distributed User Support Model The Central Orion Nebula (M42) as Seen by MUSE Revealing the Complex Dynamics of the Atmospheres of Red Supergiants with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer Download The Messenger in PDF format or visit The Messenger website to subscribe and receive a free printed copy. This product is available for sale in the ESOshop. Deliveries will commence from 11 January 2016.

16 December 2015: Space Scoop, an astronomy news service for children aged eight and above, invites you to explore a brand-new website and share its exciting astronomical content with your children during their Christmas break. Space Scoop is coordinated by the international Universe Awareness (EU-UNAWE) and Space Awareness (SPACE-AWE) projects in association with several partners, including ESO and ESA/Hubble. Every Space Scoops article provides news about the latest astronomical discoveries in child-friendly language and is accompanied by a stunning astronomical image. The goal is to feed children’s curiosity about the Universe, to share the excitement of new discoveries with them and to inspire children to develop an interest in science and a passion for learning. The project aims to change young children’s frequent perception that science is an outdated and dull subject. As such, the brand-new Space Scoop website features a vibrant, eye-catching visual design along with fun graphics, images and icons tailored ...

10 December 2015: On 8 December 2015, Ireland’s intention to negotiate ESO Membership was laid out by Enda Kenny, the Prime Minister of Ireland, as he launched Innovation 2020, a five-year strategy for research and development, science and technology. Innovation 2020 sets out a strategy for Ireland to become a global innovation leader, with a strong, sustainable economy and a better society. The document states Ireland’s intention to “explore membership options for CERN, the European organisation for high-energy physics, and the European Southern Observatory”. Ireland’s Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will now enter into discussions with ESO and explore possible membership options for the country. Whilst these actions do not constitute a definite commitment to apply for ESO Membership, they represent an important first step in that direction, and ESO looks forward to the commencement of these discussions. Paul Callanan, University College Cork, Ireland, explains the significance of this move: "We are ...

10 December 2015: An agreement has been signed between ESO and an international consortium [1] for the design and construction of the MAORY adaptive optics system, to be operated at the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The agreement was signed by Nicolò D'Amico, President of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF, Italy), on behalf of the consortium, and Tim de Zeeuw, ESO Director General, at a ceremony held at ESO Headquarters in Garching bei München, Germany, on 10 December 2015. The principal investigator of MAORY, Emiliano Diolaiti (INAF), was also present. Renato Cianfarani, Italian Consul General, and Roberto Tamai, ESO E-ELT Programme Manager, were also in attendance. Other participants included Paolo Ciliegi (INAF MAORY Project Manager), Philippe Feautrier (IPAG MAORY co-investigator), Filippo Maria Zerbi (Head of National Division for Ground Based Programmes in the Scientific Directorate of INAF), as well as Giovanni Fabrizio Bignami, Italian member of ESO Council. MAORY, or Multi-conjugate Adaptive ...

8 December 2015: Not a single confirmed planet outside the Solar System had been detected before the year 1990. But, remarkably, we now know of thousands and have studied many in surprising detail. This ESOcast takes a look at how ESO’s observatories in Chile have been at the forefront of this enormous expansion in knowledge, and how their state-of-the-art instruments are continuing to discover and study the extraordinary diversity of exoplanets. You can subscribe to the ESOcasts in iTunes, receive future episodes on YouTube or follow us on Vimeo. Many other ESOcast episodes are also available. Find out how to view and contribute subtitles to the ESOcast in multiple languages Credits ESO Editing: Herbert Zodet. Web and technical support: Mathias André and Raquel Yumi Shida. Written by: Rebecca Davies, Richard Hook and Herbert Zodet.Narration: Sara Mendes da Costa. Music: STAN DART (www.stan-dart.com). Footage and photos: ESO, L. Calçada, M. Kornmesser, B. Tafreshi (twanight.org), ...

1 December 2015: The De Zeeuw–Van Dishoeck Graduation Prize for Astronomy, established to encourage young talent in astronomy in the Netherlands, has been awarded to Sebastiaan Haffert of the University of Leiden. The award was presented at a ceremony in Haarlem on 30 November 2015. The award, which consists of a certificate and a cash prize of 3000 euros, is awarded annually to the best master’s thesis in the field of astronomy written by a student studying at a Dutch university. Sebastiaan received the prize for the development of an innovative sensor that can provide better views of stars and planets outside the Solar System. "In astronomy a lot of prizes are won for finding planets or certain types of galaxies. I won this prize for developing an instrument. That does not happen often!" remarks Sebastiaan. “Instrument development drives new discoveries — it is just as important for our field as the actual ...

30 November 2015: The latest issue of the free magazine, Science in School, is now available online and in printed form. This European journal for science teachers offers inspiring articles, fun games and hands-on activities for schools in every issue. It aims to promote science teaching by encouraging communication between teachers, scientists and everyone else involved in European science education. Some of the highlights of this issue include: a look at some of the physiological and sociological benefits of laughter; understanding how Earth’s climate can teach us about other planets; and a safari through your mouth's microbial jungle. Teaching activities include: a practical lesson demonstrating the hazards of plastic waste in our oceans; an activity to understand forces through the design and construction of a glider wing; and a way to build a digital microscope. Science in School is published by EIROforum, a collaboration between eight European intergovernmental scientific research organisations, of which ...

27 November 2015: All four laser guide star units that form the Four Laser Guide Star Facility — a core part of the Adaptive Optics Facility (AOF) for ESO’s Very Large Telescope — have now been accepted and are being shipped to Chile. This is a major step towards establishing VLT Unit Telescope 4 as a fully adaptive telescope with much enhanced image quality. An adaptive optics system uses sensors to analyse the atmospheric turbulence and a deformable mirror integrated in the telescope to correct for the image distortions caused by the atmosphere. But a bright point-like star very close in the sky to the object being studied is essential, so that the turbulence can be accurately characterised. Finding a natural star in the right place for this role is unlikely. So, to make the correction of the atmospheric turbulence possible everywhere in the sky, for all possible science targets, an artificial star ...

25 November 2015: Astronomers have used the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE), attached to ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory, to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to test their understanding of massive clusters of galaxies. They are making the first ever prediction of an observational event in the distant Universe before it actually becomes visible. Images of the galaxy cluster MACS J1149+2223, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in November 2014, revealed a distant exploding star — a supernova — like no other ever seen. Nicknamed Refsdal [1], it is the first supernova to be split into four separate images through the process of gravitational lensing, forming an almost perfect Einstein Cross around one of the cluster’s galaxies. Gravitational lensing is a consequence of Einstein’s theory of general relativity. The paper stating the equations of this fundamental change in our understanding of gravity was published on 25 November ...

10 November 2015: The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) continues to expand its power and capabilities by linking with other millimetre-wavelength telescopes in Europe and North America in a series of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations. In VLBI, data from two or more telescopes are combined to form a single, virtual telescope that spans the geographic distance between them. The most recent of these experiments with ALMA and other telescopes formed an Earth-sized telescope with extraordinarily fine resolution. These experiments are an essential step in including ALMA in the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a global network of millimetre-wavelength telescopes that will have the power to study the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way in unprecedented detail. Before ALMA could participate in VLBI observations, it first had to be transformed into a different kind of instrument known as a phased array [1]. This new version of ALMA allows its ...

10 November 2015: The outcome of the 2015 Photo Nightscape Award — organised by Ciel et Espace Photos — has been decided. Over 400 photographs and timelapses from more than 50 countries were submitted for this year’s competition, from which eight winners have now been chosen. Prizes were awarded to the first and second places in three categories: Nightscape, In Town, and Timelapse, with two further awards in the Junior category. The first prize in the Nightscape category went to Michael Goh from Australia for his spectacular nightscape showing the plane of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, arching above the Australian desert. His award is a one-week trip to the Paranal Observatory, home of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in northern Chile. This prize was offered by ESO, which is a supporting partner of the Photo Nightscape Award. Eric Courcier from France won second place in this category. Philippe Jacquot from France ...

6 November 2015: On 27 October 2015, at 22:40 GMT, the NASA/ASI/UKSA Swift satellite discovered its 1000th gamma-ray burst (GRB). This landmark event was subsequently observed and characterised by ESO telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory in northern Chile, which revealed that this GRB was an especially interesting object. Gamma-ray bursts are intense flashes of gamma radiation that occur randomly throughout the distant Universe. They are thought to be caused by an extremely energetic stellar explosion and believed to signal the birth of a new black hole. Swift is dedicated to searching the skies for these mysterious and fascinating events and, after more than ten vigilant years, the satellite has now discovered its 1000th GRB. GRB 151027B occurred on 27 October 2015, in the direction of the constellation of Eridanus (The River) [1]. ESO telescopes have a long and successful tradition of performing follow-up observations of GRB events (eso0318 and eso0533), and ...

4 November 2015: The sites of ESO’s observatories in Chile were chosen for their minimal light pollution and pristine night skies. However, strange green and red colours in images of the night sky have become an increasingly common sight over the past few years. This ESOcast takes a look at what causes these mysterious glows, and why we are seeing more and more of them. You can subscribe to the ESOcasts in iTunes, receive future episodes on YouTube or follow us on Vimeo. Many other ESOcast episodes are also available. Find out how to view and contribute subtitles to the ESOcast in multiple languages. Credits: ESO Editing: Herbert Zodet. Web and technical support: Mathias André and Raquel Yumi Shida. Written by: Petr Horálek, Stefan Noll, Christopher Marshall, Richard Hook and Herbert Zodet. Narration: Sara Mendes da Costa. Music: STAN DART (www.stan-dart.com). Footage and photos: ESO, L. Calçada, M. Kornmesser, S. Brunier, R. Wesson, ...

29 October 2015: In recent months, the construction of the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre has made substantial progress and the remarkable architecture of the building has become clearly visible. To celebrate the fast pace of the construction work, a festivity was held on 28 October 2015, at ESO Headquarters in Garching bei München, Germany. The construction workers were invited by ESO, the architects Bernhardt + Partner, and other companies involved in the construction including Schumann Projektsteuerung, Bollinger + Grohmann, IB Hausladen and Burnickl Ingenieure, to a party with food and beer. The whole occasion provided both the construction team and the future occupants with an opportunity to celebrate the building’s progress and to wish it and its occupants luck in the future. ESO, the architects and all the other parties involved would particularly like to take the opportunity to thank the workers on the site for their exceptional dedication in constructing ...

27 October 2015: Music from the ALMA Music Box — an audio artwork that plays melodies created from ALMA observations — is now available to be purchased in the iTunes store, on the compilation CD Music for a Dying Star. R Sculptoris, a massive red giant star located roughly 1000 light-years away in the constellation of Sculptor, is in the final stages of its life, and is violently expelling massive amounts of gas into space as it depletes its supply of fuel. The ALMA Music Box plays musical discs inscribed with information from ALMA’s observations of this dying star, based on images taken at 70 different radio frequencies. The Music Box, a collaboration between the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, PARTY New York and Qosmo, plays 70 musical discs, each corresponding to a different radio frequency observation. The discs feature holes corresponding to points of intensity in the emission. The ALMA Music Box ...

21 October 2015: In partnership with the Art & Science Network, ESO invites interested artists to submit applications to be considered for a residency at one of its Chilean observatories. Conducted by Ars Electronica and ESO, this second open call is part of a successful ongoing cooperation between the two institutions. Artists are encouraged to submit a short video conveying the ideas and themes they would like to develop and implement during a residency at one of ESO’s Chilean observatories and the Ars Electronica Futurelab. The residency will consist of an initial period at one of ESO’s observatories and then a month with the Ars Electronica Futurelab team and a mentor at Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria with whom the winner will develop and create new work inspired by the visit to ESO. The call opened for entries on 15 October 2015 and closes on 29 November 2015 (23:59 UTC+1). An international jury ...

19 October 2015: Registration for secondary school students to attend the third ESO Astronomy Camp has now closed. More than 120 video applications were submitted and the winners of the bursaries offered by ESO and the national partners have now been selected. The following bursaries were granted: From the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Leuven, Belgium, support for Alexandra Stuer. From the Instrument Centre for Danish Astrophysics, at Aarhus University, Denmark, support for Josefine Damtoft and Thomas Hansen. From the German Astronomical Society, Germany, support for Antonia Krieger. From the National Institute of Astrophysics, Italy, support for Silvia Ambrosini. From the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy, the Netherlands, support for Jessie de Kruijf. From the Polish Astronomical Society, Poland, support for Edyta Kołodziejczuk. From the Polish Children’s Fund, Poland, support for Jan Dziedzic. From Ciência Viva, Portugal, support for Jessica Goncalves and Joana Rita Carneiro. From the Centre for the Promotion ...

7 October 2015: Using images from ESO’s Very Large Telescope and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered unique and totally unexpected structures within the dusty disc around the star AU Microscopii. This ESOcast takes a look at these fast-moving wave-like dust features, which are unlike anything ever observed, or even predicted. You can subscribe to the ESOcasts in iTunes, receive future episodes on YouTube or follow us on Vimeo. Many other ESOcast episodes are also available. Find out how to view and contribute subtitles to the ESOcast in multiple languages. Credits ESO Visual design and editing: Martin Kornmesser and Luis Calçada.Editing: Martin Kornmesser and Herbert Zodet.Web and technical support: Mathias André and Raquel Yumi Shida.Written by: Georgia Bladon, Mathias Jäger and Richard Hook.Narration: Sara Mendes da Costa.Music: Mat Jarvis (http://microscopics.co.uk), Johan B. Monell (www.johanmonell.com), STAN DART (www.stan-dart.com).Footage and photos: ESO, Luis Calçada, Martin Kornmesser, Christoph Malin (christophmalin.com) and NASA.Directed by: Mathias ...