Announcements 2017

22 December 2017: 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: Astronomy in Australia First light and science verification for the GRAVITY instrument Observing gas stripping in galaxies with MUSE, and MUSE WFM AO science verification Unveiling the nature of giant ellipticals and their stellar halos with the VST Dissecting the core of the Tarantula Nebula with MUSE Download The Messenger in PDF format or visit The Messenger website to subscribe and receive a free printed copy. This product is also available in the ESOshop.

21 December 2017: On 19 December 2017 in Brussels, ESO’s Director General, Xavier Barcons, met the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, and the EC Director-General of Research and Innovation, Robert-Jan Smits. The Commissioner and ESO Director General discussed ways to reinforce the relationship between the European Commission and ESO in order to further the development of fundamental science across the European Research Area. ESO’s role as the main driver for ground-based astronomy in Europe gives it a unique responsibility to ensure that collaboration in astronomy infrastructure, instrumentation and science is well-fostered. The meeting addressed the development of the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) which currently lists ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope as a landmark European infrastructure. ESO’s Director General also offered ESO’s expertise towards supporting the governance of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) initiative and in particular with helping to improve the stewardship of archive data in ...

18 December 2017: ESO has signed a new agreement with TOPTICA, the German photonics company, for the production of lasers to be used in ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) adaptive optics system. TOPTICA [1], in partnership with the Canadian company MPB Communications Inc. (MPBC) [2], will build at least four laser sources for the ELT [3], helping the telescope to achieve unprecedented spatial resolution for an optical/infrared ground-based telescope. The ELT is scheduled to see first light in 2024. The laser system for the adaptive optics system on the ELT will be based on the Four Laser Guide Star Facility (4LGSF) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). The Adaptive Optics Facility, which uses the 4LGSF, has already shown spectacular improvement in image sharpness on the VLT (eso1724). The TOPTICA/MPBC Guide Star Alliance was the main contractor for the laser system on the VLT (eso1613). Adaptive optics compensate for the blurring effect of the ...

11 December 2017: 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 up-to-date information on cutting-edge science, teaching materials and projects in science education, interviews with inspiring scientists and teachers, reviews of books and other resources, and many other useful resources for science teachers. 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: an insight into the blood-brain barrier; an article about how we can track pathogen changes at the genetic level; and ten things you might not know about antimatter. Practical classroom activities include a series of Earth science activities exploring the constituents of soil, as well as molecular detective activities on mushrooms and other plants and fungi. Science in School is published by EIROforum, a collaboration ...

7 December 2017: ESO’s governing body, the Council, has just authorised additional spending to cover the cost of both the five inner rings of segments for the main mirror (M1) of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), and one spare set of 133 mirror segments (one sixth of the total M1), and also an additional mirror segment maintenance unit. The decision was made at the recent meeting of the Council in Garching, Germany, after the positive recommendation by the ESO Finance Committee and made possible by an improved funding scenario. The ELT is a revolutionary ground-based telescope concept which will have a 39-metre main mirror made of 798 hexagonal segments. It will be the largest optical telescope in the world: “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”. First light for the ELT is targeted for 2024. Up to now the inner five rings of segments of the ELT primary mirror were in Phase 2 ...

7 December 2017: ESO’s governing body, the Council, has elected Professor Willy Benz of the Swiss National Centre for Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS and the University of Bern, Switzerland, as the next ESO Council President. Willy Benz is looking forward to his new role: “I feel very honoured that the Council has entrusted me with this significant responsibility. I’m delighted to be offered the possibility to take a more active role in ensuring ESO’s capability to provide the community with world-class astronomical facilities across wavelengths, techniques, and even telescope sizes. I am looking forward to working with everyone during the coming year.” Benz is the current director of NCCR PlanetS and Professor for Physics and Astrophysics at the University of Bern, Switzerland. His research is primarily focussed on planets, both inside and outside the Solar System, which he has studied since the mid-1980s in a career that has taken him across the ...

30 November 2017: The De Zeeuw–Van Dishoeck Graduation Prize for Astronomy, established to encourage young talent in astronomy in the Netherlands, has been awarded to Laura Driessen of the University of Amsterdam. The award was presented at a ceremony in Haarlem on 27 November 2017. 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. Laura Driessen received the prize for her master’s thesis study on supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae. Laura is now studying for a PhD in Manchester, United Kingdom. Laura was very surprised to hear that she had won the De Zeeuw-Van Dishoeck prize. “I really enjoyed working on this project, and received a lot of support from my supervisors Jason Hessels and Jacco Vink,” she said. “This project showed how mysterious the ...

27 November 2017: The Universe isn’t empty space — it’s full of dust! Some regions are in fact very, very dusty. New baby stars, for example, are surrounded by a disc of dust that feeds material to the young star, causing it to grow. This vital stage in a star’s young life must be closely studied in order to better understand stellar evolution. However, seeing through dust is difficult for many telescopes. That is where ALMA comes in. ESOcast 139 shows how the unique observational capabilities of ALMA allows astronomers to learn about otherwise hidden objects in our Universe. You can subscribe to the ESOcasts on 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, or translate this video on YouTube. More Information ALMA, an international astronomy facility, is a ...

13 November 2017: More than 180 video applications from 19 countries were submitted for the 2017 ESO Astronomy Camp, and the winners of the bursaries offered by ESO and the national partners have now been selected. These talented scientists and engineers of the future put forward applications of extremely high quality, all eager to be selected for a place at this year’s camp. ESO is delighted to announce that Elise Denis from France is the winner of the ESO bursary. The ESO bursary covers the full cost of the camp and the associated travel for the student. The following students will also receive financial support from the national partners: From the German Astronomical Society, Germany, support for Luise Raum From the National Institute of Astrophysics, Italy, support for Lisa Niederbrunner From the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy, the Netherlands, support for Isabelle Joosten From the Polish Astronomical Society, Poland, support for Daniel Wirzba ...

10 November 2017: The latest release of ESO’s Virtual Tours includes the option to view them in virtual reality mode as well as 360-degree panoramic mode. You can now use a cell phone with either a standard cardboard virtual reality headset or oculus rift glasses (instructions here), to experience tours of ESO’s facilities in an exciting new way. This latest release also includes new and updated virtual tours of ESO’s observatories and facilities, bringing with them better functionality on computers and new panoramic views taken during the recent fulldome expedition. Marvel at ALMA’s majestic dishes as they study the iridescent night sky, then pan round to see the starkly beautiful Chajnantor plateau in Chile’s Atacama desert — by day, by night, at sunset and at sunrise. Visit two of the most technically advanced and productive astronomical sites in the world — Paranal observatory and La Silla, ESO’s first observatory. You will be able ...

8 November 2017: FORSCHA, the annual science fair of Munich, is an event that aims at getting the public involved with science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). With a varied programme for children, young people, parents and educators, the event encourages everyone to learn more about our world and the Universe we live in. This year the fair will take place at the MOC in Munich from 17–19 November 2017. Following last year’s successful participation, ESO will have a stand at the FORSCHA event with hands-on experiments based on activities being developed for the new ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre. This year, ESO is delighted to be working with students from the Werner-Heisenberg-Gymnasium in Garching, and with support from the Project Management Institute Southern Germany Chapter. The school students will help FORSCHA participants experience the capacity of both current and new ESO telescopes to probe the mysteries of the Universe otherwise beyond ...

2 November 2017: What happened at the beginning of the Universe? It’s a question astronomers have pondered for a long time. Whilst we can’t actually travel back in time, astronomers are able to see into the past and observe galaxies and stars that were made when our Universe was still very young. Because light travels at a finite speed, the further away an object is, the longer its light has taken to reach us — so we see distant objects as they were in the past. To see the most distant celestial objects astronomers use some of the world’s most advanced telescopes, many of them unique — like ALMA. ESOcast 135 describes how ALMA enables astronomers see into the past and learn more about what our Universe was like when it was young. You can subscribe to the ESOcasts on iTunes, receive future episodes on YouTube or follow us on Vimeo. Many other ...

31 October 2017: The Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) instrument at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in northern Chile has found its first exoplanet, a hot Jupiter orbiting an M-dwarf star [1] now named NGTS-1. The planet, NGTS-1b, is only the third gas giant to have been observed transiting an M-dwarf star, following Kepler-45b and HATS-6b. NGTS-1b is the largest and most massive of these three, with a radius of 130% and a mass of 80% those of Jupiter. The NGTS uses an array of twelve 20-centimetre telescopes to search for the tiny dips in the brightness of a star caused when a planet in orbit around it passes in front of it (“transits”) and blocks some of its light. Once NGTS-1b had been discovered its existence was confirmed by follow-up observations at ESO’s La Silla Observatory: photometric observations with EulerCam on the 1.2-metre Swiss Leonhard Euler Telescope; and spectroscopic investigations with the HARPS instrument ...

16 October 2017: ESO’s telescopes have observed for the first time the visible counterpart to a gravitational wave source. Marking the start of a new era of multi-messenger astronomy, this rare event was captured in extraordinary detail. The observations unveil a high-energy event, known as a kilonova, that can finally be connected to the merging of two neutron stars, stellar remnants that emit gravitational waves as they spiral towards each other and then collide in a spectacular explosion. ESOcast 133 describes what was observed by ESO’s telescopes in Chile, how telescopes around the world found the kilonova, and what astronomers have learned about this newly observed astronomical phenomenon. You can subscribe to the ESOcasts on 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, or translate this video on YouTube.

16 October 2017: ESO, the world’s most productive ground-based observatory, will open its doors to the public on Saturday 21 October 2017 between 11:00 and 18:00 CEST. The ESO Open House Day event will be held at ESO’s Headquarters in Garching, near Munich, Germany. Visitors will have the opportunity to experience the world of ESO first hand by taking part in many different activities; the programme of activities for the day is set out below. Our Open House Day is part of the Tag der offenen Tür that is taking place across the Garching research campus, as well as at several other local institutes. If you need help to find your way around during the Open House Day, look out for our members of staff, who will be wearing name badges. As ESO is an international organisation, our staff speak several languages between them. Media representatives who wish to attend the event are ...

16 October 2017: ESO will hold a press conference on Monday 16 October 2017 at 16:00 CEST, at its Headquarters in Garching, Germany, to present groundbreaking observations of an astronomical phenomenon that has never been witnessed before. Since this result may have very wide interest we are also inviting members of the public to view the press conference online at www.eso.org/live starting at 16:00 CEST. We cannot take questions from the public during the press conference, but anyone who wishes to interact with the people involved in the discovery can attend a Reddit Ask Science AMA session on https://redd.it/76ne3p , starting 18:30 CEST. Details will be provided from Monday 16 October 2017 16:00 CEST on ESO’s social media channels. An ESO press release will be published at the start of the conference on ESO’s website at eso.org. Translations of the press release will be available in several languages.

12 October 2017: How can we find out more about the origins of life on Earth? Well, we can leave Earth behind and instead look out into the Universe. The atoms that make up our bodies can only be made in the high pressure and high temperature environments of stars. When stars end their lives, sometimes in spectacular supernova explosions, the atoms that they made within them are spread across space where they form the next generation of stars and planets. In the clouds from which stars and planets form, the atoms bond together to form molecules. ESOcast 132 describes how ALMA can be used to observe many different molecules throughout the farthest reaches of the Universe, including some that are needed for life, . You can subscribe to the ESOcasts on iTunes, receive future episodes on YouTube or follow us on Vimeo. Many other ESOcast episodes are also available. Find out how ...

11 October 2017: ESO will hold a press conference on 16 October 2017 at 16:00 CEST, at its Headquarters in Garching, Germany, to present groundbreaking observations of an astronomical phenomenon that has never been witnessed before. The event will be introduced from ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile by the Director General, Xavier Barcons, and will feature talks by representatives of many research groups around Europe. This invitation is addressed exclusively at media representatives. To participate in the conference, bona fide members of the media must register by completing an online form. Please indicate whether you wish to come in person to the press conference or if you will participate online only. By registering for the conference, journalists agree to honour an embargo, details of which will be provided after registration, and not to publish or discuss any of the material presented before the start of the conference on 16 October 2017 at 16:00 ...

11 October 2017: The Irish Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Frances Fitzgerald TD has announced her Government’s commitment to begin the accession process to join ESO as a Member State. The Government desires to have the accession completed by the fourth quarter of 2018, after ratification by Dáil Eireann (the Irish parliament) and approval by the ESO Council. Ireland would become ESO’s 16th Member State. The Government’s announcement signals the accomplishment of a key policy goal, announced in 2015 as part of Ireland’s Innovation 2020 strategy, which identifies the need to strengthen participation in international research organisations, including ESO. This announcement follows many years of informal discussions between the Irish astronomical community and ESO about potential membership, and formal discussions with government officials since January 2016, when the government announced they would begin membership negotiations. ESO’s Director General, Xavier Barcons, explains the significance of this decision: “Ireland ...

6 October 2017: 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: The Strategic Partnership between ESO and Australia Period 100: The Past, Present and Future of ESO Observing Programmes Three Years of SPHERE: The Latest View of the Morphology and Evolution of Protoplanetary Discs The Close AGN Reference Survey (CARS) ALMA Observations of z ~ 7 Quasar Hosts: Massive Galaxies in Formation Download The Messenger in PDF format or visit The Messenger website to subscribe and receive a free printed copy.