Meddelelser 2014

18. februar 2014: SPHERE — the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch instrument — is a powerful new facility for finding and studying exoplanets. The instrument has recently successfully completed testing in France, passed preliminary acceptance by ESO, and has now been shipped to Chile. It will then be installed on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and first light is foreseen for May 2014. SPHERE was built by a consortium of astronomers and engineers in many ESO states in conjunction with industry [1]. The consortium is led by the Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, France. SPHERE’s main goal is to find and characterise giant exoplanets orbiting nearby stars by direct imaging [2]. This is an extremely challenging task as such planets are both very close to their parent stars in the sky and also very much fainter. In a normal image, even in the best conditions, the light from the star totally swamps ...

13. februar 2014: As part of the Austrian contribution when it joined ESO, a specialist team from institutes in Linz [1] has developed adaptive optics algorithms and software methods that are much faster than those using more traditional approaches. These methods are used for the correction of images that are degraded due to atmospheric turbulence — and are in particular intended for use with the future 39-metre European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The challenging goal was to invent a new and different approach to this problem that is as effective as current techniques while, at the same time, greatly reducing the computing load on the computer that performs the calculations. This four-year project has just completed a very successful final review. The new adaptive optics algorithms are very fast and provide excellent quality results. This leads to enormous savings in computing power required to handle adaptive optics data from the E-ELT. But probably ...

10. februar 2014: ESO har for nylig anvendt den innovative 3D-printteknologi [1] til at fremstille støbeforme til to nye teleskop-komponenter. De er nødvendige for MUSE-instrumentet på ESOs Very Large Telescope (VLT) i Chile og er en del af projektet Adpative Optics Facility. 3D-printteknologien lover rigtig godt for fremstillingen af komplekse speciallavede genstande, der ofte er behov for til astronomisk instrumentering, fordi teknologien kan levere komponenterne hurtigt og billigt og med større fleksibilitet. Den første del, der blev fremstillet af det tyske firma voxeljet AG, er en del af en sensor-arm [2], som blev installeret i teleskopet for at arbejde sammen med MUSE-instrumentet. Denne ændring er også nødvendig for at bane vejen for GALACSI-modulet til adaptiv optik, der skal installeres i 2015. Den metalliske sensor-arm bruges til at holde tre flade spejle [3], der fører lysstråler ind i de sensorer, som styrer systemerne til adaptiv optik på VLT og dermed styrer teleskopet under observationerne. ...

4. februar 2014: I december 2011 leverede det franske firma Safran-Reosc deres første Zerodur tyndskals-spejl til ESO (ann12015). Firmaet har nu overgået dette ved at levere deres andet skalspejl [1] med endnu højere kvalitet end det første. Begge spejle er kun 2 millimeter tykke, men 1,12 meter i diameter og vil være afgørende for opgraderingen af enhedsteleskop nummer 4 på ESOs Very Large Telescope (VLT) til et fuldt adaptivt system [2]. Et tyndskals-spejl deformeres flere tusinde gange pr. sekund for at modvirke effekten af turbulens i Jordens atmosfære. Resultatet er et langt skarpere billede, der giver astronomerne mulighed for at undersøge universet i langt større detalje end hidtil. Det nye skalspejl er forbedret på mange måder. Dets overflade er lavet fem gange mere nøjagtig end det gamle spejl og blot meget små kræfter er nødvendige for at korrigere overfladens form – halvt så store som for det første skalspejl. Det er meget vigtigt, ...

31. januar 2014: Den 27. marts deltager ESO i Tysklands nationale Pigernes Dag aktiviteter. Under den årlige begivenhed åbner tekniske virksomheder, universiteter og forskningsinstitutioner deres døre for kvindelige skoleelever for at give dem indsigt i videnskabelige og tekniske professioner. Åbne dage som denne kan hjælpe pigerne med at træffe velbegrundede beslutninger om deres fremtid og opmuntre dem at vælge en karriere indenfor videnskab og teknologi. Pigernes Dag hos ESO er en introduktion til ESOs arbejde. Den er sammensat af en række oplæg på tysk efterfulgt af en spørgerunde med ansatte og studerende fra ESO. En bred vifte af emner bliver dækket, fra astronomi og ingeniørarbejde til administration og HR. Som afslutning på denne introduktion til verdens mest produktive astronomiske observatorium, vil der være en direkte videoforbindelse til ESOs Very Large Telescope (VLT). VLT, der ligger 2600 meter over havet på Cerro Paranal, er verdens mest avancerede optiske instrument og en imponerende videnskabsmaskine. Pigerne ...

30. januar 2014: Har du nogensinde ønsket dig at køre et af de enorme ALMA-transportkøretøjer? Hvis svaret er ”ja”, så er der gode nyheder! Et simpelt nyt multi-player online-spil kaldet ”Chajnantor: Race Against Time” (Chajnantor: kapløb mod uret) giver dig nu mulighed for at sidde bag rattet på et transportkøretøj og gå på opdagelse på Chajnantor-sletten. Du kan køre kapløb mod uret i de 130 ton tunge kæmper eller konkurrere mod en anden spiller for at placere ALMA-antennerne på deres rigtige pladser. Eller du kan bare køre en afslappende tur og nyde den smukke stjernehimmel. Valget er dit! Chajnantor: Race Against Time er et Unity-baseret spil som spilles i din webbrowser her. Spillet kan også fås i standalone-udgave til Windows med lidt bedre kvalitet. Du kan hente spillet her. Spillet er blevet udviklet af ESO-ingeniøren Juan Antonio Marrero Hernández i hans fritid. Spillet udgives af ESO kun for sjov og der ydes ikke ...

27. januar 2014: ESO has launched a pioneering expedition into the Ultra High Definition Universe. This campaign will document the travels and work of four world-renowned astrophotographers and ESO Photo Ambassadors as they journey through the Chilean Atacama Desert, equipped with the powerful tools of imaging technological leaders. ESO’s videographer Herbert Zodet and the three Photo Ambassadors, Yuri Beletsky, Christoph Malin and Babak Tafreshi embark on their expedition with the goal of capturing footage at ESO’s three unique observing sites in all their grandeur — using state-of-the-art Ultra High Definition 4K still and video cameras The team will first travel up to Paranal, home to ESO’s flagship facility Very Large Telescope array (VLT), before continuing to ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array at 5000 metres above sea level. Their trip will finish at La Silla, ESO’s first observatory in Chile. The team will capture crisp Ultra High Definition time-lapse images, stills, videos and ...

22. januar 2014: ESO first introduced HD video as a format for its public videos in 2008 and we now have over 1600 videos in this format in our video archive. The newer Ultra HD format has now been added as one of the many video formats that are offered for parts of the video collection [1]. The Ultra HD format [2] has twice the horizontal and vertical resolution of the standard 1080p HDTV format — four times as many pixels. The format has been under development since 2003, but rose to prominence in 2013 and has since become standard on many high-end TV displays. This popular new format has also recently had a lot of media exposure, including extensive coverage at the International Consumer Electronics Show, which took place in late 2013. Ultra HD content is so far quite difficult to find, although internet streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Instant ...

22. januar 2014: The first edition of the ESOshop catalogue has been launched — a catalogue in PDF format that brings together the entire collection of outreach material and merchandise made available by the European Southern Observatory in an easier format to browse. From educational material to branded fleece jackets, books, DVDs and mounted images, the catalogue brings to light educational products, as well as starry gift ideas for those passionate about astronomy. Our cost policy in the ESOshop is one of no additional charges. The shop is not-for-profit, and almost all our products can be downloaded as PDF's for free. The online prices cover the production cost and the handling work invested in making the products available to you. This makes it possible for us to deliver high quality products at reasonable prices. For re-sellers we have special bulk rates, depending on the amount ordered. A complete list of bulk rates can ...

21. januar 2014: The first Near-Earth Object (NEO) recovery campaign has been successfully carried out by a new collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and ESO. Up to now the asteroid 2009 FD had been ranked among the top five objects in a list of the most dangerous objects, but new observations with ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) have now shown that it is far less likely to hit the Earth than had been feared [1]. NEOs are asteroids or comets with orbits around the Sun that come very close to the Earth's orbit. More than 600 000 asteroids are known in the Solar System, and more than 10 000 of them are NEOs. Their sizes range from metres to tens of kilometres. Some NEOs could hit our planet and, depending on their size, produce considerable damage. While the chance of a large object hitting the Earth is very small, it could ...

15. januar 2014: In this ESOcast we look at how astronomers have used ESO's HARPS planet hunter in Chile, along with other telescopes around the world, to discover three planets orbiting stars in the cluster Messier 67. Although more than one thousand planets outside the Solar System are now confirmed, only a handful have been found in star clusters. Remarkably one of these new exoplanets is orbiting a star that is a rare solar twin — a star that is almost identical to the Sun in all respects. More Information The ESOcast is a video podcast series dedicated to bringing you the latest news and research from ESO — the European Southern Observatory. Subscribe to our video podcast now to keep up with the latest news from ESO: the ESOcast is available via iTunes in HD and SD. It's also available on YouTube, Vimeo and is offered for download in several formats including ...

15. januar 2014: The 14th issue of Communicating Astronomy with the Public (the CAPjournal) is out now! This issue includes articles from Pamela Gay on science communication with Google+, and Edward Gomez on how to engage with celebrities in astronomy outreach through Twitter. In the resources, research and applications section we look at Hertzsprung and Russell, and the legacy of using flow maps to illustrate astronomical data. There is also an article on quantifying the aesthetic appeal of outreach images. Ryan Wyatt writes on how visual language and visualisation can be used to communicate astronomy, and there is a report on the Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2013 conference, which took place in Warsaw, Poland, in October. There is all this, and more, in this free, peer-reviewed journal for astronomy communicators — now available for download.

10. januar 2014: A free app bringing ESO's unique vistas of the Universe, as well as images of its frontline telescopes, is now available for users of the Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.1 tablets and PCs under the name "European Southern Observatory". The app features 52 of the best ESO images — including high resolution versions. Further information about the featured astronomical objects, such as their type and distance, is also provided. The app was independently developed by EspooTeam 2013, making use of our images released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. The app for Windows 8.1 tablets and PCs can be downloaded for free here, while the app for the Windows Phone 8 can be downloaded here. Features compatible with Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.1 Tablets and PCs: Supported processors: x86, x64, ARM Language: English Approximate size: 23.9 MB 52 coolest images: image description high resolution image type of ...