Open House Day 2014

This photograph from the ESO Open House Day 2014 shows children and adults listening to the adventures of Space Rock Pedro. This was one of the sixteen activities available when ESO Headquarters in Garching, Germany, opened its doors to the public on 11 October 2014.

In conjunction with the other facilities based at the science campus in Garching, ESO invited visitors to experience at first hand the work of the world-leading ground-based astronomy organisation.

Before the doors had even opened at 11:00 people were waiting outside, eager to look around the new headquarters and experience all the main activities available. In total, 3300 people took the chance to have their questions answered by experienced astronomers; see live experiments; join guided tours through the new office and technical buildings; listen to talks about ongoing astronomical research; and even participate in live interviews with astronomers in the Chilean Atacama Desert.

Also included in the activities for this year’s Open House Day were presentations of ESO’s future projects, including the new ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre, which will be constructed on site at the headquarters and will allow visitors to experience the world of ESO all year round from 2017.

To view more photos from the event, visit our Facebook album. If you participated in the Open House Day 2014 and took pictures, we invite you to share them on Your ESO Pictures Flickr group.