Observing with ESO Telescopes

Telescope time for ESO telescopes on Paranal and La Silla is allocated twice a year in periods of 6 months. Allocation periods run from 1 October through 31 March, and from 1 April through 30 September. Applications for observing time on ESO telescopes may only be submitted electronically, and only on the LaTeX form obtained from this site.

Preparing Proposals for ESO's Telescopes

The following pages provide all relevant information for submitting applications:

• Phase I - Proposal Preparation and Submission
• Phase II - Proposal Preparation (P2PP)
• Director's Discretionary Time Proposals
• "Target of Opportunity" Policy
• Guaranteed Time Observations Policy
• ESO Public Surveys and their policies

All information concerning service mode observing programmes are available via the page page "Service Observing Information" and links therein.
This information is kept up-to-date on a regular basis.

Information for Visiting Astronomers

Successful applicants are recommended to read the following documents that provide information about travelling to Chile and preparing your observing run.

• Instructions for Visiting Astronomers on mission to Chile
• The Paranal Observatory Home Page
• Guidelines for Paranal Observatory Visiting Astronomers
• The La Silla Observatory Home Page
• La Silla Site and Logistics

Observing Programmes Information and Scheduling

Below follow the schedules for the observing programmes for the current and the most recent observing periods. To query the database, please run the ESO OBSERVING SCHEDULE QUERY FORM with modified input parameters.

ToO Proposals, Large Programmes, and DDT Requests

Comprehensive information of ToO Proposals, Large Programmes, Guaranteed Time Observations, and DDT Requests can be found in the Telescope Time Allocation page.