1 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:09,000 This is the ESOcast! Cutting-edge science and life 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:15,000 behind the scenes at ESO, the European Southern Observatory. 3 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:35,000 4 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,000 5 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:45,000 6 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,000 This spectacular image of a large spiral galaxy was obtained on 21 September 1998. 7 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,000 It is one of VLT’s first images. 8 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,000 This infrared image of a stellar nursery proved that low-mass stars like the Sun 9 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,000 can be formed in violent starburst episodes. 10 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:07,000 A famous spiral galaxy that resembles a Mexican hat, hence the name. 11 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:14,000 This infrared/optical image reveals what’s hidden behind a thick cloud of obscuring dust. 12 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,000 A composite of 81 VLT images of the Orion Nebula, 13 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,000 the most dramatic nearby stellar nursery. 14 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,000 The VLT takes a look inside the “Pillars of Creation” 15 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,000 using the infrared instrument ISAAC. 16 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,000 A whimsical dark nebula formed of collapsing gas and dust 17 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,000 and lit up by a nearby star. 18 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:44,000 One of the sharpest images ever taken from the ground of the ringed planet. 19 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,000 A mysterious nebula, created by intense radiation 20 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,000 from one of the hottest known stars. 21 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,000 A picture-perfect spiral galaxy 22 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,000 with a well-defined central bar and long tentacle-like arms. 23 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,000 The VLT took the first image ever of a planet outside our Solar System. 24 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,000 The red spot is the planet, orbiting a brown dwarf. 25 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:14,000 A spiral galaxy revealed in detail by the powerful eye of the VLT. 26 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,000 A very active star-forming galaxy. 27 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,000 The numerous white spots in the ring are star-forming regions. 28 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,000 A mysterious galaxy that might have swallowed a lesser companion. 29 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,000 Thousands of new stars are being formed inside it. 30 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:36,000 This cosmic “bird” is actually the result of the merger of three distinct galaxies. 31 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,000 A deep look by the VLT into a small, distant patch of the Universe 32 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,000 is like diving into a pool full of coloured shapes. 33 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,000 Thanks to the VLT, astronomers are revealing the secrets of the supermassive 34 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,000 black hole lurking at the centre of our Milky Way. 35 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,000 A star 100 times larger than the Sun, 36 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,000 captured in this sharp image from the VLT interferometer. 37 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,000 A beautiful star cluster, imaged in just a few seconds of exposure time, 38 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,000 thanks to the VLT’s huge mirror. 39 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:13,000 A cosmic factory where stars form frantically from clouds of gas and dust. 40 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,000 A huge star-forming region, where clouds of gas and dust 41 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,000 are illuminated by the intense radiation from hot young stars. 42 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,000 An enormous collision of several galaxy clusters 43 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,000 where all kinds of strange phenomena are unleashed. 44 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,000 Stellar winds from young stars dramatically shape 45 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,000 the clouds of gas and dust from which they were born. 46 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,000 A pair of galaxies located 50 million light-years away. 47 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,000 They look close together, but are some 100 000 light-years away from each other. 48 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,000 With this image the central parts of this stellar nursery 49 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:50,000 are revealed in extraordinary detail. 50 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,000 This very sharp VLT infrared image allowed astronomers to discover 51 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,000 many unknown features in one of the closest star incubators to Earth. 52 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,000 The public chose to image this object with the VLT 53 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,000 as the result of a contest held to celebrate ESO’s 50th anniversary. 54 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,000 A dying star is casting the outer parts of its atmosphere out into space, 55 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,000 as a final colourful gesture before retirement. 56 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,000 The black clumps set against a pink background of glowing gas are known as Bok globules. 57 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,000 They are being eroded by the brilliant radiation from the hot young stars around them. 58 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,000 Happy 15th birthday VLT! 59 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:25,000 ESOcast is produced by ESO, the European Southern Observatory. 60 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,000 ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the pre-eminent intergovernmental science and technology organisation in astronomy 61 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,000 designing, constructing and operating the world’s most advanced ground-based telescopes.