1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:06,870 Catching Light 2 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:14,350 For half a century, 3 00:00:14,350 --> 00:00:19,500 the European Southern Observatory has showcased the splendour of the Universe. 4 00:00:26,250 --> 00:00:28,340 Starlight rains down on the Earth. 5 00:00:30,390 --> 00:00:33,070 Giant telescopes catch the cosmic photons, 6 00:00:33,070 --> 00:00:36,940 and feed them to state-of-the-art cameras and spectrographs. 7 00:00:40,090 --> 00:00:44,810 Today’s astronomical images are very different from those of the 1960s. 8 00:00:46,020 --> 00:00:49,130 When ESO began, back in 1962, 9 00:00:49,130 --> 00:00:53,110 astronomers used large photographic glass plates. 10 00:00:54,550 --> 00:00:58,730 Not very sensitive, imprecise, and hard to handle. 11 00:01:03,570 --> 00:01:07,220 What a difference today’s electronic detectors have made! 12 00:01:08,020 --> 00:01:10,500 They catch almost every photon. 13 00:01:11,020 --> 00:01:14,000 The images are available instantaneously. 14 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:15,940 And, most importantly, 15 00:01:15,940 --> 00:01:19,920 they can be processed and analyzed by computer software. 16 00:01:21,020 --> 00:01:24,690 Astronomy has truly become a digital science. 17 00:01:31,550 --> 00:01:33,790 ESO telescopes use some of the largest 18 00:01:33,790 --> 00:01:36,460 and most sensitive detectors in the world. 19 00:01:36,460 --> 00:01:43,460 The VISTA camera has no less than 16 of them, for a total of 67 million pixels. 20 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:50,810 This huge instrument catches infrared light from cosmic dust clouds, 21 00:01:50,810 --> 00:01:52,140 newborn stars 22 00:01:52,140 --> 00:01:55,210 and distant galaxies. 23 00:02:02,530 --> 00:02:08,200 Liquid helium keeps the detectors at minus 269 degrees. 24 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,950 VISTA takes an inventory of the southern sky, 25 00:02:11,950 --> 00:02:15,670 like an explorer surveying an unknown continent. 26 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,910 The VLT Survey Telescope is another discovery machine, 27 00:02:21,910 --> 00:02:24,650 but this one works at visible wavelengths. 28 00:02:31,020 --> 00:02:34,670 Its camera, called OmegaCAM, is even larger. 29 00:02:34,670 --> 00:02:40,240 32 CCDs team up to produce spectacular images 30 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:45,100 with a mind-boggling 268 million pixels. 31 00:02:47,870 --> 00:02:50,930 The field of view is one square degree 32 00:02:50,930 --> 00:02:53,980 — four times as large as the full Moon. 33 00:02:56,670 --> 00:03:01,220 OmegaCAM generates fifty gigabytes of data every night. 34 00:03:02,020 --> 00:03:05,530 And these are just gorgeous gigabytes. 35 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,810 Survey telescopes like VISTA and the VST 36 00:03:11,810 --> 00:03:15,900 also mine the sky for rare and interesting objects. 37 00:03:16,500 --> 00:03:19,850 Astronomers then use the sheer power of the VLT 38 00:03:19,850 --> 00:03:23,490 to study these objects in exquisite detail. 39 00:03:26,290 --> 00:03:28,380 Each of the VLT’s four telescopes 40 00:03:28,380 --> 00:03:30,800 has its own set of unique instruments, 41 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,800 each with its own particular strengths. 42 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:42,310 Without these instruments, ESO’s giant eye on the sky would be, well, blind. 43 00:03:43,349 --> 00:03:49,930 They have fanciful names like ISAAC, FLAMES, HAWK-I and SINFONI. 44 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:55,350 Giant high-tech machines, each the size of a small car. 45 00:03:57,020 --> 00:03:58,520 Their purpose: 46 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:03,870 to record the cosmic photons and recover every possible bit of information. 47 00:04:06,020 --> 00:04:10,630 All of the instruments are unique, but some are a little more special than others. 48 00:04:10,630 --> 00:04:17,370 For example, NACO here and SINFONI use the VLT’s adaptive optics system. 49 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,450 Lasers produce artificial stars 50 00:04:23,450 --> 00:04:27,220 that help astronomers to correct for atmospheric blurring. 51 00:04:33,850 --> 00:04:38,250 NACO’s images are as sharp as if they were taken from outer space. 52 00:04:41,020 --> 00:04:46,720 And then there’s MIDI, and AMBER. Two interferometric instruments. 53 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:52,330 Here, light waves from two or more telescopes are brought together, 54 00:04:52,330 --> 00:04:55,880 as if they were captured by one giant, single mirror. 55 00:04:58,520 --> 00:04:59,520 The result: 56 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:02,410 the sharpest views you can imagine. 57 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,390 But astronomy is not only about taking images. 58 00:05:09,390 --> 00:05:11,080 If you’re after the details, 59 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,290 you have to dissect the starlight and study its composition. 60 00:05:18,340 --> 00:05:22,050 Spectroscopy is one of astronomy’s most powerful tools. 61 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:31,780 No wonder ESO boasts some of the world’s most advanced spectrographs, 62 00:05:31,780 --> 00:05:34,240 like the powerful X-Shooter. 63 00:05:35,420 --> 00:05:40,430 Images carry more beauty, but spectra reveal more information. 64 00:05:44,270 --> 00:05:45,520 Composition. 65 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:47,780 Motions. 66 00:05:48,770 --> 00:05:50,060 Ages. 67 00:05:56,270 --> 00:06:01,010 The atmospheres of exoplanets, orbiting distant stars. 68 00:06:04,550 --> 00:06:08,890 Or newborn galaxies at the edge of the observable Universe. 69 00:06:12,350 --> 00:06:17,530 Without spectroscopy, we would just be explorers staring at a beautiful landscape. 70 00:06:17,530 --> 00:06:18,980 With spectroscopy, 71 00:06:18,980 --> 00:06:24,570 we learn about the landscape’s topography, geology, evolution and composition. 72 00:06:34,260 --> 00:06:36,080 And there’s one more thing. 73 00:06:40,060 --> 00:06:44,930 Despite its serene beauty, the Universe is a violent place. 74 00:06:47,010 --> 00:06:48,700 Things go bump in the night, 75 00:06:48,700 --> 00:06:52,680 and astronomers want to catch each and every event. 76 00:06:56,020 --> 00:07:01,300 Massive stars end their lives in titanic supernova explosions. 77 00:07:07,580 --> 00:07:10,470 Some cosmic detonations are so powerful 78 00:07:10,470 --> 00:07:13,640 that they briefly outshine their parent galaxy, 79 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:19,320 flooding intergalactic space with invisible, high-energy gamma rays. 80 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:26,980 Small robotic telescopes respond to automatic alerts from satellites. 81 00:07:26,980 --> 00:07:34,010 Within seconds, they swing into position to study the aftermaths of these explosions. 82 00:07:35,180 --> 00:07:38,680 Other roboscopes focus on less dramatic events, 83 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:43,510 such as distant planets that pass in front of their mother stars. 84 00:07:46,260 --> 00:07:49,170 The cosmos is in a constant state of flux. 85 00:07:49,170 --> 00:07:52,690 ESO tries not to miss a single heartbeat. 86 00:07:55,020 --> 00:07:58,900 Cosmology is the study of the Universe as a whole. 87 00:07:58,900 --> 00:08:03,110 Its structure, evolution and origin. 88 00:08:07,020 --> 00:08:11,820 Here, catching as much light as possible is of the essence. 89 00:08:11,820 --> 00:08:17,880 These galaxies are so far away that only a handful of photons reach the Earth. 90 00:08:20,020 --> 00:08:23,510 But these photons hold clues to the cosmic past. 91 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:27,770 They have travelled for billions of years. 92 00:08:27,770 --> 00:08:31,470 They paint a picture of the early days of the Universe. 93 00:08:32,020 --> 00:08:37,150 That’s why big telescopes and sensitive detectors are so important. 94 00:08:37,950 --> 00:08:40,070 Over the past fifty years, 95 00:08:40,070 --> 00:08:44,520 ESO telescopes have revealed some of the most distant galaxies and quasars 96 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:46,580 ever observed. 97 00:08:50,020 --> 00:08:53,980 They even helped to uncover the distribution of dark matter, 98 00:08:53,980 --> 00:08:56,970 the nature of which is still a mystery. 99 00:09:03,580 --> 00:09:09,790 Who knows what the next fifty years will bring?