Centaurus over the ESO 3.6-metre telescope

The constellation of Centaurus hovers above the ESO 3.6-metre telescope in this spectacular shot from the La Silla Observatory in the Atacama desert, northern Chile. Surrounded by the mass of stars making up the Milky Way, the two bright stars right above the telescope dome are Alpha and Beta Centauri.

Centaurus is home to the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, our closest stellar neighbour and the target of a new scientific and outreach project known as the Pale Red Dot campaign.

Pale Red Dot is an international search for an Earth-like exoplanet around the closest star to us, Proxima Centauri. It will use HARPS, attached to ESO’s 3.6-metre telescope at La Silla Observatory, as well as the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) and the Burst Optical Observer and Transient Exploring System (BOOTES). The public will see how teams of astronomers with different specialities work together to collect, analyse and interpret data, which may or may not be able to confirm the presence of an Earth-like planet orbiting our nearest neighbour. The outreach campaign consists ofblog posts and social media updates on the Pale Red Dot Twitter account and using the hashtag#PaleRedDot. For more information visit the Pale Red Dot website: http://www.palereddot.org