Science Users Information

These pages are aimed at ESO community astronomers and contain all the information required in order to prepare, execute, process and exploit observations with ESO facilities. They also provide information on the scientific activities taking place at ESO. Details can be accessed via the navigation menu.

ESO Science Announcements

Call for MUSE Science Verification Proposals

Published: 16 Apr 2014

The science verification (SV) for the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) will take place on the nights of 20–29 June 2014. All community astronomers are kindly invited to participate in this opportunity to obtain early science with MUSE and thus to demonstrate the scientific capabilities of this unique instrument.

Go to Announcement

Release of Photometric Catalogue Data Resulting from the VISTA Magellanic Survey

Published: 11 Apr 2014

The VISTA Magellanic Survey (VMC) – one of the six public surveys current at the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) – aims at determining the spatially resolved star formation history and 3D geometry of the Magellanic system. The VMC survey is designed to reach stars below the oldest main-sequence turn-off and the multi-epoch strategy enables accurate Ks mean magnitudes for variable stars, e.g. RR Lyrae stars and Cepheids, to be measured. Catalogues from some of the deep co-added survey images have now been released.

Go to Announcement

First Data Releases of the VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations (VIDEO) Survey in the Elais-S1 and CDFS Fields

Published: 04 Apr 2014

VIDEO is a deep near-infrared survey which targets ~12 square degrees over the Elais-S1, XMM-LSS, and extended Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) extragalactic fields. VIDEO belongs to the suite of six public surveys being conducted at the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA). First data releases of the Elais-S1 and CDFS fields have just been made available.

Go to Announcement

Integral Field Spectroscopy Developments

Published: 24 Mar 2014

The latest integral field spectrograph (IFS) on the VLT, the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE), has recently undergone its first commissioning period - see details in the Release. A second commissioning period will take place in April followed by Science Verification a few months later. MUSE is first offered to the community for observation in Period 94 (October 2014 – March 2015).

Go to Announcement

Observing Time Calculation for APEX Instruments Artemis and Supercam

Published: 23 Mar 2014

A new observing time calculator is now available for the Artemis 350µm camera offered on APEX in Period 94. This calculator assumes a field of view of 4.7×2.5 arcminutes, with fully sampled pixels in the 350µm focal plane. The 450µm and 200µm planes are not offered in Period 94. Note that this is only a preliminary version of the calculator, as the full commissioning of Artemis will be performed in June 2014.

Go to Announcement

View All | RSS RSS | Subscribe to Science Newsletter

The Messenger

The Messenger No. 155 is now available. Highlights include:

  • S. Rengaswamy et al. Speckle Imaging with VLT/NACO No-AO Mode
  • M. Hempel et al. VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV): Halfway Status and Results
  • Le Fèvre O. et al. The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey: 10 000 Galaxies to Study the Early Phases of Galaxy Assembly at 2 < z < 6+
  • A. Fontana et al. When VLT Meets HST: The HAWK-I UDS and GOODS Survey (HUGS)
  • F. Comerón, T. de Zeeuw Celebrating Fifty Years of ESO in Chile

You can subscribe to the hardcopy of The Messenger or browse the complete archive of issues.

The ESO Science Newsletter

The March 2014 issue is now available.

The ESO Science Newsletter, mailed approximately once per month, presents the most recent announcements. Subscription is controlled through the Manage Profile link on the User Portal. Back issues (2013-) are archived.