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BRIDGING HORIZONS: HARNESSING ESO'S CURRENT FACILITIES FOR THE DAWN OF EXOPLANET POPULATION STUDIES

2 - 6 NOVEMBER 2026

 

GARCHING NEAR MUNICH, GERMANY

VITACURA, SANTIAGO DE CHILE

NICE, FRANCE

LUND, SWEDEN

 

Exoplanet science is entering a transformative decade. The upcoming ESA missions PLATO (2026) and Ariel (2029) will revolutionise the detection of Earth analogues and the study of planetary atmospheres through large-scale surveys, but their discoveries will rely critically on synergies with ground-based observatories. ESO’s current facilities, VLT, VLTI and ALMA, offer complementary strengths in demographics, atmospheric characterisation, planet formation and system architectures, paving the way for discoveries that the ELT will later explore in greater depth.

ESO’s archives also hold a wealth of underexploited data which, combined with advances in reduction pipelines, statistical techniques and modelling tools, can yield new insights into planet formation, migration and atmospheric diversity. Leveraging both archival and new observations will ensure ESO’s central role in advancing exoplanet science in the PLATO and Ariel era.

In that context, the objectives of this workshop are:

  • Identify observational gaps, synergies and strategies for follow-up across ESO facilities;

  • Define a roadmap to optimise ESO’s infrastructure and archives in support of PLATO and Ariel science goals;

  • Prepare the community for ESO’s Expanding Horizons Call for Ideas (2026) by highlighting promising science cases;

  • Foster open-science practices, including shared tools, data products and analysis methods;

  • Pilot a distributed and sustainable conference model, with four regional nodes to broaden participation, reduce environmental impact and strengthen connections across diverse communities.

 

Potential topics

  • Exoplanet detection and demographics

  • Exoplanetary atmospheres and population studies

  • Planetary formation, migration and system architectures

  • Exploiting ESO archives: data mining, re-analysis and tools

  • Advances in statistical and simulation methods

  • Synergies with PLATO and Ariel

  • Synergies with ESO facilities (VLT/I, ALMA) and other observatories (JWST, Gaia, Roman, SKA, etc.)

  • Expanding Horizons Ideas

  • Open-science practices and community tools

  • Others

     

The workshop will take place in four regional nodes, including synchronous and asynchronous components:

  • Garching bei München, Germany

  • Santiago, Chile

  • Lund, Sweden

  • Nice, France

 

Registration fees apply.

E-mail: BridgingHorizons@eso.org

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