The Call for Proposals for observations at ESO telescopes in Period 104 (1 October 2019 – 31 March 2020) has been released. Please consult the Period 104 document for the main news items and policies related to applying for time on ESO telescopes. All technical information about the offered instruments and facilities is contained on ESO webpages that are linked from the Call. The proposal submission deadline is 12:00 CET 28 March 2019.

ESO announces the forthcoming deployment of its new tool for the preparation and submission of observing proposals. This represents the first part of a broader overhaul of the ESO Phase 1 system (p1) that, in the near future, will also entail a significant modernisation of the Observing Programmes Committee refereeing process and related tools. ESO will start to offer the new p1 system during Period 103 for the submission of DDT proposals. A demo version where users can experiment with the new system will soon be available. Further announcements will be made via the usual ESO communication channels.

Science workshops are an essential component of ESO's programmes and represent a unique opportunity to promote and foster ideas and collaborations within the scientific community. Every year, through the Directorate for Science, ESO provides support and funding to organise two workshops in Santiago and four in Garching, as well as co-funding some external workshops (see ESO Workshops calendar).

A new Call has been issued inviting community astronomers to team up with ESO staff and fellows in Chile and/or in Germany to submit proposals for ESO workshops to be held in 2020. Note that ESO has implemented a Code of Conduct for Workshops and Conferences, which applies to all meetings held at ESO premises. ESO-funded workshops that are held outside ESO premises are required to adopt their own codes of conduct.

ESO, Garching, Germany 12 March 2019

In April 1999, the first of the twin workhorses of the VLT, FORS1, started regular science operations. In September 1999 its twin, FORS2 arrived at Paranal and entered regular service in April 2000. Over the years, the two FORS instruments have provided unique data, leading to many astronomical discoveries. Both instruments have been amongst the most prolific Paranal instruments. In March there will be a one-day event celebrating the scientific discoveries made with these successful instruments. Registration is open and further details are available at the meeting website.

ESO, Garching, Germany, 6–8 May 2019

4MOST is a state-of-the-art, high-multiplex, optical spectroscopic survey facility currently under construction for ESO’s 4-metre VISTA telescope. During the first five years of operations 4MOST will be used to execute a comprehensive programme of both Galactic and extragalactic Public Surveys, and 30% of the observing time during this period will be available to the community. The process of selecting Community Public Surveys will be initiated by a Call for Letters of Intent for Public Spectroscopic Surveys, to be issued by ESO in mid-2019. In preparation of this Call, ESO and the 4MOST Consortium are jointly organising a workshop to prepare the ESO community for this exciting scientific opportunity, to assist potential PIs in successfully responding to the Call, and to foster scientific collaborations between the community and the 4MOST Consortium.  

Bologna, Italy 6–9 May 2019

The theme for the First CTA Symposium is “Science opportunities with CTA”. Through a combination of invited and contributed talks, as well as poster sessions, the meeting aims to gather the larger multi-wavelength and multi-messenger communities and set up new channels of communications and synergies among them and their results (see the preliminary programme). Registration is now open and there is also a call for contributed talks.

ESO, Garching, Germany 3–5 June 2019

Registration is now open for the ESO ALMA Development workshop. This workshop aims to bring together a wide range of groups working on the continued development of ALMA in order to optimally coordinate these activities in light of the three-yearly ESO call for development studies, which is expected to be issued before the workshop. A particular emphasis will be given on presenting the ALMA 2030 development roadmap. Further details, including an outline of the programme can be found on the workshop webpage. The registration deadline is 2 May 2019.

ESO, Garching, Germany, 17–21 June 2019 

ESO is organising a special workshop to discuss the future science uses of the VLT when the ELT will be operational. The workshop will consist of invited reviews and contributed talks to discuss potential development paths for VLT and VLTI. Discussion topics will include new and improved VLT and VLTI instrumentation, potential modifications or upgrades to the facilities, changes in the operations model and synergies with other facilities. We encourage presentations of this nature and will schedule ample time for contributed talks.

ESO, Garching, Germany, 22–26 July 2019 

It is certainly an understatement that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken the world by storm, with breakthroughs appearing almost daily in the news. The sheer volume of astronomical data (which increases exponentially) necessitates a new paradigmatic approach – AI – which must be, to a large extent, automated and made much more efficient. This workshop has two aims: to present the current landscape of methods and applications in astronomy and to prepare the next generations of astronomers to embark on these fields. Artificial intelligence covers a wide range of algorithms and the first thing is to provide a clear map to navigate in this jungle and show which techniques is used for which kind of science. Thus, we aim at having a few invited talks by prominent speakers to set the scene. This will be complemented by a series of contributed talks in order to provide a clear panorama of the current use of AI in astronomy. We also expect to have many posters showing various applications of AI in astronomy. In addition, we will offer several 3-hour tutorials and hands-on sessions to allow the participants to dig into the techniques.

ESO, Garching, Germany, 9–13 September 2019 

More than 60 years ago, the Magellanic Clouds provided crucial impetus for the construction of large telescopes in the Southern hemisphere and the foundation of ESO. This workshop will provide a fertile forum for shaping the future of research related to the Magellanic Clouds by showcasing state-of-the-art results based on advanced observational programmes as well as discussions of expectations and projections in anticipation of highly multiplexed wide-field spectroscopic surveys (e.g., 4MOST, MOONS) which will come online in the 2020s. This conference also marks the quincentenary of Ferdinand Magellan's arrival in the southern hemisphere during his circumnavigation of the Earth. Very recently, in 2018, there was also Henrietta Leavitt's 150th birthday and the 110th anniversary of her discovery of the period-luminosity relation among Magellanic Cloud Cepheids.