As previously announced, the performance of the star-hopping technique in observations with SPHERE has recently been assessed and described in the instrument's User Manual. It has been shown that this technique can boost the signal-to-noise ratio in exoplanet studies, particularly at small separations (0.1") from the star. In order to encourage future observations exploiting the new technique, DDT observations under Programme ID 2103.C-5076 were performed and the data is now available for download on ESO's Science Archive Facility.

Recent developments in Chile have led to disruption in transportation, including flight cancellations, affecting the normal function of some Chilean cities. ESO is monitoring the situation closely and has implemented measures to continue to ensure the well-being of its staff and visitors, including visiting astronomers and instrument team members. Travel to and within Chile has been limited, and this may have an impact on some ESO operations in Vitacura and at La Silla, Paranal and APEX sites. 

The ESO research studentship programme provides an outstanding opportunity for PhD students to experience the exciting scientific environment at one of the world's leading observatories. ESO's studentship positions are open to students enrolled in a university PhD programme in astronomy or related fields. Students accepted into the programme work on their doctoral project under the formal supervision of their home university, but they come to ESO to work and study under the co-supervision of an ESO staff astronomer for a period of between one and two years.

4MOST is a state-of-the-art, high-multiplex, fibre-fed, 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, integrated programme of both Galactic and extragalactic Public Surveys. In addition, the ESO community will also be asked to propose for surveys with 4MOST. The process of selecting the Community Surveys will be initiated by a "Call for Letters of Intent for Public Spectroscopic Surveys" which will be announced in an upcoming issue of the Science Newsletter later this year.

The Fizeau exchange visitors program in optical interferometry funds visits of researchers to institutes of their choice within the European Community to perform collaborative work and training on one of the active topics of the European Interferometry Initiative. The visits typically last for one month, and strengthen the network of astronomers engaged in technical, scientific and training work on optical/infrared interferometry including ESO's VLTI. The programme is open to all levels of astronomers (from PhD students to tenured staff), with priority given to PhD students and young postdocs. Non-EU based missions will only be funded if considered essential by the Fizeau Committee. Applicants are also strongly encouraged to seek partial support from their home or host institutions.

Since its release in November 2007 the ESO User Portal has successfully served the community by providing single-point access to a variety of services covering everything from proposal submission to data retrieval. Over the years new features have been added, most notably Phase 2, Phase 3, and Data Access Rights delegation. Starting in mid-October another upgrade has been performed. As a complement to the newly-released p1 proposal system, users who wish to submit and/or referee proposals can provide additional information in their User Portal profile. This is a first step towards better handling of the refereeing process, in particular regarding bias assessment/mitigation. ESO User Portal account holders can also supply their ORCID iD to enable robust associations between researchers and their publications using ESO data.

 Starting in October 2019 the web-based replacement for the ESO Phase 2 observing preparation tool P2PP named p2ls, has been released for operations at La Silla.  p2ls replaces P2PP for (designated) Visitor Mode observations of all instruments available at La Silla. Note that p2ls is the La Silla counterpart of the Paranal tool p2.
   

The performance of the star-hopping technique in observations with SPHERE has recently been assessed and described in the instrument's User Manual. It has been shown that this technique can boost the signal-to-noise ratio in exoplanet studies, particularly at small separations (0.1") from the star. In order to encourage future observations exploiting the new technique, DDT observations under programme ID 2103.C-5076 will soon be performed and the data made immediately public on ESO's Science Archive Facility. ESO will inform users through this Science Newsletter once the observations have been completed.

The latest edition of ESO's quarterly journal, The Messenger, is now available online. In issue 177 highlights include an article on the recent spectacular results from the Event Horizon Telescope and the role of ALMA in obtaining these as well as the future plans of the EHT consortium; read about ESO's recent Distributed Peer Review experiment – can it replace conventional Peer Review? Enjoy some spectacular images from the Total Solar Eclipse last July as witnessed by lucky visitors at La Silla and early results from science experiments conducted during totality. Also read about what the PHANGS surveys are uncovering about star formation in nearby galaxies using ESO and ALMA.

Schloss Ringberg, Germany, 2–5 February 2020 

In the last two years, APEX has been significantly improved by upgrades of the antenna itself as well as by the commissioning of new instruments almost continuously covering the range from 157 to 732 GHz. These improvements have been most visible at the highest frequencies, which have now become standard operations. Two new wide-field bolometer cameras are also expected to come online in the next 2 years. The science with APEX workshop will bring together APEX users and other interested scientists working on a wide range of exciting results covering the Solar System to distant galaxies in the early Universe. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to present new science results and to look into new science opportunities for the next years.