ESO's Expanding Horizons process aims to identify the main scientific challenges that will face European astronomers in the 2040s, and the type of transformational ground-based facility that will be required to address these fundamental questions. Following the call for Scientific White Papers in late 2025 -an initiative designed to galvanise the European astronomical community to engage in the Expanding Horizons process- ESO is organizing a community-wide workshop on 13-17 July 2026 at ESO's Headquarters in Garching bei München that will bring together astronomers from a wide range of research backgrounds to present their vision of what the key scientific questions will be 2040s. It will also be a platform to investigate the potential synergies between the different scientific themes, the required facilities and the key enabling technologies needed for the 2040s and beyond.
Expanding Horizons: What Are the Astronomical Challenges of the 2040s, Garching bei München, 13-17 July 2026
Published: 03 Mar 2026
Further information can be found in the workshop web pages.