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28 de Julio de 2010: ESO has signed a large contract to deliver sodium lasers for the new Adaptive Optics Facility for the Very Large Telescope at Paranal. Laser guide stars are used as part of adaptive optics equipment to help telescopes correct for atmospheric effects. This new facility will let astronomers make sharper observations, over more of the sky and in a broader range of conditions than is possible at present. Following a competitive design study, ESO has awarded the contract to build the lasers to Toptica Photonics AG, a German laser manufacturer. The lasers will be based on a novel Raman fibre amplification technology developed by the Laser Systems Department at ESO. This allows the lasers to be lighter, cheaper, more compact and more reliable than would be possible with competing technologies. Laser guide stars work by projecting a powerful laser beam to the upper reaches of the atmosphere. The beam excites the ...

26 de Julio de 2010: A video compilation of footage showing the recoating of a mirror at ESO’s Very Large Telescope array (VLT) has now been released. The VLT, on Cerro Paranal in Chile, is the flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy. It is the world's most advanced optical telescope, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors 8.2 metres in diameter and four movable 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes. This video compilation shows the different stages of the complex recoating process for one of the VLT’s giant main mirrors. The footage captures the moment when the mirror is brought out of the telescope and transported to a dedicated mirror maintenance plant. Here, the mirror is separated from its supporting cell, cleaned and finally recoated. The compilation features many timelapse sequences of the whole operation.

22 de Julio de 2010: A new video compilation of footage of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is available. ALMA is an international astronomy facility, supported by Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. Under construction on the Chajnantor plateau in the Chilean Andes, ALMA will be a revolutionary observatory, composed initially of 66 high precision antennas designed to study some of the coldest and most distant objects in the Universe. This video compilation visits the different facilities that belong to the extensive ALMA observatory. The footage, obtained in early 2010, includes sequences of some antennas at an altitude of 5000 metres on the Chajnantor plateau, as well as the assembly and testing of antennas at a lower altitude, at the Operations Support Facility. Further material shows astronomers during the commissioning and science verification phase.

20 de Julio de 2010: Three astronomers have been awarded the Viktor Ambartsumian International Prize 2010 for their outstanding contributions in the field of planetary systems and their host stars, in which observations with ESO telescopes have played a major role. The 2010 winners of the Prize are Professor Michel Mayor from the University of Geneva and two of his team members, Dr Garik Israelian from the Astrophysical Institute of Canary Islands (IAC) and Dr Nuno Santos from the Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto (CAUP), nominated by the Swiss Academy of Sciences. The Viktor Ambartsumian International Prize was established by the President of Armenia in 2009 and is one of the most important awards in astronomy/astrophysics and related sciences. It is awarded to outstanding scientists from any country and nationality who make significant contributions to science. The Prize totals US$ 500 000 and will be awarded once every two years, starting in 2010. ...

16 de Julio de 2010: Una compilación de imágenes de video de VISTA –el Telescopio de Rastreo Visible e Infrarrojo para la Astronomía– está disponible. VISTA es el telescopio más nuevo en el Observatorio Paranal de ESO en el norte de Chile y el telescopio de rastreo más grande del mundo en longitudes de onda de infrarrojo cercano. Su gran espejo, su amplio campo de visión y sus detectores altamente sensibles revelan una visión completamente nueva del cielo austral. Esta compilación muestra el telescopio VISTA desde diferentes distancias y ángulos. Las imágenes incluyen secuencias exteriores de VISTA además de tomas interiores. Material adicional muestra al telescopio rotando y a los astrónomos realizando observaciones nocturnas.

15 de Julio de 2010: Behind the scenes at Paranal Observatory, some dedicated members of the ESO staff spend their own time photographing the skies above the observatory, taking advantage of the same conditions — the clear skies, and low light pollution — that make Cerro Paranal an ideal site for the world’s most advanced telescopes. To give you an insight into astrophotography, ESO has just issued a new video podcast entitled “Photographers of the Night” that looks at the art of capturing images of the sky, illustrated by the work of three ESO employees, who are passionate photographers, and who brave the cold nights to take breathtaking snapshots of the sky with their digital cameras and telescopes. The video is available in various formats, including HD, and can be watched at http://www.eso.org/public/videos/esocast19/ or downloaded from iTunes.

14 de Julio de 2010: Una compilación de imágenes de video del Very Large Telescope (VLT) de ESO está disponible. El VLT, en Cerro Paranal en Chile, es la principal instalación de la astronomía europea basada en tierra. Es el telescopio óptico más avanzado del mundo, compuesto de cuatro Unidades de Telescopio con espejos principales de 8,2 metros de diámetro y cuatro Telescopios Auxiliares móviles de 1,8 metros de diámetro. Esta compilación muestra el observatorio VLT desde diferentes distancias y ángulos. Las imágenes, obtenidas a comienzos de 2009, incluyen secuencias interiores de uno de los telescopios de 8,2 metros del VLT además de tomas de los Telescopios Auxiliares. Material adicional muestra algunos de los avanzados instrumentos astronómicos del VLT, así como la Residencia de Paranal, donde duermen los empleados que trabajan en el observatorio y los astrónomos visitantes que llegan a realizar sus observaciones.

7 de Julio de 2010: El 6 de Julio de 2010, el Presente de Chile Sebastián Piñera recibió al Director General de ESO, Tim de Zeeuw, en el Palacio La Moneda, en Santiago, para conversar sobre la elección de Cerro Armazones en Chile, como el hogar del futuro Telescopio Europeo Extremadamente Grande (E-ELT por su sigla en inglés). El Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Chile, Alfredo Moreno, el Embajador Gabriel Rodríguez del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y el Representante de ESO en Chile, Massimo Tarenghi, también estuvieron presentes. El día anterior, la Ministra de Bienes Nacionales, Catalina Parot, invitó al Director General de ESO a un almuerzo para discutir la implementación de la oferta hecha por el Gobierno de Chile de transferir a ESO una considerable extensión de tierra contigua a los terrenos de ESO en Paranal, incluyendo Armazones, con el fin de asegurar la protección continuada del emplazamiento contra cualquier influencia adversa, en especial ...

6 de Julio de 2010: An international collaboration of astronomers has recently commissioned a new observing mode for the NACO adaptive optics instrument attached to ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Paranal. The new capability counteracts the effects of diffraction of light very close to a bright star, enabling astronomers to see very faint nearby objects. The prime example of the kind of objects that can be searched for with the new VLT observing mode, called the Apodising Phase Plate (APP), are Jupiter-like gas giant planets that could be lurking around Sun-like stars in our galaxy. The new mode enables astronomers to search for planets closer to the star than has been previously possible. As a demonstration of the power of the APP technique, a team led by Matthew Kenworthy, Sascha Quanz, and Michael Meyer have confirmed the recent detection of the giant exoplanet around the star Beta Pictoris (eso1024; led by A.-M. Lagrange, Grenoble), ...

30 de Junio de 2010: A breathtaking 3D light show in Linz, Austria gives audiences a virtual tour of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), before construction work has even begun in Chile. Lucky viewers can gain a sneak preview of what astronomers can hope to see once the planned observatory is up and running in 2018. The E-ELT will be the world’s biggest optical telescope and will peer deeper into the depths of space than any before it. Audience members at Ars Electronica, a “museum of the future” that focuses on the interplay of technology and art, are even suspended just above the telescope’s colossal 42-metre primary mirror. In reality, this viewpoint will be impossible without risking grave damage to the fragile reflective surface. They are also told of the amazing power of the E-ELT to see smaller and fainter objects than ever before, and how its revolutionary potential could be as great as ...

30 de Junio de 2010: What are the hottest science topics from the most productive observatory in the world? Find out in the new slide presentation “Top 10 Discoveries by ESO Telescopes”, now available online. From the many impressive discoveries based on data taken by ESO telescopes, this presentation introduces ten that have been selected as the most remarkable so far, based on their scientific relevance and implications. The presentation consists of 38 slides with explanations, impressive images, and links to related information on the ESO website. This product, designed for the non-specialist, will be particularly useful for educators or anyone who needs to give a presentation on this topic.

30 de Junio de 2010: ESO has just published issue 140 of its quarterly journal, The Messenger. This issue features a range of articles including: A roundup of proposed instruments for the planned E-ELT; An in-depth look at the FORS instruments on the VLT on the occasion of their double 10th anniversary; Updates on new advances in adaptive optics; How astronomers are using the CRIRES spectrograph on the VLT to search for exoplanets orbiting very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs; and Wolf-Rayet stars and the search for the origins of gamma ray bursts. The issue also details how ESO staff in Chile helped with humanitarian aid in the aftermath of February’s earthquake.

28 de Junio de 2010: During the summer, in the UK, an exhibition including two innovative videos is showcasing inspirational plans to build the largest visible-light telescope in the world — the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). “Designing a Giant Eye on the Sky” is an exhibit at the Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition, part of See Further: The Festival of Science + Arts at the Southbank Centre in London. The exhibit features an innovative dance video “Get the Hex”. The film project involves students from The Royal High School in Edinburgh working with filmmaker and dance choreographer team Craig and Joanne Thomson to create a piece representing the science behind the mirror in the giant telescope. Tom Bacciarelli, who teaches at The Royal High School, says: “In the film, 60 of our students dance with silver hexagonal umbrellas to portray the giant mirror, Earth-like planets and galaxies. I hope other schools will be inspired ...

28 de Junio de 2010: One of the movies featured at this year’s Filmfest München, taking place between 25 June and 3 July 2010, is “Nostalgia for the Light” (“Nostalgia de la Luz”). Directed by Patricio Guzmán, the movie is set in Chile, and ESO’s Paranal Observatory is one of the locations featured. Here, at almost 3000 m altitude, astronomers observe the stars with ESO’s Very Large Telescope and make new discoveries about the Universe. Furthermore, in the same area of the Atacama Desert, the environmental conditions preserve human remains, including mummies, explorers, and also those of people who disappeared during the past dictatorial regime. Here, the movie follows a group of women who are digging through the desert soil in search of their disappeared relatives.

25 de Junio de 2010: ESO astronomers and engineers are attending and presenting results at the international SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation symposium in San Diego, California, USA, from 27 June to 2 July, at the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center. ESO will also present its projects in a sold-out exhibition, in which more than 70 companies are taking part. The meeting, with more than 2000 expected participants, is the most prestigious gathering of astronomical instrumentation experts in the world. Roberto Gilmozzi, Principal Investigator for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) project at ESO, will give a plenary talk on goals for the next generation of Extremely Large Telescopes, ranging from the quest for Earth-like exoplanets to the detailed study of the first objects in the Universe. Mark Casali, Head of ESO’s Instrumentation Division, is one of the symposium co-chairs. Thanks to great technological developments, the latest astronomical telescopes and instruments are giving ...

24 de Junio de 2010: Garching, 24 June 2010 — In a Statement of Intent signed today at the offices of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Garching, Germany, the European Commission (EC) and the members of EIROforum, including ESO, formalise their desire to maintain and further develop their cooperation, for the benefit of European science. In signing this statement, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science and Iain Mattaj, Chairman of EIROforum and Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), as well as the Directors General or equivalent of the other EIROforum members, agree to cooperate to further European research in general, and the European Research Area in particular. “As leaders in our fields of scientific research we play an active role, every day, in turning the European Research Area into a reality. At EIROforum we therefore have considerable experience and expertise, which we will strive to make available to ...

24 de Junio de 2010: A press kit about black holes is now available for download in PDF format. The guide gives a concise and accessible explanation of what black holes are, why they are interesting, the latest on black hole research from ESO — and why scientists say they have “no hair”. It explains: How black holes were discovered; Why they exist; What scientists know about them today; and How a supermassive black hole lies at the heart of our own galaxy. The press kit is available in English, and features a full list of black hole related ESO press releases.

23 de Junio de 2010: A press kit about exoplanets is now available for download in PDF format. Exoplanets (or extrasolar planets) are planets that orbit stars other than our Sun. While astronomers have long suspected their existence, it is only in the past two decades that we have been able to detect them, with much of this cutting edge work done at ESO. This document explains in clear language: Why exoplanets are so hard to detect, and what strategies astronomers have used to find them; What these discoveries can tell us about the origins of our own Solar System and how the Earth was formed; How ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has allowed scientists to obtain the first image of an exoplanet; How the HARPS spectrograph on the ESO 3.6-metre telescope is the world’s foremost exoplanet hunter; and How future research could one day let us discover whether there is life on other planets. ...

18 de Junio de 2010: The ESO Annual Report 2009 is now available for download. It presents a comprehensive report of the many activities of the European Southern Observatory during 2009.

18 de Junio de 2010: In this issue of Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal, the artist Tim Roth and his collaborators give us a behind the scenes look to their very successful science–art project Cosmic Revelation and our regular contributor, Matthew McCool looks back in time to the clash between science and the humanities. Between issues you can stay in touch through our website, www.capjournal.org, where you will find the current issues in PDF format, an astronomy communication and education job bank, submission guidelines and back issues. We also welcome astronomy and science communication events (conferences, meetings, etc.), training opportunities, job postings or courses offered. If you have astronomy and science communication-themed products such as books, DVDs, television programmes, magazines or websites that you would like to see reviewed by the CAPjournal editorial team, simply send the necessary information to: editor@capjournal.org. Any questions, comments or opinions can also be addressed there.