Press Releases

24 May 2000: European science and technology will gain further strength when the new, front-line Nova-ESO VLTI Expertise Centre (NEVEC) opens in Leiden (The Netherlands) this week. It is a joint venture of the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) (itself a collaboration between the Universities of Amsterdam, Groningen, Leiden, and Utrecht) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO). It is concerned with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI).

16 December 1999: Recent observations with the FORS1 instrument at the first 8.2-m VLT Unit Telescope (ANTU) by an international group of astronomers [1] have resulted in crucial new information about some small and faint stars within an old star cluster in the Milky Way.

3 December 1999: In the course of the current installation of ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) , a delicate operation has just been successfully achieved at the Paranal Observatory. The coated 8.2-m Zerodur main mirror for the third VLT 8.2-m Unit Telescope, MELIPAL , is now in place!

10 June 1999: Representatives from the U.S. and Europe signed an agreement today in Washington to continue collaboration on the first phase of a giant new telescope project. The telescope will image the Universe with unprecedented sensitivity and sharpness at millimeter wavelengths (between the radio and infrared spectral regions). It will be a major step for astronomy, making it possible to study the origins of galaxies, stars and planets. A Joint Press Release by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO)

25 February 1999: While much attention is now directed towards the VLT Opening Symposium that will take place in Antofagasta on 1-4 March 1999, assembly work on the VLT Unit Telescopes proceeds at Paranal.

16 May 1997: In August 1995, the European Southern Observatory signed a contract with Linde A.G. (Germany), for the supply of the coating unit for the giant mirrors of the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT). Together with the main subcontractors, BOC coating technology (UK) , and Deggendorfer Werft (Germany), Linde has meanwhile completed the development, construction and pre-commissioning of the coating unit in Deggendorf, a town located at the Danube River, some 150 km northeast of Munich.

12 May 1997: ESO Messenger no. 87 (March 1997) contains information (on Page 5) about the content of the Time Capsule, deposited by President Frei of the Republic of Chile on December 4, 1996, in the wall of VLT Enclosure no. 1. This capsule, an aluminium cylinder of 15 cm diameter and 45 centimeter long, was filled with nitrogen gas and sealed hermetically. A commemorative plaque was fixed in front of the cavity. In addition to the various items listed below, the capsule also contains a list of contents etched on a metal plate which will survive virtually indefinitely in this environment, while it cannot be excluded that the papers may deteriorate with time.

5 September 1996: On 5 September 1996, the Senate of the Republic of Chile (Second Chamber of the Parliament) has ratified the Interpretative, Supplementary and Modifying Agreement to the Convention of 1963, which regulates the relations between the European Southern Observatory and its host country, the Republic of Chile.

2 June 1995: Versailles-Satory (France) May 31, 1995 - Giat Industries has just obtained a contract from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) for the construction of the primary and tertiary mirror supports and the positioning apparatus of the world's largest optical telescope. This contract, worth almost 140 million francs, represents over 100,000 hours of work. It was won by Gitech, a division of Giat Industries, in collaboration with the Sfim group, following an international competition between the largest European groups in the space field. Gitech is charged with the development of civil and military industrial equipment for the Giat Industries group, in particular in high technology fields.

14 May 1993: ESO, the European Southern Observatory, in reply to questions raised by the media would like to clarify its position with regard to recent events which concern the relations between ESO and the Republic of Chile, the host state for the ESO observatories in the southern hemisphere.