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7. mart 2016.: In this picture, our home galaxy the Milky Way stretches across the sky above the landscape of the Chilean Andes. In the foreground, the roads of ESO’s La Silla Observatory are packed with state-of-the-art astronomical telescopes pointing towards, and far beyond, the Milky Way. Several multinational telescopes are captured in this frame. The ESO 3.6-metre telescope stands on the central pedestal and is mounted with the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) — the best exoplanet finder on Earth. Just next to the main dome, the smaller one once hosted the Coudé Auxiliary Telescope (CAT) which used to feed the powerful Coudé Echelle Spectrograph; they are now both decommissioned. At the foot of this pedestal lies the French Rapid Action Telescope for Transient Objects (TAROT) which follows up on highly energetic events called gamma-ray bursts. These are also studied by the Swiss 1.2-metre Leonhard Euler Telescope in the dome ...

29. februar 2016.: Pictured here at sunset is one of the four Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), shown at ESO's Paranal Observatory. The faint crescent Moon can be seen hanging above the round enclosure of the telescope. Together with four Unit Telescopes (UTs) that make up the Very Large Telescope, these four ATs complete the VLTI. Unlike the UTs, which are fixed, each of the four 1.8-metre ATs are movable and can be relocated to 30 different stations along the platform to create a wide baseline of up to 200 metres. This allows the VLTI to act as one large telescope of this size via a technique called interferometry — combining the light from several smaller telescopes to increase the resolution of the telescope. In the case of VLTI, this provides milliarcsecond angular resolution — equivalent to a span of two metres as far away from us as ...

22. februar 2016.: This image is unreal — literally! Rather than being a single picture, it was created by combining two separate photographs together, and shows the January sky as seen from both hemispheres. The skilled photographer was ESO Photo Ambassador Petr Horálek. Petr shot the upper part of the image from ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile and the lower part from the Slovakian village of Oravska Lesna, before combining the two to form this striking composite. One arm of the distinctive X-shaped structure spreading from the top right to the bottom left of the frame is the lane of the Milky Way. The other diagonal comprises glowing columns of zodiacal light. In the centre of the image, is one of the four small 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes that make up part of ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). A significant glow can be seen in the lower part of the image, caused by light ...

15. februar 2016.: This striking photograph from Yuri Beletsky captures many wonders — both terrestrial and astronomical — across an incredible distance scale. In the immediate foreground looms ESO’s VISTA survey telescope. This 4.1-metre telescope scans the skies in infrared light, picking out astronomical objects of interest so that they can be studied by the four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) facility. This facility can be seen on the mountaintop to VISTA’s right, about a kilometre up the road. In the sky above VISTA a luminous and dark-ribboned band runs from lower left to top right. This is the disc of the Milky Way, seen edge-on and looking inward toward the galactic core. Although we cannot see all the way to the core with our unaided eyes, we have gauged its distance as about 30 000 light-years from us. That distance works out as about 280 quadrillion kilometres, or ...

8. februar 2016.: You may be wondering what a truck has to do with astronomy. Well, this is no ordinary truck — it is an ALMA transporter! At 20 metres long and 10 metres wide, this is one of a pair of custom-designed vehicles used to transport the 66 antennas that make up the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). From its home at 5000 metres above sea level, high in Chile’s Atacama Desert, ALMA delivers a unique view of the low temperature Universe, allowing astronomers to study how stars form in unprecedented detail. The trucks — this one is called Lore, its sibling is Otto — move each antenna along the 28-kilometre road from the construction area at just below 3000 metres above sea level, up to the main telescope site, around 2000 metres higher. They are then used to move the antennas into different configurations corresponding to the different observing modes of ...

1. februar 2016.: This picture of the week shows the spiral galaxy NGC 986 in the constellation of Fornax (The Furnace). The galaxy, which was discovered in 1826 by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop, is not often imaged due to its proximity to the famous and rich Fornax Cluster of galaxies. Which is a shame, as this galaxy is not only a great scientific object, but also very pretty. The galaxy is about 56 million light-years away and seen almost perfectly from the top, or — as astronomers say — face-on. This allows us to see the two main spiral arms and also a central bar-shaped structure, composed of stars and dust, which makes it a barred spiral galaxy. Astronomical surveys have shown that about two thirds of all spiral galaxies contain a bar, including the Milky Way. This makes NGC 986 the perfect place to study the structure of galaxies and find ...

25. januar 2016.: In the sky above ESO's La Silla Observatory, the Southern Cross is clearly visible just to the right of the dome of the Danish 1.54-metre telescope, and to the lower right of the image, two stars sparkle in the amazingly dark sky. From right to left, these are Alpha and Beta Centauri. Alpha Centauri is a multiple star, the nearest star system to Earth. A little closer to Earth than the bright components of Alpha Centauri, and invisible to the naked eye, is Proxima Centauri, the third star belonging to this multiple star system. It is our closest neighbour, at a distance of just 4.2 light-years. Previous observations have provided tantalising, but subtle, hints of a small companion orbiting this red dwarf star. An observing campaign that started in January 2016 will make a more sensitive search for the telltale wobbles in the dwarf star’s orbital motion that might reveal ...

18. januar 2016.: The Milky Way contains hundreds of billions of stars. However, the star at the centre of this image still manages to be very unusual — no mean feat! A Brazilian–American team led by Jorge Melendez, from the University of São Paulo used two of ESO’s telescopes in Chile to discover that this star, named 2MASS J18082002–5104378, is a rare relic from the Milky Way’s formative years. As such, it offers astronomers a precious opportunity to explore the first stars that sprung to life within our galaxy. 2MASS J18082002–5104378 was spotted in 2014 by ESO’s New Technology Telescope (NTT). Follow-up observations using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) discovered that, unlike younger stars such as the Sun, this star shows an unusually low abundance of what astronomers curiously call metals — elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. In fact, it is so devoid of these elements that it is known as an ...

11. januar 2016.: This picture, taken at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, shows the full Moon low in the purple sky, a photographer crouching on the rocks, and the New Technology Telescope (NTT) perched on a hilltop. This image depicts the three things we need for observational astronomy: An object to observe, a telescope to observe it, and a person to make sense of the observations. The Moon is the closest celestial body to Earth and orbits at a distance of 400 000 kilometres as our only natural satellite. Despite the aesthetic glow of the full Moon in this image, the Moon is not a great friend to astronomers. Sunlight that reflects off the lunar surface causes light pollution and makes it harder to observe more distant and very faint objects. Light pollution does not, however, bother the man admiring the view here. This is Babak A. Tafreshi, one of ESO's Photo ...

4. januar 2016.: These friendly looking creatures, photographed in front of the ESO 3.6-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory, are Guanacos. Guanacos, alongside the Vicuña, are one of two types of wild camelid native to this region of northern Chile. Reaching between one and two metres in length (from their heads to their tails) and weighing up to 120 kilograms, guanacos are one of the largest land mammals in Chile. These intrepid adventurers can be found in Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and throughout the Andes: from Tierra del Fuego in the extreme south of Chile all the way up to Peru. Thriving on the feasts of the desert flora, guanacos enjoy mushrooms, grasses, leaves, trees and even some types of cactus flowers as part of their diets. Guanacos and vicuñas are no stranger to ESO’s facilities in the Atacama Desert. In February 2014 a vicuña fawn was rescued by ESO staff when it ...

28. decembar 2015.: Modern science and the spectre of ancient man coexist in this thought-provoking image of a petroglyph near the site of ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. A petroglyph is an ancient stone engraving, examples of which can be found scattered across the globe. In some places they can date back as far as 40 000 BCE, but the one pictured here is much more recent. Upon the face of the stone, the images of men are depicted alongside llamas or other similar wild camelids. The native nomadic people of the Atacama Desert in Chile would have followed herds of these animals across the largely arid and inhospitable land before they adopted a sedentary culture, creating desert oases where they bred camelids. The pale glow of the stars over and beyond the mountain ridge and the silhouette of one of La Silla’s telescopes frame the passing of the centuries and the ...

21. decembar 2015.: Season’s Greetings on behalf of everyone at the European Southern Observatory! We wish you a jolly end of the year and a fruitful 2016! Links Christmas card 2015

14. decembar 2015.: This fetching cloud of gas was imaged by the ESO Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (EFOSC2) at ESO's La Silla Observatory. It can be found nestled in the busy constellation of Centaurus in the skies of the southern hemisphere. The cloud of gas — named NGC 3699 — is a planetary nebula, It is distinguished by an irregular mottled appearance and a dark rift, which roughly bisects it. These objects, despite the name, have nothing to do with planets and are created in the final stages of the evolution of stars similar in mass to the Sun. The name "planetary nebula" arises from the time of their discovery by William Herschel, when they appeared in the telescopes of the time as rounded objects similar in looks to the planets. Towards the end of their lives, stars like the Sun exhaust the supply of hydrogen in their cores, putting a stop ...

7. decembar 2015.: This stunning panorama shows the Milky Way galaxy arching above the platform of ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, Chile. At 2635 metres above sea level, Paranal Observatory is one of the very best astronomical observing sites in the world and is the flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy. The extent of our galaxy's cloudy and dusty structure can be seen in remarkable detail as a dim glowing band across the observation deck. From Earth, we see the Milky Way as a band across the sky because from our vantage point in one of its spiral arms we are seeing its disc-shaped structure edge-on as we peer towards its centre. Our galaxy is surrounded by several smaller satellite galaxies. Prominent here, to the left, are the Small Magellanic Cloud and Large Magellanic Cloud — dwarf galaxies which are members of our Local Group of galaxies. The VLT consists ...

30. novembar 2015.: In this wonderful high definition, singe-exposure image taken during the ESO Ultra HD Expedition, three deep sky objects seem to shine in front of the dish of one of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) high-precision antennas. The most striking feature is the reddish Carina Nebula, also known as NGC 3372. It is a large cloud of gas, mostly hydrogen, in which star formation has recently taken place. The short-lived massive blue stars forged within the nebula emit copious amounts of ultraviolet radiation, which then ionises the surrounding gas and causes the hydrogen atoms to glow with a characteristic red colour. Eventually supernova explosions and strong stellar winds from the most massive stars will disperse the gas of the Carina Nebula, leaving behind one or more clusters of stars. Two such star clusters, known as NGC 3532 and IC 2602, can be seen respectively to the top right and top ...

23. novembar 2015.: This image shows one of the four Unit Telescopes that make up ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal. Each of the 8.2-metre telescopes was given a name in the Mapuche language spoken by indigenous people from the Southern Chile. The Unit Telescope in this image is called Yepun, which means Venus. The smaller telescope beside Yepun is one of four Auxiliary Telescopes that have a diameter of 1.8 metres. These can be combined with the Unit Telescopes to make the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). Yepun is equipped with the Laser Guide Star Facility that is caught in action in this picture. The laser beam’s colour is precisely tuned to energise a layer of sodium atoms in the atmosphere which creates a small bright spot — an artificial star. This star can be used as a reference to work out how much the atmosphere is distorting the light from ...

16. novembar 2015.: This panoramic image, taken by ESO Photo Ambassador Alexandre Santerne reveals a somewhat Martian-looking landscape. This dry, red scene could well be taken to be on another world, but is actually the site of the La Silla Observatory, 2400 metres above sea level, on the outskirts of the southern part of the Atacama Desert in Chile — and ESO’s first observing site. With more than 300 clear nights per year, low atmospheric turbulence and dry conditions, La Silla offers some of the very best conditions for ground-based observational astronomy. For many years it was one of the most scientifically productive observatories in the world, and today still makes a significant contribution each year. The main platform at La Silla, to the right in this image, hosts a huge range of telescopes with which astronomers can explore the Universe. The most striking is the ESO 3.58-metre New Technology Telescope (NTT) with ...

9. novembar 2015.: The power of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reveals two immense, rippled jets of dense gas with near-perfect symmetry emanating from a single source at the centre of this image. At their origin lies an extremely young star — called a protostar — that is beginning the long journey to becoming a star much like the Sun. The infant star, known as CARMA-7, and its jets are located approximately 1400 light-years from Earth within the Serpens South star cluster. This dense cluster, predictably found in the constellation of Serpens (The Serpent), is home to at least 30 more protostars that are sparking into existence in close proximity, providing astronomers with a perfect laboratory in which to study the interactions between stars and their environment. The first steps of a star’s life are still poorly understood, but astronomers concluded that these knotted, smoky jets are caused by periodic outbursts of ...

2. novembar 2015.: This majestic panorama gives context to ESO’s La Silla Observatory. The site is positioned 2400 metres above sea level in the southern outskirts of Chile’s Atacama Desert. Far from the light pollution of civilisation it provides a clear view of the night sky for ESO’s telescopes. La Silla has been an ESO stronghold since the 1960s with only a selection of ESO’s telescopes visible in this image: The ESO 1-metre Schmidt telescope, the ESO 1-metre telescope and the ESO 1.52-metre telescope are seen further towards the back. La Silla also hosts many national telescopes such as the Danish 1.54-metre telescope on the far left and the silver dome protecting the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope. Fog is hovering over the valleys surrounding La Silla while the setting Sun leaves a layer of orange above the horizon. Once the Sun has disappeared the night sky will reveal impressive astronomical sights waiting to be ...

26. oktobar 2015.: Observations by ESO’s planet-finding instrument, SPHERE, a high-contrast adaptive optics system installed on the third Unit Telescope of ESO’s Very Large Telescope, have revealed the edge-on disc of gas and dust present around the binary star system HD 106906AB. HD 106906AB is a double star located in the constellation of Crux (The Southern Cross). Astronomers had long suspected that this 13 million-year-old stellar duo was encircled by a debris disc, due to the system’s youth and characteristic radiation. However, this disc had remained unseen — until now! The system’s spectacular debris disc can be seen towards the lower left area of this image. It is surrounding both stars, hence its name of circumbinary disc. The stars themselves are hidden behind a mask which prevent their glare from blinding the instrument. These stars and the disc are also accompanied by an exoplanet, visible in the upper right, named HD 106906 b, ...