ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109....1C
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Cesarsky, C.
AA(Director General of ESO)
Abstract:
1962 – 2002… Four decades that changed Europe – and forty years that changed European Astronomy. One full generation of scientists, a wonderful time during which many of our dreams, our hopes, and our goals have finally come true.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109....2.
Section:
ESO Council Meeting in London, 8–9 July 2002
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)
Abstract:
To mark the occasion of the the tenth member state joining ESO, the UK invited ESO to hold its 98th Council meeting in London on 8–9 July 2002. The hosts provided a wonderful venue for the meeting in Trinity House, overlooking the Tower of London. An excursion to the historic Greenwich Observatory and a banquet at Lancaster House helped to make it an especially memorable occasion. A landmark decision made at the meeting was the approval for the construction and operation of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). The speeches given at the banquet by Lord Sainsbury, A. Freytag and C. Cesarsky are printed below, followed by an article by Prof. Gerry Gilmore on the British astronomers’ perspective.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109....4G
Section:
ESO Council Meeting in London, 8–9 July 2002
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Gilmore, G.
AA(Professor of Experimental Philosophy, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University, UK)
Abstract:
“What was God doing before he made heaven and earth? … He was preparing hell for those who would pry into such profound mysteries.’’1 This joke was already venerable when quoted by Augustine, in his analysis of the ancient and still modern problem, time. Understanding the origin(s), meaning( s), future(s), and significance(s) of time, space, existence, mass, matter, geometry, of origins and endings, of what and where, remains one of the greatest intellectual endeavours of the human mind. From the caves of Lascaux, through the megaliths of Stonehenge to the dreamtime of Australia, mankind has striven to understand his origins and future. Our generation has the exceptional good fortune to be living through the greatest increase in knowledge relevant to these fundamental questions since someone first looked up at night. We are also increasing understanding, while realizing how much more there is in the Universe still be learned and understood.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109....7B
Section:
ESO Turns 40
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Blaauw, A.
AA(ESO Director General, 1970 - 1974)
Abstract:
Nearly half a century ago, I witnessed Walter Baade and Jan Oort dreaming of a joint enterprise which would lift observational astronomy in Europe from the level of their modest national efforts to that of the leading observatories in the United States. I have been privileged to see, and to have been able to contribute to, the realization of that dream. This half century has left a wealth of recollections and sentiments from which it is difficult to select for this occasion.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109....9W
Section:
ESO Turns 40
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Woltjer, L.
AA(ESO Director General, 1975 - 1987)
Abstract:
Reflecting on my thirteen years as Director General, what gives me most satisfaction are the following: The enlargement of ESO membership with Italy and Switzerland, which put it on track to be a pan-European organization – now still more fully realized with the adhesion of Portugal and the UK.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...10V
Section:
ESO Turns 40
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
van der Laan, H.
AA(ESO Director General, 1988 - 1992)
Abstract:
ESO has come a long way since in 1987 the first rocks were blasted at the NTT site on La Silla. Those were exciting days, when SEST came online and soon after the VLT programme was getting up to speed upon its approval in December 1987. It was not an easy time for staff or management: taking up the role of main contractor for its own design and construction programme rather than finding an industrial consultant to do so was an enormous challenge. It was not obvious that it could be done, for more than ninety per cent of ESO’s staff capacity was occupied with running La Silla, operating Headquarter services and constructing the NTT. The VLT Blue Book and the bag of money Council had allocated to its realization were necessary but by no means sufficient. For the new, formidable task, manpower had to be found and trained, manpower both reassigned and newly recruited.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...11G
Section:
ESO Turns 40
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Giacconi, R.
AA(ESO Director General, 1993 - 1999)
Abstract:
I feel privileged in having had the opportunity to lead ESO during a period of great innovation and expansion. Building on thirty years of heritage, working together with an extremely competent staff and with the full support and cooperation of the ESO member states, we were successful in many endeavours.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...11C
Section:
ESO Turns 40
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Cesarsky, C.
AA(Present ESO Director General)
Abstract:
I arrived at ESO at a very interesting time. I had the privilege of witnessing the first light of Melipal and Yepun, of overseeing the installation of UVES, NACO, VIMOS and FLAMES at the focus of VLT telescopes, and of celebrating the first fringes of VLTI, first with siderostats and then with 8-m telescopes. The harvest of scientific results with the two FORS, ISAAC and UVES is already impressive, and the efficiency of the Paranal Observatory is astounding. ISAAC and UVES both have features unequalled at any other telescope; with NACO, we have the best adaptive optics instrument ever, nearly ready to be offered to our community, while VIMOS and FLAMES are showing their promise in the current commissioning activities. The VLT archive is open and attracts more and more users, a good omen for the Astrophysical Virtual Observatory. Meanwhile, the La Silla Observatory has also been very productive and has undergone huge improvements, coming closer and closer to VLT standards.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...12W
Section:
ESO Turns 40
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
West, R.; Breysacher, J.; Laustsen, S.; Hofstadt, D.; Swings, J.-P.; Enard, D.; Moorwood, A.; Nees, W.; Wilson, R.; Benvenuti, P.; Cesarsky, C.; Glindemann, A.
AA(ESO) AB(ESO) AC(ESO, ret.) AD(ESO) AE(IAP, Liège) AF(EGO, Pisa) AG(ESO) AH(ESO) AI(ESO, ret.) AJ(ST-ECF) AK(ESO) AL(ESO)
Abstract:
Memories of early times at ESO; Early days of the OPC; How ESO got its Optics Group; Renata Scotto at La Silla; La Silla vaut bien une Messe; First experience at La Silla, and some activities for the VLT; The early days of instrumentation at ESO; The early days of infrared instrumentation at ESO; ESO’s first step into the world of minicomputers; First Astronomical Light at the NTT; Recovery of a historical document; First Light of UT4 (from The Messenger No. 101, Sept. 2000); First Fringes with ANTU and MELIPAL (from The Messenger No. 106, Dec. 2001)

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...18N
Section:
Telescopes and Instrumentation
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Nyman, L.-Å.; Schilke, P.; Booth, R. S.
AA(ESO/SEST, La Silla, Chile & Onsala Space Observatory, Onsala, Sweden) AB(Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn, Germany) AC(Onsala Space Observatory, Onsala, Sweden)
Abstract:
APEX is a collaboration between the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR) in Bonn (together with Astronomisches Institut Ruhr-Universität Bochum, AIRUB), ESO and Onsala Space Observatory in Sweden (OSO). The idea is to construct and operate a 12-m diameter submillimetre telescope on the ALMA site of Llano de Chajnantor in Chile at an altitude of 5000 m. APEX will operate at submillimetre wavelengths as well as in the far infrared (at THz frequencies), which is possible because of the excellent atmospheric transparency that exists on the site at these wavelengths; it might be the best site in the world for sub-millimetre astronomy.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...21L
Section:
Telescopes and Instrumentation
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Le Fèvre, O.; Mancini, D.; Saisse, M.; Brau-Nogué, S.; Caputi, O.; Castinel, L.; D'Odorico, S.; Garilli, B.; Kissler, M.; Lucuix, C.; Mancini, G.; Pauget, A.; Sciarretta, G.; Scodeggio, M.; Tresse, L.; Maccagni, D.; Picat, J.-P.; Vettolani, G.
AA(Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, France) AB(Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy) AC(Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, France) AD(Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Tarbes, France) AE(Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy) AF(Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, France) AG(European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany) AH(Istituto di Fisica Cosmica e Tecnologie Relative, Milan, Italy) AI(European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany) AJ(Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, France) AK(Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy) AL(Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, France) AM(Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy) AN(Istituto di Fisica Cosmica e Tecnologie Relative, Milan, Italy) AO(Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, France) AP(Istituto di Fisica Cosmica e Tecnologie Relative, Milan, Italy) AQ(Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, France) AR(Istituto di Radio Astronomia, Bologna, Italy)
Abstract:
The wide-field survey instrument VIMOS is now being commissioned at the VLT. In each of the three operational modes (imaging, multi-slit spectroscopy and integral-field spectroscopy), VIMOS offers an unprecedented field of view. In multi-slit spectroscopy mode, several hundred spectra can be recorded simultaneously, while in integral-field mode, 6400 spectra are recorded in a field 54×54 arcsec2. It is expected that VIMOS guest observations will start in April 2003.
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ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...27G
Section:
Telescopes and Instrumentation
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Germany, L.
AA(ESO)
Abstract:
Welcome to the last (very short) installment of 2p2team news from La Silla. This is mostly just a farewell message, as in October we cease to operate as a separate entity and join with the old NTT and 3.6 teams under the new guise of Sci-Ops. Never fear though, the next Messenger will see this section expanded to include all the telescopes and instruments on La Silla.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...28M
Section:
Reports from Observers
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
McCaughrean, M.; Zinnecker, H.; Andersen, M.; Meeus, G.; Lodieu, N.
AA(Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam) AB(Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam) AC(Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam) AD(Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam) AE(Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam)
Abstract:
In this article, we hope to illustrate the great qualitative and quantitative strides that star-formation studies have taken in the past few years, by looking at three highlights from our own work using the ESO Very Large Telescope UT1, Antu, and its facility near-infrared camera/spectrograph, ISAAC. In particular, we have chosen examples which illustrate a key theme running through our work, namely that of environmental impact, both in the effects that the birthplace of a star can have on its evolution, and in the back reaction that star formation can have on its surroundings. These are just a selection from the sample of young clusters and protostellar objects we are studying with the VLT, and of course, only a small subset of the work being carried out by the broad and active European star- and planet-formation community.
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ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...37K
Section:
Reports from Observers
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Kaper, L.; Castro-Tirado, A.; Fruchter, A.; Greiner, J.; Hjorth, J.; Pian, E.; Andersen, M.; Beuermann, K.; Boer, M.; Burud, I.; Jaunsen, A.; Jensen, B.; Castro Cerón, J. M.; Ellison, S.; Frontera, F.; Fynbo, J.; Gehrels, N.; Gorosabel, J.; Heise, J.; Hessman, F.; Hurley, K.; Klose, S.; Kouveliotou, C.; Masetti, N.; Møller, P.; Palazzi, E.; Pedersen, H.; Piro, L.; Reinsch, K.; Rhoads, J.; Rol, E.; Salamanca, I.; Tanvir, N.; Vreeswijk, P. M.; Wijers, R. A. M. J.; Wiklind, T.; Zeh, A.; van den Heuvel, E. P. J.
AA(Astronomical Institute “Anton Pannekoek”, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) AB(IAA-CSIC, Granada, Spain) AC(STScI, Baltimore, USA) AD(MPE Garching, Germany) AE(Copenhagen University Observatory, Denmark) AF(Trieste, Italy) AG(Potsdam, Germany) AH(Universitäts Sternwarte, Göttingen, Germany) AI(CESR/CNRS, Toulouse, France) AJ(STScI, Baltimore, USA) AK(Copenhagen University Observatory, Denmark) AL(Copenhagen University Observatory, Denmark) AM(Real Instituto y Observatorio de la Armada, Cádiz, Spain) AN(ESO Paranal, Chile) AO(Bologna, Italy) AP(ESO Garching, Germany) AQ(NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, USA) AR(IAA-CSIC, Granada, Spain) AS(SRON Utrecht, The Netherlands) AT(Thüringer Landessternwarte (Tautenburg, Germany)) AU(UC Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory, USA) AV(Thüringer Landessternwarte (Tautenburg, Germany)) AW(NASA/MSFC, Huntsville, USA; 19Rome, Italy) AX(Bologna, Italy) AY(ESO Garching, Germany) AZ(Bologna, Italy) BA(Copenhagen University Observatory, Denmark) BB(Rome, Italy) BC(Universitäts Sternwarte, Göttingen, Germany) BD(STScI, Baltimore, USA) BE(Astronomical Institute “Anton Pannekoek”, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) BF(Astronomical Institute “Anton Pannekoek”, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) BG(Hertfordshire, United Kingdom) BH(Astronomical Institute “Anton Pannekoek”, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) BI(Astronomical Institute “Anton Pannekoek”, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) BJ(Onsala, Sweden) BK(Thüringer Landessternwarte (Tautenburg, Germany)) BL(Astronomical Institute “Anton Pannekoek”, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Abstract:
Contents: The GRACE consortium. GRBs and their afterglows. Evidence for collimation. The origin of GRBs: possible progenitors. The supernova connection. GRB host galaxies.
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ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...41M
Section:
Reports from Observers
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Mennickent, R. E.; Tappert, C.; Diaz, M.
AA(Departamento de Física, Universidad de Concepción, Chile) AB(Departamento de Física, Universidad de Concepción, Chile) AC(Instituto Astronomico e Geofisico, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
Abstract:
Here we present some results of our recent research in the area of dwarf novae, a subclass of cataclysmic variables showing semi-regular outbursts in time scales of days to years with typical amplitudes of 2-6 mags. The origin of these dwarf-nova outbursts is not a thermonuclear runaway as in the case of a nova outburst, but a sudden jump in disc viscosity and mass transfer rate as a result of the hydrogen ionization. In this article we do not go into deep details. Instead, we will illustrate the application of some standard techniques in the field of CVs aimed to explore disc dynamics and also to reveal the nature of the donor star. The latter point is especially important to constrain theories of CV evolution.
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ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...47W
Section:
Reports from Observers
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Wang, L.; Baade, D.; Höflich, P.; Wheeler, J. C.
AA(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California, USA) AB(European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany) AC(Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA) AD(Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA)
Abstract:
The acquisition of systematic supernova polarization data has led to remarkable new insights. It seems likely that all core-collapse supernovae are substantially asymmetric. They explode by means of bi-polar flow associated with the newborn neutron star. This discovery may, in turn, give new insights into more exotic jet-induced events like gamm-ray bursts. The asymmetries observed in Type Ia supernovae may finally yield direct observational evidence that they occur in binary systems, as long assumed, and clues to the combustion mechanism. Understanding these asymmetries may be necessary to properly interpret future data on cosmologically distant Type Ia's.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...51M
Section:
Other Astronomical News
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Mason, E.; Howell, S.
AA(ESO/Chile, fellow) AB(ESO/Chile, visiting scientist)
Abstract:
An intensive working session on Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) was held at ESO/Santiago on August 14, 2002. The workshop was organized on the occasion of the presence in Santiago of Dr. S. Howell, from the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, thanks to the ESO/Chile visiting scientist programme.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...52H
Section:
Other Astronomical News
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Hillebrandt, W.; Leibundgut, B.
AA(MPA) AB(ESO)
Abstract:
This year’s joint workshop between ESO, the Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik and the Max-Planck Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, already the fifth in this series, was dedicated to the physics of supernovae. With active groups at all three institutions (and at both of ESO’s scientific centres in Garching and Vitacura) this topic was ideal. Over 100 experts came to Garching during the last three days of July to discuss the progress made in the explosion physics, the current observational status, the astrophysical relation of supernovae and their environment, and the most energetic explosions known.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...54W
Section:
Other Astronomical News
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Walsh, J. R.; Roth, M. M.
AA(ESO) AB(Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam)
Abstract:
One of the inherent preoccupations of astronomy is to obtain a three-dimensional view of the Universe and its components. Except for Solar System objects, we are always presented with a two-dimensional view of celestial objects. Spiral galaxies for example could be considered only as flat structures if it were not for the rotational velocity which shows them to be spinning threedimensional entities. The distance scale is another fundamental aspect of this question – placing astronomical sources in the third dimension. Once their distance is determined, physical parameters can follow such as luminosity, radius and mass. In order to determine this information one could ideally imagine a “maximal spectrograph’’ which produced the spectrum of the whole sky at some desired spectral resolution and spatial sampling on the sky. The complexity of such an instrument is obviously beyond current technological means and the sheer size of the resulting data set would be prohibitively large. Nevertheless, a small, but significant, step towards this goal is to obtain the spectrum of an area of sky and this is what 3D spectroscopy achieves. With advances in technology the sampled area is becoming bigger.
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ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...55H
Section:
Other Astronomical News
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Hofstadt, D.; Nyman, L.-Å.
AA(ESO) AB(ESO)
Abstract:
Guillermo started his career in radio astronomy in 1983 when he participated in the activities and development of the Maipu Radio Astronomy Observatory.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...56M
Section:
Other Astronomical News
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Madsen, C.
AA(ESO)
Abstract:
Readers of The Messenger will be well aware of ESO’s 40th anniversary in October this year. This is most certainly a reason for ESO’s friends to celebrate. Beyond the professional astronomers, engineers and other people with direct links to the organization, this includes many people all over Europe, e.g. amateur astronomers, science teachers, and people with a general interest in science. At the same time, the European Intergovernmental Research Organizations constitute fine examples of how, through collaboration, European countries can interact and achieve ambitious goals. Thus the success of ESO reaches beyond the confines of professional Astronomy.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...57B
Section:
Other Astronomical News
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
Bacher, A.; West, R. M.
AA(ESO) AB(ESO)
Abstract:
On August 20–24, 2002, School Teachers from a dozen different European countries (including eastern countries) came to ESO HQ to learn about recent developments at ESO. The training course called FAST2002 (Frontline Astrophysics for School Teachers) consisted of several lectures and workshops.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109Q..58.
Section:
Announcements
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109R..58.
Section:
Announcements
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109Q..59.
Section:
Announcements
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109R..59.
Section:
Announcements
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109S..59.
Section:
Announcements
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)
Abstract:
Assignment: Within the ESO Education and Public Relations Department team, your main tasks and responsibilities will comprise: • Development, update and maintenance of the comprehensive ESO Outreach website in its new look, including preparation of related material (texts, images, etc.) to be displayed; • Design, layout and production of the ESO quarterly journal “The Messenger” (e.g. image selection and processing, technical editing, etc.), in close collaboration with the Messenger editor; • Conception and production of promotional brochures, posters and other EPR products, in close collaboration with the Head of the Education and Public Relations Dept. of ESO Press Releases and various high-level publications, including the ESO Annual Report.

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109T..59.
Section:
Announcements
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)
Abstract:
A meeting on Science Operations with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array

ADS BibCode:
2002Msngr.109...60.
Author(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)