ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It operates three sites in Chile, on behalf of its fourteen member states.
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- Founded:
- 1962
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ESO images of the weekUpdated about an hour ago
Paranal ResidenciaCreated on March 26, 2008 at 5:14am
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- Shedding Light on the Cosmic Skeleton 11:00pm Nov 2|3 Comments
- Opening up a Colourful Cosmic Jewel Box 12:00am Oct 29
- 32 New Exoplanets Found 3:00am Oct 19|10 Comments
ESO Astronomy
09 November 2009: Rare 360-degree Panorama of the Southern Sky
The Milky Way arches across this rare 360-degree panorama of the night sky above the Paranal platform, home of ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The image was made from 37 individual frames with a total exposure time of about 30 minutes, taken in the early morning... hours. The Moon is just rising and the zodiacal light shines above it, while the Milky Way stretches across the sky opposite the observatory. Credit: ESO/H.H. Heyer.
This image in high-resolution is available on the image archive: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/Para
The Milky Way arches across this rare 360-degree panorama of the night sky above the Paranal platform, home of ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The image was made from 37 individual frames with a total exposure time of about 30 minutes, taken in the early morning... hours. The Moon is just rising and the zodiacal light shines above it, while the Milky Way stretches across the sky opposite the observatory. Credit: ESO/H.H. Heyer.
This image in high-resolution is available on the image archive: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/Para
ESO 41/09 - Science Release: Astronomers have tracked down a gigantic, previously unknown assembly of galaxies located almost seven billion light-years away from us...
ESO Astronomy
02 November 2009: Creating a Star
A laser beam shoots out of Yepun, the fourth Unit Telescope of Europe’s flagship observatory, ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). This beam is used to create an artificial star above Paranal to assist the adaptive optics instruments on the VLT. Adaptive optics is a technique that allows a...stronomers to overcome the blurring effect of the atmosphere and obtain images almost as sharp as would be possible if the whole telescope were placed in space, above Earth's atmosphere.
Adaptive optics, however, requires a nearby reference star that has to be relatively bright, thereby limiting the area of the sky that can be surveyed. To overcome this difficulty, astronomers at Paranal use a powerful laser that creates an artificial star where and when they need it (see ESO 07/06 and 27/07).
Launching such a powerful laser from a telescope is a state-of-the-art technology, whose set-up and operation is a continuous challenge. As seen from the image, this is, however, a technology now well mastered on Paranal. The image was taken from inside the dome of the telescope and reveals nicely how the laser is located on top of the 1.2-metre secondary mirror of the telescope.
Credit: ESO/Y. Beletsky
This image in high-resolution is available on:
http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/Para
A laser beam shoots out of Yepun, the fourth Unit Telescope of Europe’s flagship observatory, ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). This beam is used to create an artificial star above Paranal to assist the adaptive optics instruments on the VLT. Adaptive optics is a technique that allows a...stronomers to overcome the blurring effect of the atmosphere and obtain images almost as sharp as would be possible if the whole telescope were placed in space, above Earth's atmosphere.
Adaptive optics, however, requires a nearby reference star that has to be relatively bright, thereby limiting the area of the sky that can be surveyed. To overcome this difficulty, astronomers at Paranal use a powerful laser that creates an artificial star where and when they need it (see ESO 07/06 and 27/07).
Launching such a powerful laser from a telescope is a state-of-the-art technology, whose set-up and operation is a continuous challenge. As seen from the image, this is, however, a technology now well mastered on Paranal. The image was taken from inside the dome of the telescope and reveals nicely how the laser is located on top of the 1.2-metre secondary mirror of the telescope.
Credit: ESO/Y. Beletsky
This image in high-resolution is available on:
http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/Para
ESO 40/09 - Photo Release: The combination of images taken by three exceptional telescopes, the ESO Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal , the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO.s La Silla observatory and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, has allowed the stunning Jewel Box star cluster to be...
ESO Astronomy
26 October 2009: 3D Glimpse into the Life of Two Astronomers
Sitting in the stunning environment surrounding ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, Chile, are Joe Liske from ESO and Eva Noyola from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. The photo is a still image from the recently released 3D... film, The EYE 3D — Life and Research on Cerro Paranal, directed by Nikolai Vialkowitsch.
The movie, starring the two young scientists, as well as other people involved in the exciting activities at the VLT, offers a brand new, three-dimensional take on the life and research of astronomers. It has been produced by parallax raumprojektion and fact&film, in close collaboration with ESO and other partners and will be coming soon in cinemas across Germany.
Don’t forget to wear red-cyan glasses to enjoy the spectacular 3D effect!
Links
- The movie’s ESO web page: http://www.eso.org/public/events/special
- The full-resolution image is on: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/peop
Credit: raumprojektion/ESORead More
Sitting in the stunning environment surrounding ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, Chile, are Joe Liske from ESO and Eva Noyola from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. The photo is a still image from the recently released 3D... film, The EYE 3D — Life and Research on Cerro Paranal, directed by Nikolai Vialkowitsch.
The movie, starring the two young scientists, as well as other people involved in the exciting activities at the VLT, offers a brand new, three-dimensional take on the life and research of astronomers. It has been produced by parallax raumprojektion and fact&film, in close collaboration with ESO and other partners and will be coming soon in cinemas across Germany.
Don’t forget to wear red-cyan glasses to enjoy the spectacular 3D effect!
Links
- The movie’s ESO web page: http://www.eso.org/public/events/special
- The full-resolution image is on: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/peop
Credit: raumprojektion/ESORead More
ESO 39/09 - Science Release: Today, at an international ESO/CAUP exoplanet conference in Porto, the team who built the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, better known as HARPS, the spectrograph for ESO's 3.6-metre telescope, reports on the incredible discovery of some 32 new exoplanets,...
ESO Astronomy
On 19 October 2009, at an international exoplanet conference, the team who built the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, better known as HARPS, the spectrograph for ESO’s 3.6-metre telescope, reports on the incredible discovery of more than 30 new exoplanets, cementing HARPS’s position as the world’s foremos...t exoplanet hunter.
Download this video in high-definition from: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/Videos/esoc
Download this video in high-definition from: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/Videos/esoc
ESO Astronomy
19 October 2009: A Supernova Duet in NGC 1448
Portrayed in this beautiful image is the spiral galaxy NGC 1448, with a prominent disc of young and very bright stars surrounding its small, shining core. Located about 60 million light-years away from the Sun, this galaxy has recently been a prolific factory of supernovae, ...the dramatic explosions that mark the death of stars: after a first one observed in this galaxy in 1983, two more have been discovered during the past decade.
Visible as a red dot inside the disc, in the upper right part of the image, is the supernova observed in 2003 (SN 2003hn), whereas another one, detected in 2001 (SN 2001el), can be noticed as a tiny blue dot in the central part of the image, just below the galaxy’s core. If captured at the peak of the explosion, a supernova might be as bright as the whole galaxy that hosts it.
This image was obtained using the FORS instrument mounted on one of the 8.2-metre telescopes of ESO’s Very Large Telescope on top of Cerro Paranal, Chile. It combines exposures taken through three filters (B, V, R) on several occasions, between July 2002 and the end of November 2003. The field of view is 7 arcminutes.
This image is available in high resolution in the image archive: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/Gala
Portrayed in this beautiful image is the spiral galaxy NGC 1448, with a prominent disc of young and very bright stars surrounding its small, shining core. Located about 60 million light-years away from the Sun, this galaxy has recently been a prolific factory of supernovae, ...the dramatic explosions that mark the death of stars: after a first one observed in this galaxy in 1983, two more have been discovered during the past decade.
Visible as a red dot inside the disc, in the upper right part of the image, is the supernova observed in 2003 (SN 2003hn), whereas another one, detected in 2001 (SN 2001el), can be noticed as a tiny blue dot in the central part of the image, just below the galaxy’s core. If captured at the peak of the explosion, a supernova might be as bright as the whole galaxy that hosts it.
This image was obtained using the FORS instrument mounted on one of the 8.2-metre telescopes of ESO’s Very Large Telescope on top of Cerro Paranal, Chile. It combines exposures taken through three filters (B, V, R) on several occasions, between July 2002 and the end of November 2003. The field of view is 7 arcminutes.
This image is available in high resolution in the image archive: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/Gala
ESO 38/09 - Photo Release: Today ESO announces the release of a stunning new image of one of our nearest galactic neighbours, Barnard's Galaxy, also known as NGC 6822...
ESO Astronomy
12 October 2009: Early Morning on Paranal
This amazing panorama shows the observing platform of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, in Chile. Taken in the early morning, with the Moon still high in the sky, the air of peace and tranquility is in stark contrast to the frantic activity at the observatory. ...The four giant 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes of the VLT are all targeting specific celestial objects, helping astronomers in their daily quest to understand the mysteries of the Universe. A laser is fired from Unit Telescope 4, Yepun, to help the adaptive optics system of the telescope, and counteract the blurring effect of the atmosphere, allowing very sharp images to be obtained. Meanwhile, three of the four smaller 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes are working together in interferometric mode to obtain an even more detailed view of a different cosmic object.
This image in full resolution is available on http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/Para
This amazing panorama shows the observing platform of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, in Chile. Taken in the early morning, with the Moon still high in the sky, the air of peace and tranquility is in stark contrast to the frantic activity at the observatory. ...The four giant 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes of the VLT are all targeting specific celestial objects, helping astronomers in their daily quest to understand the mysteries of the Universe. A laser is fired from Unit Telescope 4, Yepun, to help the adaptive optics system of the telescope, and counteract the blurring effect of the atmosphere, allowing very sharp images to be obtained. Meanwhile, three of the four smaller 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes are working together in interferometric mode to obtain an even more detailed view of a different cosmic object.
This image in full resolution is available on http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/Para
ESO Astronomy
05 October 2009: A Cosmic Flame
Sparkling at the edge of a giant cloud of gas and dust, the Flame Nebula, also referred to as NGC 2024, is in fact the hideout of a cluster of young, blue, massive stars, whose light sets the gas ablaze. Located 1300 light-years away towards the constellation of Orion, the nebula owes its... typical colour to the glow of hydrogen atoms, heated by the stars. The latter are obscured by a dark, forked dusty structure in the centre of the image and are only revealed by infrared observations.
This image is based on data acquired with the 1.5-metre Danish telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, combining three exposures in the filters B (40 seconds), V (80 seconds) and R (40 seconds).
This image in high resolution is available on:
http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/Nebu
Sparkling at the edge of a giant cloud of gas and dust, the Flame Nebula, also referred to as NGC 2024, is in fact the hideout of a cluster of young, blue, massive stars, whose light sets the gas ablaze. Located 1300 light-years away towards the constellation of Orion, the nebula owes its... typical colour to the glow of hydrogen atoms, heated by the stars. The latter are obscured by a dark, forked dusty structure in the centre of the image and are only revealed by infrared observations.
This image is based on data acquired with the 1.5-metre Danish telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, combining three exposures in the filters B (40 seconds), V (80 seconds) and R (40 seconds).
This image in high resolution is available on:
http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/Nebu
ESO 37/09 - Organisational Release: Today marks the beginning of the GalileoMobile Project, a two-month expedition to bring the wonder and excitement of astronomy to young people in Chile, Bolivia and Peru...
ESO Astronomy
In the framework of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, ESO has launched a new project aimed at connecting the sky as seen by the unaided eye with that seen by hobby and professional astronomers. The project, called GigaGalaxy Zoom, reveals three amazing, ultra-high-resolution images of the night sky that online ...stargazers can zoom in on and explore in an incredible level of detail.
This video in high-definition for download is avaialble on: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/Videos/ESOC
Credits: Visual design and editing: Martin Kornmesser and Luis Calçada. Cinematography: Peter Rixner. Editing: Herbert Zodet. Web and technical support: Lars Holm Nielsen and Raquel Yumi Shida. Written by: Henri Boffin and Adam Hadhazy. Host: Dr. J. Narration: Gaitee Hussain. Music: John Dyson from the CD darklight. Footage and photos: ESO. Directed by: Herbert Zodet. Executive producer: Lars Lindberg ChristensenRead More
This video in high-definition for download is avaialble on: http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/Videos/ESOC
Credits: Visual design and editing: Martin Kornmesser and Luis Calçada. Cinematography: Peter Rixner. Editing: Herbert Zodet. Web and technical support: Lars Holm Nielsen and Raquel Yumi Shida. Written by: Henri Boffin and Adam Hadhazy. Host: Dr. J. Narration: Gaitee Hussain. Music: John Dyson from the CD darklight. Footage and photos: ESO. Directed by: Herbert Zodet. Executive producer: Lars Lindberg ChristensenRead More
ESO 36/09 - Photo Release: The third image of ESO's GigaGalaxy Zoom project has just been released online, completing this eye-opening dive into our galactic home in outstanding fashion...
ESO 35/09 - Organisational Release: The ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) astronomical observatory has taken another step forward - and upwards...
