Thanks to a highly successful suite of instruments, the demand on usage of one of VLT Unit Telescope (UT4) has remained high in recent years. ESO has taken several actions to alleviate the situation, including the second generation deformable secondary mirror Phase A study. In parallel, a careful monitoring of operations at the telescope indicates that a large fraction of the telescope time observing with MUSE is spent with MUSE Wide Field Mode without Adaptive Optics, (NOAO). While the NOAO mode is essential for programmes gathering information over the 582-597 nm wavelength which is otherwise blocked by the Na Notch filter, the benefits of AO are many-fold. Not only the operations at the telescope are routine, but importantly seeing is improved in any observing conditions (bad seeing, light cirrus, high wind speed) while proven to be more stable during long exposure times.

The third data release (DR3) of the ESSENCE project contains all VLT/FORS1 spectra taken over the period 2002-2006. It contains and expands on the previous data release (DR2, from 2014), which contained 54 spectra of 50 individual objects. The present release contains 184 spectra of 168 individual objects, of which 79 high-redshift Type Ia supernovae that were the main target of this project. More information about the programme can be found in the accompanying documentation.

The ExoplaNeT accRetion mOnitoring sPectroscopic surveY (ENTROPY) aims at investigating into the until now poorly understood process of accretion among planetary mass companions. The detection of emission lines from accreting gas giants facilitates detailed investigations into this process. The data released via this collection are the high-resolution (R ∼ 50000), stacked, flux-calibrated 1D spectra obtained with the Echelle spectrograph UVES (3200–6800 Å) of the few known young, planetary-mass objects with observed emission.

ESO is pleased to announce the public release of the VVV Infrared Astrometric Catalogues (VIRAC) Version 2. The catalogues are based on data from the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) Survey and its extension, VVVX, and offer unprecedented precision in astrometric and depth.

Dear colleagues,

From several viewpoints, 2024 was a year when ESO started to move towards new future avenues, while running very strong on its current commitments.

With the release of the La Silla Paranal telescope schedule, the Phase 2 preparation for runs scheduled in Service Mode begins. The deadline for the submission of the Phase 2 material for Period 115 is Thursday, 6 February 2025. The Service Mode guidelines provide detailed information about Phase 2 material preparation using the web application p2, while the instrument overview table provides quick links to user manuals, tools and p2 tutorials for individual instruments.

Registration and abstract submision are now open for the ESO conference "Galactic Ecosystems under the Microscope: Lessons from Highly-Resoved Studies", Garching bei München, Germany, 7th to 11th July 2025. This workshop is dedicated to exploring the latest developments in resolved galaxy properties and evolution. With next-generation observatories like JWST, ELT, and the SKA, upgrades to ALMA and VLA, we are entering a new era in understanding these critical aspects of galaxies throughout cosmic history.

ESO is pleased to announce that binary packages for the installation of ESO Pipelines are now available for all commonly used operating systems. This results in a faster and more reliable installation compared to compiling locally from source. Compiled binaries can be installed using the Homebrew package manager under Linux, MacOS or Windows. Alternatively, RPM binaries can be installed within the Apptainer container system or natively in some versions of Linux Fedora or CentOS. Source code installation is still available for all operating systems, including with MacPorts on MacOS. 

After the great success of the program in the last six editions, ESO is delighted to announce that the call for applications for the 7^th ESO Summer Research Programme is now open. This fully funded program is available to students in STEM fields who have not yet started a Ph.D. program and have completed at least two years of their degree. This year, ESO is offering several projects covering a variety of topics. Successful applicants will be invited to work at the ESO Headquarters in Garching for six weeks between 30 June and 8 August 2025.

This is the initial announcement for the upcoming ESO workshop "Planetary Formation and Exoplanets in the ELT era" at ESO Garching, 17 - 21 November 2025. This workshop will discuss the understanding of how giant and rocky planets form and evolve, their internal structure
and that of their atmosphere, in the context of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).