A web-based replacement for the ESO Phase 2 observing preparation tool P2PP3, named p2, has been released. Starting from Period 99 (1 April 2017), p2 is being used for (designated) Visitor Mode observations at Paranal, with the exceptions of VIMOS and GRAVITY. The plan is to extend the tool to support Service Mode by the end of 2017.

Deep 3D data cubes obtained with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) in the wide field mode have been released from early data acquired in June – August 2014, plus the initial two periods of MUSE operations, P94 and P95 (October 2014 through September 2015). These deep cubes are now published via the ESO Science Archive as reduced data.The MUSE-DEEP data collection contains 209 cubes.

The VLTI instrument GRAVITY providing phase-referenced optical interferometry was first commissioned in 2016 and commissioning continues in 2017. Selected targets have been observed to demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument, develop observing strategies and optimize the data reduction pipeline. These commissioning data have now been released and are available.

New reduced data products resulting from the Gaia-ESO (Gaia-ESO) Public Spectroscopic Survey are now available via the dedicated Phase 3 query interface at the ESO Science Archive Facility. This third data release (DR3) provides a catalogue containing photometry and derived quantities, together with the associated wavelength calibrated 1-d spectra of point-like sources obtained with FLAMES from 31 December 2011 to 19 July 2014, for 25533 unique targets. The release also contains updated versions of these spectra reduced with the Gaia-ESO iDR5 pipelines.

ESA/ESO SCIOPS Workshop 2017 "Working together in support of science"
European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Madrid, Spain, 17–20 October 2017

Science operations are becoming ever more complex and this 3rd ESA-ESO collaborative workshop will focus on the challenges that distributed science operations present to space- and ground-based projects, promoting the interchange of ideas and information between ESA, ESO and the broader community.

ESO is issuing a Delta Call, inviting proposals for VLTI time in July–September (Period 99B) with the Auxiliary Telescopes. Owing to a combination of circumstances, approximately 150 hours have become available for specific baselines in the date range 14 July – 23 September 2017 (see accompanying table).

The deadline for proposal submission for Period 100 (1 October 2017 – 1 April 2018) was 30 March 2017. 895 valid proposals were submitted, including 16 Large Programmes, of which one is a GTO Large Programme. The number of proposals for P100 is very similar to that of periods 91 (893), 92 (892), 93 (898), 94 (901), 98 (901) and 99 (887). This indicates a return to a steady situation following the peak observed in periods 95 (934), 96 (960) and 97 (1024), corresponding to the deployment of MUSE and SPHERE. The total time request also remained very similar to the steady state, with the total number of distinct scientists exceeding 3500.

As part of the agreement between ESO and Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG) to offer the VLTI PIONIER instrument in Service and Visitor Modes for Periods 96 to 99, IPAG has committed to process the raw data and deliver calibrated visibility data (squared visibility amplitudes and closure phases) to the ESO Science Archive Facility.

The VISTA Magellanic Survey (VMC) aims at the determination of the spatially resolved star formation history and three-dimensional geometry of the Magellanic system, reaching sources below the oldest main-sequence turn-off with multi-epoch Ks mean magnitudes for pulsating variable stars. This new data release (DR4) is based on observations of twelve survey fields covering a total of about 18 square degrees, acquired between November 2009 and August 2013, with at least three visits per field in Y and J filters and 12 in Ks.

Celebrating ESO's achievements and perspectives from 10 years of Tim de Zeeuw as Director General
ESO Headquarters, Garching, Germany, 28–30 August 2017

Planning is underway for a conference to mark the decade of Tim de Zeeuw as Director General on the occasion of his departure from ESO. The conference will feature mostly invited talks and will extend from Monday afternoon until Wednesday midday. Full details and registration information will be available soon on the conferences and workshops page. Please mark your calendar.