Aankondigingen

15 februari 2016: ESO is organising its first social media gathering at its sites in Chile to coincide with the 2016 transit of Mercury. #MeetESO will be a meeting dedicated exclusively to keen social media users from ESON countries who enjoy sharing information about astronomy. Selected participants should travel to Chile between 7 and 12 May 2016. #MeetESO will take participants to the Very Large Telescope (VLT) — the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the largest ground-based astronomical project in existence. Participants will travel to the most arid desert in the world and climb to 5000 metres above sea level. They will be accommodated at ESO’s Residencia, the astronomers’ hotel and the building apparently blown up in one of the James Bond movies. The programme also includes: night-time observations from one of the best spots on Earth, day-time observations of the transit of Mercury, a ...

12 februari 2016: ESO invites you to take part in the third Photo Nightscape Awards (PNA) — an international competition for astrophotographers. As a partner in the competition, which is organised by Ciel et Espace Photos, ESO will arrange for the winner of the Nightscape category to visit the Paranal Observatory in northern Chile, home of the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The competition categories for adult entrants are: Nightscape, Timelapse, and In Town, and they are open to photographers from all countries. The PNA Junior category, for entrants under 18 years old, is reserved for French nationals only. Anyone wishing to take part in the competition should submit a registration form, their photo or timelapse sequence and, if they are under 18 years of age, a parental consent form, to the following email address by 30 September 2016: pna@photonightscapeawards.com. For more detailed information, please refer to the competition rules on the dedicated web ...

10 februari 2016: A celebration was held at the APEX [1] base station in Sequitor, San Pedro de Atacama, to mark ten years of astronomical research with the APEX telescope, which resides on Chile’s Chajnantor Plateau, 5100 metres above sea level. From there, the telescope observes the sky in submillimetre wavelengths, giving astronomers access to the coldest regions of the Universe, which cannot be seen in visible light. As it looks forward to further discoveries at the forefront of observational astronomy, the APEX 12-metre telescope has already made significant contributions across a variety of astronomical fields, including the discovery of new interstellar molecules and deep imaging of the submillimetre sky, leading to new insights into star formation in the Milky Way and distant starburst galaxies in the early Universe. The Sequitor base station was chosen for the celebration, as it is at the more comfortable altitude of 2500 metres above sea level. But ...

4 februari 2016: At an extraordinary meeting in Garching bei München, Germany on 3 February 2016, ESO’s Finance Committee authorised ESO to enter into final discussions with the winning bidder of the tender process for the design, manufacture, transport, construction, on-site assembly and verification of the Dome and Main Structure of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The discussion between ESO and the ACe Consortium, consisting of Astaldi, Cimolai and the nominated sub-contractor EIE Group will start soon, with the aim of contract signature in May 2016. This major milestone for the project is the culmination of the extensive and intense work of many people. This contract will be the largest ever approved by ESO and the largest ever placed for a ground-based telescope. When the contract is signed, ESO will issue a press release with more details, along with extensive information about the design of the dome and telescope structure. No further ...

1 februari 2016: On 28 April 2016, ESO will participate in Germany’s Girls’ Day activities, in which technical enterprises, universities and research organisations open their doors to female school students to give them an insight into science and technology professions and to encourage more of them to choose careers in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The ESO Girls’ Day will introduce the work of ESO and highlight many of our daily activities, such as astrophysical research, mechanical and opto-mechanical design and integration, operations, and much more. The programme includes an introductory talk, a tour of the main ESO laboratories, and hands-on workshops on astronomy and engineering. The students will learn how astronomical instruments are built, tested and operated. They will also learn how data are collected and used in astronomical research to answer the big questions about the Universe. This will provide the students with an insight into the kinds of ...

1 februari 2016: One of ESO’s Photo Ambassadors has joined a select band of people who have photographed a strange phenomenon in the sky, known as Red Sprites. These are not astronomical objects, but occur in the Earth’s atmosphere and are associated with thunderstorms. They are hard to spot, as the conditions need to be right, and they are only visible for a few seconds. But Petr Horálek was in the right place at the right time when he visited ESO’s observatories at La Silla and Paranal in Chile. This ESOcast explores the extraordinary images that result and describes how this ghostly phenomenon comes about. You can subscribe to the ESOcasts in iTunes, receive future episodes on YouTube or follow us on Vimeo. Many other ESOcast episodes are also available. Find out how to view and contribute subtitles to the ESOcast in multiple languages, or translate this video on dotSUB Credits ESO. Editing: ...

1 februari 2016: School students around the world are invited to take part in the 2016 Catch a Star astronomy writing contest. To participate, students should submit a written report on an astronomical topic of their choice — for example, an astronomical object, phenomenon, observation, scientific problem or theory. Reports must be written in English and be no more than 5000 words in length. They may be undertaken by groups of up to three students, plus a group leader who is not a student. Each submission must be emailed as a PDF file to astro.edu@gmail.com. The deadline for all entries is 30 November 2016. The five winners will each receive a mounted image of a fascinating astronomical object, courtesy of ESO. In addition, each winner will also have the chance to carry out remote observations at the National Astronomical Observatory "Rozhen", Bulgaria, or to hold a video conference with a professional astronomer. Catch ...

15 januari 2016: The quest to find alien worlds beyond our Solar System is one of the most exciting fields of modern astronomy. Now members of the public have a unique opportunity to go behind the scenes and follow astronomers on a planet hunt as it happens. This ESOcast introduces the Pale Red Dot campaign, a new project that will provide the public with unprecedented access to the search for an Earth-like exoplanet around our nearest stellar neighbour, Proxima Centauri. You can subscribe to the ESOcasts in iTunes, receive future episodes on YouTube or follow us on Vimeo. Many other ESOcast episodes are also available. Find out how to view and contribute subtitles to the ESOcast in multiple languages, or translate this video on dotSUB. Credits ESOEditing: Herbert Zodet.Web and technical support: Mathias André and Raquel Yumi Shida.Written by: Rebecca Davies, Oana Sandu and Guillem Anglada.Narration: Sara Mendes da Costa.Music: Johan B. Monell ...

15 januari 2016: A unique outreach campaign has been launched that will allow the general public to follow scientists from around the globe as they search for an Earth-like exoplanet around the closest star to us, Proxima Centauri. The observing campaign will run from January to April 2016 and will be accompanied by blog posts and social media updates. No one knows what the outcome will be. In the months following the observations, the scientists will analyse the data and submit the results to a peer-reviewed journal. At a distance of just 4.2 light-years from the Sun, and located in the constellation of Centaurus, Proxima Centauri is the closest known star to the Sun. Previous observations have provided tantalising, but weak hints of a small companion orbiting this red dwarf star, but this new campaign will make a more sensitive search for the telltale wobbles in the dwarf star’s orbital motion that might ...

7 januari 2016: The Royal Observatory Greenwich, in association with Insight Investment and BBC Sky at Night Magazine, has announced the dates for the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 competition — its annual global search for the most beautiful and spectacular visions of the cosmos, whether they are striking pictures of vast galaxies, millions of light-years away, or dramatic images of the night sky much closer to home. Now in its eighth year, the hugely popular competition will open to entrants on Monday 29 February and sees an increase in prize money for all the winners, with the overall prize winner taking home £10 000. Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 has nine main categories: Skyscapes: Landscape and cityscape images of twilight and the night sky featuring the Milky Way, star trails, meteor showers, comets, conjunctions, constellation rises, halos and noctilucent clouds alongside elements of earthly scenery. Aurorae: Photographs featuring ...

18 december 2015: ESO and the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) have signed a cooperation agreement, providing a framework for future close cooperation and the exchange of information. The agreement addresses many areas, including scientific research, technology, and education and public outreach activities. There is a considerable overlap of interests between ESO, the world’s most productive ground-based observatory, and CERN, one of the largest centres for particle physics research in the world. The new agreement will promote the strategic coordination of the two organisations’ long-term plans as well as the coordination of scientific and training programmes. The agreement encourages the coordination of services, tools and resources, in addition to the sharing of best practices in many areas. The organisation of joint seminars and workshops is another area of proposed coordination, along with possible exchange of staff. Specific areas of possible technology coordination include those pertaining to astroparticle physics, and to particle physics ...

18 december 2015: A trilateral agreement between ESO, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS), concerning the operation of ALMA was signed in Tokyo, Japan, on 15 December 2015. The contributions of the three international partners ensure the continued success of this transformational (sub-)millimetre observatory located on Chajnantor Plateau in northern Chile. The new agreement provides the framework for the long-term operations of ALMA over the next 20 years Tim de Zeeuw, ESO Director General, Katsuhiko Sato, NINS President, and F. Fleming Crim, NSF Assistant Director (on behalf of France Córdova, NSF Director), represented the three partners at the ceremony and signed the ALMA Trilateral Agreement. Other staff members from ESO, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and NSF were also in attendance. The construction and first observations from ALMA were undertaken based on agreements signed in 2003 and 2004. The inauguration ceremony, held in 2013 ...

18 december 2015: The latest edition of ESO's quarterly journal, The Messenger, is now available online. Find out the latest news from ESO on topics ranging from new instruments to the latest science discoveries. Highlights of this edition include articles on: The Scientific Return of VLT Programmes The First Component of the Adaptive Optics Facility Enters Operations: The Laser Traffic Control System on Paranal The European ALMA Regional Centre Network: A Geographically Distributed User Support Model The Central Orion Nebula (M42) as Seen by MUSE Revealing the Complex Dynamics of the Atmospheres of Red Supergiants with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer Download The Messenger in PDF format or visit The Messenger website to subscribe and receive a free printed copy. This product is available for sale in the ESOshop. Deliveries will commence from 11 January 2016.

16 december 2015: Space Scoop, an astronomy news service for children aged eight and above, invites you to explore a brand-new website and share its exciting astronomical content with your children during their Christmas break. Space Scoop is coordinated by the international Universe Awareness (EU-UNAWE) and Space Awareness (SPACE-AWE) projects in association with several partners, including ESO and ESA/Hubble. Every Space Scoops article provides news about the latest astronomical discoveries in child-friendly language and is accompanied by a stunning astronomical image. The goal is to feed children’s curiosity about the Universe, to share the excitement of new discoveries with them and to inspire children to develop an interest in science and a passion for learning. The project aims to change young children’s frequent perception that science is an outdated and dull subject. As such, the brand-new Space Scoop website features a vibrant, eye-catching visual design along with fun graphics, images and icons tailored ...

10 december 2015: On 8 December 2015, Ireland’s intention to negotiate ESO Membership was laid out by Enda Kenny, the Prime Minister of Ireland, as he launched Innovation 2020, a five-year strategy for research and development, science and technology. Innovation 2020 sets out a strategy for Ireland to become a global innovation leader, with a strong, sustainable economy and a better society. The document states Ireland’s intention to “explore membership options for CERN, the European organisation for high-energy physics, and the European Southern Observatory”. Ireland’s Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will now enter into discussions with ESO and explore possible membership options for the country. Whilst these actions do not constitute a definite commitment to apply for ESO Membership, they represent an important first step in that direction, and ESO looks forward to the commencement of these discussions. Paul Callanan, University College Cork, Ireland, explains the significance of this move: "We are ...

10 december 2015: An agreement has been signed between ESO and an international consortium [1] for the design and construction of the MAORY adaptive optics system, to be operated at the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The agreement was signed by Nicolò D'Amico, President of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF, Italy), on behalf of the consortium, and Tim de Zeeuw, ESO Director General, at a ceremony held at ESO Headquarters in Garching bei München, Germany, on 10 December 2015. The principal investigator of MAORY, Emiliano Diolaiti (INAF), was also present. Renato Cianfarani, Italian Consul General, and Roberto Tamai, ESO E-ELT Programme Manager, were also in attendance. Other participants included Paolo Ciliegi (INAF MAORY Project Manager), Philippe Feautrier (IPAG MAORY co-investigator), Filippo Maria Zerbi (Head of National Division for Ground Based Programmes in the Scientific Directorate of INAF), as well as Giovanni Fabrizio Bignami, Italian member of ESO Council. MAORY, or Multi-conjugate Adaptive ...

8 december 2015: Not a single confirmed planet outside the Solar System had been detected before the year 1990. But, remarkably, we now know of thousands and have studied many in surprising detail. This ESOcast takes a look at how ESO’s observatories in Chile have been at the forefront of this enormous expansion in knowledge, and how their state-of-the-art instruments are continuing to discover and study the extraordinary diversity of exoplanets. You can subscribe to the ESOcasts in iTunes, receive future episodes on YouTube or follow us on Vimeo. Many other ESOcast episodes are also available. Find out how to view and contribute subtitles to the ESOcast in multiple languages, or translate this video on dotSUB Credits ESO Editing: Herbert Zodet. Web and technical support: Mathias André and Raquel Yumi Shida. Written by: Rebecca Davies, Richard Hook and Herbert Zodet.Narration: Sara Mendes da Costa. Music: STAN DART (www.stan-dart.com). Footage and photos: ESO, L. ...

1 december 2015: De De Zeeuw–Van Dishoeck Afstudeerprijs voor Sterrenkunde, ingesteld om jong sterrenkundig talent in Nederland te stimuleren, is toegekend aan Sebastiaan Haffert van de Universiteit Leiden. De prijs is overhandigd tijdens een ceremonie in Haarlem op 30 november 2015. De prijs bestaat uit een certificaat en een geldbedrag van 3000 euro en wordt jaarlijks toegekend aan het beste master-onderzoek op het gebied van de sterrenkunde aan een Nederlandse universiteit. Sebastiaan ontvangt de prijs voor de ontwikkeling van een innovatieve sensor die het zicht op sterren en planeten buiten ons zonnestelsel verbetert. 'In de astronomie worden doorgaans prijzen gegeven voor het ontdekken van planeten of sterrenstelsels. Ik heb een prijs gewonnen voor de ontwikkeling van een instrument! Dat gebeurt niet zo vaak', zegt Sebastiaan. Tim de Zeeuw voegt daaraan toe: 'Instrumentontwikkeling leidt tot nieuwe ontdekkingen - het is net zo belangrijk in ons vakgebied als de wetenschap zelf.' Het prijzenfonds is ingesteld ...

30 november 2015: The latest issue of the free magazine, Science in School, is now available online and in printed form. This European journal for science teachers offers inspiring articles, fun games and hands-on activities for schools in every issue. It aims to promote science teaching by encouraging communication between teachers, scientists and everyone else involved in European science education. Some of the highlights of this issue include: a look at some of the physiological and sociological benefits of laughter; understanding how Earth’s climate can teach us about other planets; and a safari through your mouth's microbial jungle. Teaching activities include: a practical lesson demonstrating the hazards of plastic waste in our oceans; an activity to understand forces through the design and construction of a glider wing; and a way to build a digital microscope. Science in School is published by EIROforum, a collaboration between eight European intergovernmental scientific research organisations, of which ...

27 november 2015: All four laser guide star units that form the Four Laser Guide Star Facility — a core part of the Adaptive Optics Facility (AOF) for ESO’s Very Large Telescope — have now been accepted and are being shipped to Chile. This is a major step towards establishing VLT Unit Telescope 4 as a fully adaptive telescope with much enhanced image quality. An adaptive optics system uses sensors to analyse the atmospheric turbulence and a deformable mirror integrated in the telescope to correct for the image distortions caused by the atmosphere. But a bright point-like star very close in the sky to the object being studied is essential, so that the turbulence can be accurately characterised. Finding a natural star in the right place for this role is unlikely. So, to make the correction of the atmospheric turbulence possible everywhere in the sky, for all possible science targets, an artificial star ...