A planned IT Maintenance and Release Window is scheduled between
Saturday, 19 July 2025 at 08:00 CEST/02:00 CLT and Sunday, 20 July 2025 at 24:00 CEST/18:00 CLT.
From 08:00 CEST/02:00 CLT on Saturday, all ESO IT services including ERP, Email, Database Management Systems,
the Scientific Archive, the User Portal, and internet connectivity on all ESO sites, may experience intermittent outages.
Full services cannot be guaranteed before Monday, 21 July 2025. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Phase 2 Observing Preparation
Phase 2 is the step when users of ESO's telescope facilities prepare for their observations. The observation preparation differs slightly for users who have been granted Service Mode observations versus observers who will travel to the telescope for their Visitor Mode observations or who have time allocated in designated Visitor Mode.
The backbone of all observations are the Observation Blocks (OBs) which one prepares with the Phase 2 web-based application p2 for Paranal and using p2ls for observations on La Silla. PIs of the approved observing runs can delegate the Phase 2 tasks by declaring their Phase 2 delegate(s) in the User Portal.
Help and instructions for Phase 2 preparations is offered by different teams, depending on the nature of the observations, via web pages and email contact. Please choose one of the following links:
- Service Mode observation guidelines (VLT, VLTI), contact: User Support Department
- Paranal (designated) Visitor Mode guidelines (VLT and VLTI), on-site info for visiting astronomers. Email contact: Paranal Science Operations
- La Silla Visitor Mode guidelines (NTT, 3.6m and 2.2m), on-site info for visiting astronomers. Email contact: La Silla Science Operations