ESO Science Announcements

SPHERE Data Now Available for P95 to P109 (April 2015 - September 2022)

The second release of SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch instrument) data processed by the High-Contrast Data Centre (HC-DC) is now available in the ESO Science Archive Facility. SPHERE is designed for high-contrast imaging, low-resolution spectroscopy, and polarimetric characterisation of extrasolar planetary systems. This release provides reduced IRDIS imaging data acquired between ESO Periods P95 and P109 (April 2015 – September 2022), including SPHERE consortium Guaranteed Time Observations.

"VLT/I Beyond 2030": Conference Slides Available and Call for White Papers

As part of the "VLT beyond 2030" process, ESO is issuing a call for white papers for new instruments for VLT/I, with a deadline of 15 January 2027. The process, which began with a conference for which the slides are now available, aims to keep the VLT/I at the forefront of astrophysical research in the coming decades. This is distinct from the Expanding Horizons effort, whose goal is to select the next facility after the ELT.

ALMA: Web-based Observing Tool for Cycle 13 Call and Expected Capabilities during Cycle 14

ALMA is pleased to announce that, for the Cycle 13 Call for Proposals, a web-based interface of the ALMA Observing Tool (OT) will replace the previously used desktop-based OT. The web-based OT offers the same functionality as the desktop-based OT. The new interface offers a modernized and optimized view while retaining the same familiar workflow and structure. Proposal drafts will now be automatically saved within the system, without the need to save local files.

Release of ALMA Band 2 Science Verification Data and Announcement of Intent to Release of Arp 220 Data

The first data release of Band 2 Science Verification data observed on November 2025 are now available on the ALMA Science Portal. The data release consists of the following targets: G31.41+0.31 (spectral scan in Band 2), SPT 0027-50 (spectral scan in Band 2), HR 5907 (full polarization in Band 2).

Expanding Horizons: What Are the Astronomical Challenges of the 2040s, Garching bei München, 13-17 July 2026

ESO's Expanding Horizons process aims to identify the main scientific challenges that will face European astronomers in the 2040s, and the type of transformational ground-based facility that will be required to address these fundamental questions. Following the call for Scientific White Papers in late 2025 -an initiative designed to galvanise the European astronomical community to engage in the Expanding Horizons process- ESO is organizing a community-wide workshop on 13-17 July 2026 at ESO's Headquarters in Garching bei München that will bring together astronomers from a wide range of research backgrounds to present their vision of what the key scientific questions will be 2040s. It will also be a platform to investigate the potential synergies between the different scientific themes, the required facilities and the key enabling technologies needed for the 2040s and beyond.

2026 Users Committee Meeting

The Users Committee (UC) represents ESO's astronomical community at large and acts as an advisory body to the ESO Director General on matters related to the performance, scientific access, operation and data management facilities to the La Silla Paranal Observatory and ALMA. The 50th annual meeting of the UC is scheduled on 27 and 28 April 2026. During the UC meeting updates from ESO and feedback from the user community are exchanged and openly discussed. Each year one topic is explored in more detail and this year the Special Topic session is dedicated to Time Domain: Target of Opportunity and Rapid Response Mode Observations.

EAS Lunch Session LS1 - Getting the Most out of ESO Data: Hands-on Exploration of the ESO Science Archive and Next-Generation Data Processing Tools

Join ESO during lunch on Monday, June 29, at the EAS Annual Meeting in Lausanne for an interactive session dedicated to helping you fully exploit the scientific potential of the ESO Science Archive and data processing tools. Following an introductory overview of recent developments, the session will focus on hands-on exploration and discussion, with ESO staff available to work directly with participants on their specific scientific needs. Whether you are searching for archival observations, revisiting existing datasets, or preparing new analysis workflows, this session will help you identify and efficiently use both raw and science-ready ESO data products.

Registration and Abstract Submission are Now Open for the ESO/INAF/OCA Joint Conference "Charting the Future of Stellar and Exoplanet Spectroscopy"

The developments over the past decades in high-resolution and multi-object spectroscopy have enabled transformative insights into stars, stellar systems and populations, our Galaxy, and extrasolar planets. In turn, these have triggered the construction of a new generation of powerful instruments that will characterise fainter and more distant systems with unprecedented detail and/or statistical power, opening new windows in our understanding of the exoplanet population, galactic archaeology, and fundamental physics. This conference will bring together communities working on instrumentation, stellar and exoplanet astrophysics, and chemical evolution, serving as a launchpad for reviewing the scientific landscape, new challenges, and future priorities.

Apply Now for ESO Studentships – First Annual Call

Are you a PhD student eager to dive into the cutting-edge scientific world at one of the most prestigious observatories on the planet? The ESO research studentship programme offers you a chance to do just that. This exceptional programme is open to students enrolled in a PhD programme in astronomy or related fields. You will continue your doctoral research under the formal supervision of your home university, but with the added benefit of spending a minimum of six months (Chile) or one year (Germany), and up to two years at ESO, working closely with a dedicated ESO staff astronomer.

The KMOS Spectroscopic Public Surveys

Following the ESO Scientific and Technical Committee recommendation, the process started in 2024 with the call, selection and approval of the KMOS Spectroscopic Public Surveys is now completed and resulted in two public survey projects, EMPOWER (extragalactic) and VVVX-GalCen Spectroscopic survey (galactic). These two surveys are now starting their data acquisition since January 2026 and will collect data over the next three years. The approved survey management plans detailing the observing strategies, data reductions and data releases are published on the ESO web pages.

High Angular Resolution Science with Next-Generation Optical-Infrared Capabilities at ESO - Exploiting MAVIS and ELT Instruments in the 2030s, ESO Garching, 1-4 September 2026

This international conference, jointly organised by ESO, INAF - Arcetri and Macquarie University, aims to bring together the diverse scientific communities developing and preparing to exploit these instruments. Although each facility has unique strengths - MAVIS pushing diffraction-limited performance into the visible on an 8-m telescope, and the ELT instruments delivering unmatched infrared sensitivity and resolution on a 39-m aperture - their science cases are deeply complementary.

UPCOMING DEADLINE: CMF2IMF? The Origin of the Stellar Initial Mass Function, 8-12 June, ESO Garching

The stellar 'Initial Mass Function' (IMF) is a fundamental observable and a crucial component for the understanding of a vast range of astrophysical processes. It is suspected to have its roots in the mass distribution of dense molecular cloud cores resulting from molecular cloud fragmentation, but what shapes this 'Core Mass Function' (CMF) and how core masses really relate to stellar masses, remains unclear. This ESO workshop will summarize and discuss recent observational and theoretical progress on these questions and explore ways forward with ongoing progress in instrumentation (e.g., ALMA upgrade, ELT(s)). The deadline for abstract submissions is 15 February 2026.

Second and Final Data Release from the Large Programme SUPER

ESO is pleased to announce the second and final Phase3 data release of the Large Programme SUPER - SINFONI Survey for Unveiling the Physics and the Effect of Radiative feedback, programme id 196.A-0377, PI V. Mainieri. It uses SINFONI in Seeing-Enhancer mode to study Active Galactic Nuclei at z=2-2.5. The AO assisted observations reach a PSF of 0.2 arcsec in K-band.

Olivier Chesneau Prize 2026

Olivier Chesneau, one of the most active and prolific members of the optical interferometry community, passed away in May 2014, at the age of 41. To honour his work in this field, his home institute, the Laboratoire J.-L. Lagrange at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur in France, and ESO established a prize in his memory. Since 2015, the prize has been awarded biennially for the best PhD thesis completed in the field of high angular resolution optical astronomy.

VLTI Community Days, ESO Garching, 11-13 May 2026

The VLTI Community Days meeting will take place at ESO Garching on the 11, 12 and 13 of May 2026 (participation available via MS Teams). The meeting will be dedicated to the current status, scientific exploitation, and future evolution of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) and the programme will cover recent and ongoing developments at the VLTI, with a strong focus on GRAVITY+ and ASGARD, as well as the status and prospects for MATISSE and PIONIER. The meeting will combine technical and operational updates, with science talks, together with time for discussion.

ESO Workshop “Bridging Horizons: Harnessing ESO’s Current Facilities for the Dawn of Exoplanet Population Studies”, Garching b. München, Santiago de Chile, Nice, and Lund, 2-6 November 2026

Observations with the VLT, VLTI, and ALMA have pioneered exoplanet science over the past decade. With upcoming results from ESA missions such as Gaia, PLATO, and Ariel, exoplanet research is entering a transformative era of large-scale characterisation surveys. This ESO workshop will bring the community together to explore how current ESO facilities together with powerful archival resources, can best complement exoplanet demographics, atmospheres, and planet formation at the dawn of population-scale studies.

Results of the 2025 Paranal Service Mode User Satisfaction Survey

The User Support Department would like to once again thank all Principal Investigators and their Phase 2 delegates who took part in the 2025 online Paranal Service Mode User Satisfaction Survey. A total of 101 responses were received in this targeted campaign. As in past years, we have followed up by e-mail with respondents who provided detailed comments and identified themselves. A summary report based on the latest survey is now available.

Period 117 Phase 2: Deadline

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 117 is Tuesday, 17 March 2026. P117 is the first yearly period for observations between 1 May 2026 and 30 April 2027.

La Silla Paranal Period 117 Time Allocation

The time allocation process for ESO telescopes for Period 117 has been completed. This was based on the scientific evaluation of the Distributed Peer Review (DPR) and the Observing Programmes Committee (OPC), who met in November 2025 to provide recommendations to the ESO Director General. A total of 13070 hours of (Designated) Visitor Mode and Service Mode observations (excluding filler programmes) were allocated on the VLT/VLTI, the 3.6-metre, and NTT telescopes.

First Release of LEWIS: MUSE Integral-Field Spectroscopic Survey of Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies in the Hydra I Cluster

This data release presents the first public data products (DR1) from Looking into the faintEst WIth MUSE (LEWIS), an ESO Large Programme investigating extreme low-surface-brightness galaxies in the Hydra I cluster using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the ESO Very Large Telescope. The observations were obtained in service mode between December 2021 and March 2025 under ESO programme 108.222P, P.I. E. Iodice.