Latest ESO/ST-ECF Science Archive Facility Stories

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is celebrating 50 years since it was founded on October 5, 1962. The signing of the ESO Convention and the founding of ESO was the culmination of the dream of leading astronomers from five European countries, including Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. These astronomers decided to join forces with the goal of building a large telescope that would give them great access to...

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has passed another milestone in its almost 21 years of observations: the publication of the 10,000th refereed scientific paper based on Hubble data. Alvaro Gimenez, Director of Science and Robotic Exploration for the European Space Agency said: “Reaching the milestone of the 10,000th scientific paper reminds us that Hubble is one of the most successful scientific endeavors in history. European scientists have played a big part in this, and have been...

The Federative Republic of Brazil has yesterday signed the formal accession agreement paving the way for it to become a Member State of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Following government ratification Brazil will become the fifteenth Member State and the first from outside Europe.On 29 December 2010, at a ceremony in Brasilia, the Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology, Sergio Machado Rezende and the ESO Director General, Tim de Zeeuw signed the formal accession agreement...

The Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility, a unique collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Southern Observatory, will close on December 31, 2010 after 26 years. ESA's continuing partnership with NASA on the Hubble mission ensures that European astronomers will continue to have access to observing time.The Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF), the scientific and technical coordination center for the Hubble Space Telescope in...

Although the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is mostly famous for its spectacular pictures this is only a small part of its capability. It is also possible to use a prism to spread out the light from all the stars and remote galaxies seen in a Hubble image into their component colors to create what are called slitless spectra. These can be used by astronomers to learn far more about the nature of astronomical objects "” their distance, composition and likely nature. The Space Telescope...

ESO has just released a stunning new image of a field of stars towards the constellation of Carina (the Keel). This striking view is ablaze with a flurry of stars of all colors and brightnesses, some of which are seen against a backdrop of clouds of dust and gas. One unusual star in the middle, HD 87643, has been extensively studied with several ESO telescopes, including the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). Surrounded by a complex, extended nebula that is the result of previous...

ESO, the European Southern Observatory, will host two press events during the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science that will take place at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. The two events are scheduled for the morning of Tuesday 21 April 2009.At 1100 BST, a press conference will highlight a major and truly unique discovery in the field of exoplanets, made possible with ESO telescopes.From 1130 until 1330 BST the same day, a special writer's workshop will be dedicated to the future...