Latest European Southern Observatory Stories
ESO Several high-level European delegations visited ESO's Paranal Observatory in northern Chile over the past few days, following the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States–European Union (CELAC–EU). The summit, which is the biggest such event ever organized by Chile, took place in Santiago during the week of 22–28 January 2013. ESO had a starring role in the event and it was an excellent opportunity for it to show its work and facilities to representatives of...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new image released by the European Space Observatory (ESO) shows off a great view of clouds of cosmic dust in Orion. ESO's Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope in Chile helps bring out the heat glow of the dust, revealing places where new stars are being formed. Dense clouds of cosmic gas and dust in space are the birthplaces of new stars. When viewing these in visible light, the dust is dark and obscuring, which helps...
[Watch Video: Planetary Resources Tech Update] Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online An asteroid mining company this week has unveiled a space telescope it plans to implement in upcoming deep space missions. The telescope, a prototype of its Arkyd-100, is tentatively planned for a 2014 launch with the hopes of aiding in the harvest of precious metals and water from near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) by 2020. Planetary Resources is the company behind this lucrative...
[Watch Videos: 1 - Zooming in on Lupus 3 / 2 - Panning Over Lupus 3] Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The European Southern Observatory (ESO) released a stunning new image of a dark cloud where new stars are forming, along with a cluster of brilliant stars that have already emerged from the stellar nursery. The new image, taken with MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile, is one of the finest and clearest ever taken in visible light of...
[Watch the Video: A close look at the globular star cluster 47 Tucanae] redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Using their Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA), astronomers at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) have managed to capture a new infrared image of 47 Tucanae, the second most massive globular cluster in the galaxy. The picture, which was released by the ESO on Thursday, depicts the cluster “in striking detail,” the...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Researchers at the Gemini Observatory in Chile are touting a new instrument that they claim will allow astronomers to “study the universe with an unprecedented level of clarity and detail.” The system is called GeMS, and it is an advanced adaptive optics system that has been installed on the Gemini South telescope. According to a statement released by representatives of the facility on Wednesday, it is the first...
European Southern Observatory (ESO) ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) has begun a new and more advanced phase of science observations. This phase is known as Early Science Cycle 1, and will last until October 2013. The telescope’s power has been greatly increased: it will make observations with more antennas, spread over a greater distance, than ever before, and will use antennas from the Atacama Compact Array (ACA) for the first time. Although ALMA is still...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Using the airborne telescope on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), astronomers have learned that a series of recent starbursts had taken place in the central region of the Milky Way, NASA officials reported on Tuesday. According to the US space agency, our galaxy’s nucleus is home to a black hole with four million times the mass of the sun. It is orbited by a large disk of dust and gas, and holds...
Rayshell Clapper for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Astronomers may now have a way to image the center of the Milky Way galaxy, which has posed problems to scientists trying to image all of its exotic features. Soon they may be able to learn more about the features of the center of the Milky Way and learn more about where they are located in the galaxy by use of radio waves. Prior to the discovery of radio waves, astronomers primarily used optical waves like the X-ray and infrared...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A team of scientists conducting a long-term study of molecules in galaxies gained a tantalizing look at what is likely a powerful belch by a gorging black hole at the center of a changing galaxy. "The discovery was entirely serendipitous. Our observations were spread over a few years, and when we looked at them, we found that one galaxy had changed over that time from being placid and quiescent, to undergoing a hugely energetic...
Latest European Southern Observatory Reference Libraries
Very Large Telescope -- The Very Large Telescope (VLT) consist of four optical telescopes that have 8.4 meter aperture. The VLT is a project of the European Southern Observatory organization. It is located at the Paranal Observatory on Cerro Paranal, a 2,635-m high mountain in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. The VLT consists of a cluster four of large telescopes, and an interferometer (VLTI) which will be used to resolve fine features. The telescopes have been named after the...
Overwhelmingly Large Telescope -- The European Southern Observatory has undertaken a concept study for the next generation of ground-based Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). Dubbed OWL, ESO's concept is conceived as a 100 m. diameter optical and near-infrared, adaptive telescope. With milliarc second resolution and limiting magnitude V~38, OWL will be capable of imaging solar system objects at resolutions comparable to that offered by space probes, over much longer time scales. It...
La Silla Observatory -- La Silla is a 2400-m mountain, bordering the southern extremity of the Atacama desert in Chile. It is located about 160 Km north of La Serena. Its geographical coordinates are: Latitude 29 15' south & Longitude 70 44' west. Originally known as Cinchado, the mountain was renamed La Silla (the saddle) after its shape. It rises quite isolated and remote from any artificial light and dust sources (astronomy's worst enemies). La Silla was the first ESO...
European Southern Observatory -- ESO, the European Southern Observatory, was created in 1962 to: "establish and operate an astronomical observatory in the southern hemisphere, equipped with powerful instruments, with the aim of furthering and organising collaboration in astronomy". ESO is supported by Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom. Other countries have expressed interest to become a member as well. ESO...
Mount Wilson Observatory -- astronomical observatory located in California on Mt. Wilson, near Pasadena. Mt. Wilson Observatory was founded in 1904 by George E. Hale. Its equipment includes 100-in. (2.5-m) and 60-in. (1.50-m) reflecting telescopes and two solar-tower telescopes 150 ft. (46 m) and 60 ft. (18 m) in length. The most recent addition is the CHARA (Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy) array operated by Georgia State Univ.; it consists of six 39-in. (1-m) aperture...
