Latest European Southern Observatory Stories
SDSS-III Forget the restaurant at the end of the Universe — astronomers now have the clearest understanding yet of the bar at the center of the Milky Way. Scientists with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) have announced the discovery of hundreds of stars rapidly moving together in long, looping orbits around the center of our Galaxy. "The best explanation for their orbits is that these stars are part of the Milky Way bar," says David Nidever, a Dean B. McLaughin Fellow in...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) and WIYN partners have offered this extraordinary wide-field image of the Cygnus loop as an end of the year finale. The image, three degrees to a side, covers an area of the sky about 45 times that of the full moon without sacrificing high resolution. The image is one of the largest astronomical images ever made at over 600 million pixels in size. Located some 1,500 light-years from...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Astronomers reported in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society that looking at the sunlight reflected off the Moon during the Venus transit this year helped scientists find planets in orbit around other stars. As Venus passed in front of the Sun on June 6, 2012, it hid part of our sun's rotating surface. Because of rotation, the spectrum of the Sun is slightly different on each side. On one side of the sun,...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online For thousands of years, astronomers have used Vega – the fifth brightest star in the night sky and the brightest in the constellation Lyra – as a touchstone to measure the brightness of other stars. Now, a new study from the University of Michigan demonstrates that Vega may be more than 200 million years older than scientists previously believed. Researchers were able to estimate Vega’s age by precisely measuring the star’s...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has tested out its latest instrument called KMOS on its Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. The instrument, K-band Multi-Object Spectrograph (KMOS), is capable of observing 24 objects at the same time in infrared light, and study the structure simultaneously within each one. ESO said KMOS will help to provide crucial data to help understand how galaxies grew and...
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Telescope Inc., the market leader in audience participation, consumer engagement, and mobile and social technology solutions, announced they have completed a management buyout and significant growth investment in the business. The transaction was led by Telescope CEO Jason George, in partnership with H.I.G. Growth Partners ("H.I.G.") and Moorgate Capital Partners ("Moorgate"). Tweet this: Fortune 500 consumer TV engagement platform...
[Watch Video: Fermi Finds Radio Bursts From Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is new and improved, and ready to start sending back some images of high-energy light mysteriously produced above thunderstorms. The space agency updated the telescope with improved data analysis techniques and a new operating mode to the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) aboard Fermi. This will enable the telescope...
NEWTON, N.C., Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The 25(th) and final 12-meter (40-foot) antenna manufactured by General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies has been formally accepted by the Joint Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) Observatory. Delivered to the Operations Support Facility in the Chilean Andes, the 115-ton, highly specialized radio-telescope antenna is completing final integration and testing before being moved up to the Array Operations Site which is...
[ Video 1 ] | [ Video 2 ] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new image released by the European Space Observatory (ESO) shows off a spectacular view of the star-forming Carina Nebula, and is being released right in time for an inauguration. Astronomers captured the Carina Nebula using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) Survey Telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory. The image was released on the occasion of the inauguration of the telescope in Naples on Thursday. The...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The youngest still-forming solar system ever seen has been discovered by astronomers and reported about in the journal Nature. Astronomers found an infant star surrounded by a swirling disk of dust and gas more than 450 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus. The star has about one-fifth the mass of the Sun, but the scientists say it will likely pull in material from its surroundings to eventually match the Sun's mass....
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...
