Announcements

10 June 2013: The ESO Annual Report 2012 is now available. It presents the many activities of the European Southern Observatory during the year, including: Research highlights from ESO facilities, with the latest results from fields covering aspects of astronomy stretching from observations of the Solar System out to the study of the early Universe. A summary of the activities of ESO���s telescopes. The status of the astronomical instruments at the La Silla Paranal Observatory, describing in detail new instruments and upgrades.

10 June 2013: With Dr Sandra Kortner (Max Planck Institute for Physics) Theoreticians conceived the Higgs boson almost 50 years ago, to explain how elementary particles such as electrons and quarks get their mass. They required this ultimate building block of matter, otherwise the world as we know it today would not exist ��� no Universe, no galaxies and stars, no Earth, and ��� no humans. Last summer, CERN ��� the European Organization for Nuclear Research ��� announced the discovery of a new particle. Additional research then confirmed this was indeed the historical discovery of the long-sought Higgs boson. This scientific breakthrough, that some have compared to the Moon-landing for particle physics, was the culmination of a long, carefully-planned manhunt, tracking the tiniest evidences that the boson left in the most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). But where do we go from here? Could it be that we have finally ...

10 June 2013: ESO has taken a step towards the construction of a powerful new instrument ��� the Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) ��� to be installed on Unit Telescope 4 of ESO���s Very Large Telescope at Cerro Paranal in northern Chile. Following the conclusion of the call for proposals, the project will be carried out by ESO in partnership with the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (Garching, Germany, with contributions from ETH Z��rich, Switzerland) and the INAF Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory (Florence, Italy). ESO has given the go-ahead for the two collaborating institutes to start work and the project aims to achieve first light in late 2017. ERIS ��� which will be active for at least ten years after it is installed ��� will benefit from the Adaptive Optics Facility that corrects for the blurring effects of the Earth���s atmosphere. It aims to take the sharpest direct images so far obtained ...

7 June 2013: A new temporary astronomy exhibition named Visions of the Universe will open its doors on 7 June 2013 at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, UK. The exhibition will tell the history of astronomical imaging, from the early hand-drawn work of the first astronomers to the latest images captured by world-class telescopes. Visions of the Universe will feature photographs from ESO���s telescopes, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, the Russian space program and more, ranging from ethereal images of deep space objects to close-up views of our planetary neighbours and the martian landscape. The exhibition is open to the public until 15 September 2013. More information is available on the Visions of the Universe website. Just a stone���s throw away, the Royal Observatory, an ESO outreach partner organisation, is accepting entries for the 2013 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The completion closes on 13 June 2013 and an exhibition ...

6 June 2013: ESOcast number 58 will lead you straight into a trap. Astronomers using the new Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have, for the first time, clearly imaged a dust trap ��� a region around a young star where dust particles can grow by clumping together. This detection helps solve a long-standing mystery: how dust particles around stars stick together to form planets, comets, and other rocky bodies. ESOcast 58 goes deep into the dust trap to explore how this comet factory works. Join your host, Dr J, and discover more about the secrets of the Universe. To see this latest exciting result from ALMA, follow the link to ESOcast 58. More Information The ESOcast is a video podcast series dedicated to bringing you the latest news and research from ESO ��� the European Southern Observatory. Subscribe to our video podcast now to keep up with the latest news from ESO: the ...

6 June 2013: Following the very busy period of the ALMA inauguration in March 2013, and as part of the activities towards the completion of the observatory later this year, the ALMA team has been engaged in a process of fine tuning and optimising ALMA for smoother science operations. Excellent progress has been made both with verification of the scientific performance of some of the advanced science observing modes, as well as with array stability and infrastructure enhancements. It has now been decided to resume Early Science observations at the end of June in order to deliver more data to the astronomers and further test the telescope���s performance. Observations made in this Early Science mode have already delivered outstanding discoveries [1], showing the unprecedented power of ALMA, even when still working at a fraction of its final capacity. Before starting the next cycle of Early Science observations (Cycle 2), it has been decided ...

3 June 2013: The European Astronomy Journalism Prize 2013 is launched today and this year has been expanded to now include entries from Europe and South America. The competition is run by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) in the United Kingdom and ESO, in conjunction with the Association of British Science Writers and the Royal Astronomical Society. "Astronomy is a global research discipline, and excites and inspires millions of people every day around the world, so we believe it's appropriate to expand the prize to recognise a broader range of inspirational coverage of astronomy," ESO's Head of Education and Public Outreach, Lars Lindberg Christensen, said today. STFC Head of Communications Terry O'Connor said the inaugural competition in 2012 was open only to entries published or broadcast in English in the United Kingdom, but has now been extended to entries in English from any ESO Member State. "We're delighted to work with ...

31 May 2013: On 30 May 2013 ESO signed a contract with the Danish company Ramboll for consultancy services to support ESO during the procurement and construction of the dome and main structure of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The actual dome and main structure contract itself will be the largest ever placed by ESO, and will cover not only the giant telescope enclosure, which is almost 100 metres in diameter (the size of the Colosseum in Rome), but also the massive precision components that form the telescope���s mounting and tube. This big contract to build the dome and main structure is expected to be awarded towards the end of 2014. To supplement ESO���s own in-house efforts and provide expert advice for this contract over a wide range of disciplines, Ramboll will follow the dome and main structure contract alongside ESO. ���This is an extremely ambitious project with colossal challenges, both technically ...

27 May 2013: The Bavarian State Minister of Sciences, Research and the Arts, Dr Wolfgang Heubisch, made a special visit to ESO���s Paranal Observatory in Chile on 24���25 May 2013 at the end of an official trip that included working visits to institutions in Chile and other Southern American countries. Minister Heubisch was accompanied by a delegation of Bavarian academic authorities. ESO���s Director General, Tim de Zeeuw, accompanied by the Director of Operations, Andreas Kaufer, ESO���s Representative in Chile, Fernando Comer��n, and Head of Administration, Patrick Geeraert, welcomed Dr Heubisch to the observatory and acted as host for the Minister and his delegation. After a presentation on ESO by the Director General and a discussion on ESO activities, Minister Heubisch and his delegation were taken for a visit to the support facilities at the Paranal base camp. Later, they visited the telescope platform of ESO���s Very Large Telescope (VLT) ��� the most advanced ...

24 May 2013: Our new ESOcast celebrates the 15th anniversary of ESO���s flagship facility, the Very Large Telescope, with a spectacular visual review of some of the most impressive images from its years of operation. This anniversary marks an important milestone for the Very Large Telescope ��� the first light of the first of its four Unit Telescopes, on 25 May 1998. Since then the four original giant telescopes have been joined by the four small Auxiliary Telescopes that form part of the VLT Interferometer (VLTI). The VLT is the world���s most advanced optical instrument and one of the most powerful and productive ground-based astronomical facilities. More than 600 refereed science papers based in VLT or VLTI data were published in 2012 alone, and it keeps producing discoveries at an impressive pace. To watch this review of the images of the VLT, follow the link to ESOcast 57. More Information The ESOcast is ...

22 May 2013: Present and future journalists who subscribe to The ESO Media Newsletter can now receive this weekly newsletter in their native language. Current subscribers are invited to visit their Subscription Preferences, which can be found as highlighted in the images above, and choose a preferred language. New subscribers can choose their favourite language when they sign up (media only). We appreciate that some languages are officially spoken in more than one country. Subscribers will find an indication of both language and country in these cases. For example, in the preferred language dropdown menu, subscribers will find the options: German, German/Austria, German/Belgium and German/Switzerland. We recommend taking the country into account, because translated newsletters may also contain additional local announcements and events that are only relevant for that country. Aimed exclusively at media representatives ��� traditional media outlets, bloggers, freelance journalists, TV broadcasters, researchers and movie producers ��� The ESO Media Newsletter ...

16 May 2013: The former ESO representative in Chile, Massimo Tarenghi, was awarded the Grand Cross, highest rank of the Bernardo O'Higgins Order, by the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a ceremony in Santiago on 10 May 2013. In the presence of government officials and representatives of the diplomatic corps, the Foreign Minister, Alfredo Moreno, granted Tarenghi this decoration in recognition of his 35 years devoted to the construction of major telescopes in Chile. "Massimo is not only a scientist, an outstanding professional and an entrepreneur, but also a friend who, over the years, has become a great promoter of our country. With his energy, experience and hard work, he has contributed to the process of making public the virtues of Chile," said Minister Moreno during the event. Since 1979, Tarenghi has been in charge of the construction and operation of several of the most important ESO telescopes in Chile, including the ...

13 May 2013: The European Southern Observatory (ESO) and its Science Outreach Network is collaborating with the science communication event organiser Sterrenlab to arrange the first ESO Astronomy Camp. The camp will take place from 26-31 December 2013 at the Astronomical Observatory of the Aosta Valley, located in Saint-Barthelemy, Nus, Italy. Several partners, including ESO, are providing for a total of, so far, five bursaries that will be awarded to the winning applicants. The camp will explore the theme of the visible and the invisible Universe through lectures, hands-on activities, and nighttime observations with the telescopes and instruments at the observatory. Social activities, winter sports, and excursions will contribute to making the camp a memorable experience for the participants. ESO will be responsible for the scientific programme for the ESO Astronomy Camp, and will, together with other partners, provide lecturers and material. Sterrenlab specialises in the organisation of international science camps for children ...

13 May 2013: The 2013 Communicating Astronomy with the Public (CAP) Conference will take place in Warsaw, Poland, between 14���18 October. Public information officers, communicators, journalists and formal and informal educators are invited to debate the latest challenges in communicating astronomy and share their success stories and lessons learnt. CAP2013 will expand the discussion topics to include space exploration, space tourism and commercial involvement in space-related activities. As the venue is a modern planetarium, special attention will also be given to audiovisual and multimedia communications in the widest sense. Popular topics from previous CAP conferences continue to be on the agenda. Interested participants are invited to submit abstracts before 21 June 2013 under the following major themes: Social media for astronomy outreach Media relations Multimedia communication, including tools and techniques Crowdsourcing and citizen science projects Alternative ways for communicating astronomy with the public Using astronomy outreach to thrill children with science and technology ...

7 May 2013: Representatives of the Portuguese government have confirmed today that their country will join the list of participants in the ESO European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) programme. Thirteen ESO Member States have now confirmed their full participation in what will be the leading project in ground-based astronomy in future decades. Portugal joined ESO in June 2000 and its membership was ratified by the Portuguese Parliament in May 2001. Portugal���s additional contribution to the E-ELT is valued at a total of about 5.1 million euros over the ten years of construction. ���I am thrilled to see yet another step towards making the E-ELT project reality,��� says Tim de Zeeuw, ESO���s Director General, ���With this important decision by Minister Crato, Portugal joins the list of Member States that will lead the advancement of ground-based astronomy in future decades. This decision will significantly benefit Portuguese astronomers, instrument builders and industry.��� The E-ELT is considered ...

7 May 2013: Present and future subscribers to ESO News can now receive our weekly newsletter in their native language. Current subscribers are invited to visit their Subscription Preferences, which can be found as highlighted in the images above, and choose a preferred language. New subscribers can choose their favourite language when they sign up. We appreciate that some languages are officially spoken in more than one country. Therefore, subscribers will find an indication of both language and country in these cases. For example, in the preferred language drop-down menu subscribers will find the options: German, German/Austria, German/Belgium and German/Switzerland. We recommend taking the country into account as well, because translated newsletters may also contain additional local announcements and events that are relevant for only one country. To see previous editions of translated newsletters for your country, check out the links below. Names of countries are available in official language(s): ��sterreich, Belgi�����Belgique���Belgien, Brasil, ...

7 May 2013: The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has reached another milestone with the delivery of the last antenna forming the Atacama Compact Array (ACA) to the ALMA high site. The ACA is a subset of 16 closely separated antennas that will greatly improve ALMA���s ability to study celestial objects with a large angular size, such as molecular clouds and nearby galaxies. The 16 antennas forming the Atacama Compact Array, four 12-metre antennas and twelve 7-metre antennas, were produced and delivered by Japan. Japan���s participation in ALMA also includes some of the ultra-cooled radio receivers installed in the 66 ALMA antennas and the ACA correlator, a powerful special-purpose computer that combines the signals from the ACA antennas. ALMA was inaugurated on 13 March 2013 during an official ceremony. However, it had already started science operations in September 2011, when a reduced set of antennas was made available for observations. Astronomers worldwide rushed ...

3 May 2013: With Dr Iris Abt (Max Planck Institute for Physics) The discovery of Jupiter's moons by Galileo Galilei is an example of how one single observation can fundamentally change our view of the world. Galileo's small telescope has now been replaced by complex equipment, some located in special laboratories, others deep underground, and some on remote mountaintops. The construction and operation of such installations require armies of physicists, engineers and technicians. They are waiting for rare decays, or hard-to-detect signals from space. Even today, a single observation could still challenge our understanding of matter, or even of the whole universe. No one knows what we shall see ��� or whether we shall see it: dark matter, antiparticles, neutrino messengers from distant galaxies... Dr Iris Abt (Max Planck Institute for Physics) will give an insight into, and discuss, our new observation methods with the guests of the next Caf�� & Kosmos, on ...

2 May 2013: On 17 and 18 June 2013 a workshop entitled Astronomy Education & Public Outreach: the European perspective will take place. It is organised by the ASTRONET Task 5.3 Working Group, made up of representatives from several European scientific organisations and chaired by ESO. The workshop���s main objective is to evaluate the European perspective on astronomy education and public outreach (EPO), in order to enable the definition of European priorities concerning this topic. ASTRONET Working Group members as well as international experts on astronomy education and public outreach will discuss which astronomy education and public outreach activities need support at the European level, and how the European Union can help to leverage national resources and share best practices as well as educational materials. Abstracts can be submitted up to 31 May, and registration is open until 10 June 2013. ASTRONET was created in 2005 as a consortium of the largest funding ...

30 April 2013: On 16 May 2013, ESO will host an industry event for a Danish business delegation at its headquarters in Garching bei M��nchen, Germany. This meeting will provide representatives of Danish companies and institutions with information about ESO and the potential opportunities that are available to take part in ESO���s industrial activities. Modern astronomical telescopes and instruments are composed of many elements, which have to be designed by engineers and scientists, and are produced by scientific and technological companies and institutes. ESO operates some of the most powerful ground-based telescopes in the world, and will start constructing the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) in the near future ��� tasks that are only possible with the support of a strong network of external partners in industry. This could offer new opportunities for Danish enterprises and institutes to cooperate, bid for contracts and develop the innovative technology needed. On 12 April 2013 representatives ...