An extended set of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) on data reduction is available. The FAQs cover general questions, on Reflex and Gasgano and grouped by VLT and VLTI instruments. Specific requests for help should be directed to the User Support Department.

Information on the status and progress of your observing runs, and subscription to the e-mail night reports is available via  the User Portal page.

PESSTO (Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects) is a public spectroscopic survey targeting supernovae and optical transients brighter than 20.5 mag. with the goal of classifying them as close as possible to their explosion phase. Data Release 1 contained more than 900 flux calibrated spectra for 298 distinct objects observed during the first year of the survey. These spectra are now complemented with release of 234 reduced and calibrated near-infrared SOFI images for 22 transient objects. The images, and the spectra, can be queried and downloaded from the Science Archive Facility.

The standard software to reduce APEX bolometer data (LABOCA, SABOCA and Artemis) is BoA. A set of helper scripts with detailed documentation has now been made available.
In addition, a script to reduce images with extended complex morphologies is also made available. This script allows a source model to be entered and iteratively used in the skynoise removal. Further annotated reduction scripts will be made available in the future.

The Call for Proposals for observations at ESO telescopes during Period 95 (1 April - 30 September 2015) has been released. Please consult the Call for Proposals document for the main news items and policies related to applying for time on ESO telescopes. All technical information about the offered instruments and facilities is contained on ESO webpages that are linked from the Call. The deadline for proposals is 12:00 CEST 01 October 2014.

ALMA Early Science observations, Cycle 1 and Cycle 2, will be interrupted, as foreseen, from the beginning of September until end of November. Several antennas will be moved to more distant stations to enable tests on baselines of 10km. Cycle 1 and 2 observing will resume in December.

The Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects (PESSTO) provides high-quality, time series optical and near-infrared spectroscopy of optical transients covering a broad range of luminosity, host metallicity and explosion mechanisms. The transient objects that PESSTO selects for full spectroscopic follow-up are now immediately and publicly announced on the survey web page.

The ESO Telescope Bibliography (telbib) now also provides active links from ALMA papers to the corresponding data in the archive. This feature is available for all ALMA programmes, except for science verification data. A similar functionality has been deployed for papers that use data from the VLT.

ESO has a prominent fellowship programme in both Garching (Germany) and Santiago (Chile), with a yearly application deadline (15 October). The goal of these fellowships is to offer outstanding early-career scientists the opportunity to further develop their independent research programmes in an exciting scientific environment with close contact to the activities and staff at ESO.

ESO Workshop, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile, 13тАУ17 April 2015

Satellite galaxies, streams and the star cluster тАУ dwarf galaxy interface are inter-related. Galactic satellites and streams should be regarded together тАУ satellites result from low-mass substructures while tidal streams trace the disruption of these substructures by the host's gravitational potential. Both contribute to the assembly of the host galaxy and provide a unique opportunity to test and improve our understanding of structure formation at small and large scales. This workshop aims to bring together experts from both fields to explore the bigger picture.