ESO

News

May 23, 2013 12:46 PM EDT

ESO Very Large Telescope Celebrates 15 Years with Spectacular Nebula Image

ESO's Very Large Telescope has been working for 15 years--and now it's celebrating its birthday with a newly released image. The instrument has captured a spectacular stellar nursery that reveals thick clumps of dust silhouetted against the pink glowing gas cloud known to astronomers as IC 2944.

IC 1295 ghostly dying star ESO VLT eso1317a

Apr 10, 2013 11:41 PM EDT

Giant Telescope Captures Ghostly Glow Of Planetary Nebula IC 1295

The most detailed picture ever captured of a ghostly dying star in our quarter of the galaxy has now been published by European astronomers, on which the nebula 3,300 light-years from Earth can be seen with its ghostly green light show.

Parabolic antennas of the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array) project

Mar 13, 2013 11:53 AM EDT

World's Largest Radio Telescope ALMA Opens in Chile Today

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) will officially open Wednesday, 13 March. The telescope is expected to give researchers vital information about the formation of stars.

Feb 14, 2013 11:16 AM EST

Dark Nebula Contrasts in Front of Milky Way's Bright Core

The full splendor of the billions of stars crammed together in the core region of our galaxy is illustrated by a small dark nebula contrasting in front of it, featured in this new image shot by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

Feb 06, 2013 02:49 PM EST

Starbreeding Seagull Nebula Shows Youthful Strength of Our Galaxy

A new image of the Seagull Nebula from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) shows a small section of this complex cloud of dust and glowing gas. The name comes from the wispy red clouds that form part of the "wings" of the celestial bird and this picture reveals an intriguing mix of dark and glow...

Jan 16, 2013 02:23 PM EST

Great New Image From Star Nursery Lupus 3

A brilliant image made by an ESO telescope shows a patch of black cosmic dust where new stars are forming. It is surrounded by a cluster of bright stars that have already emerged from their dusty stellar nursery. The new picture was taken with the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observat...

Jan 03, 2013 11:57 AM EST

Ready for hyperspace? Whirling Southern Star Trails over ALMA

The dramatic whirls of stars in the sky are reminiscent of van Gogh's Starry Night, or - for science fiction fans - perhaps the view from a spacecraft about to enter hyperspace. In reality, though, they show the rotation of the Earth, revealed by the photograph's long exposure. In the southern hemis...

Jan 02, 2013 06:02 PM EST

ESO telescope in Chile observed first giant planet birth ever

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope have seen a key stage in the birth of giant planets for the first time. Vast streams of gas are flowing across a gap in the disc of material around a young star. These are the first direct observations of such stream...