ESO (European Southern Observatory) is the preeminent inter-governmental organization focused on astronomy and technology headquartered in Garching, Germany. ESO operates La Silla Paranal Observatory in Chile. The flagship facility is the Very Large Telescope (VLT) on top of the Paranal Mountain. The VLT sets the standard for ground-based optical and infrared astronomy and the data it produces are used every day in scientific publications. The next step for ESO is Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA), an inter-continental effort with North America, East Asia and Chile expected to be completed by 2012. The next generation VLT in the planning stages is the Extremely Large optical/infrared Telescope with a primary mirror between 30m and 60m that will make visible the earth-like planets around other stars.
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Astronomers have identified the most massive stellar black hole yet discovered in the Milky Way galaxy. This black hole was spotted in data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission because it imposes an odd 'wobbling' ...
Astronomy
Apr 16, 2024
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When a star like our sun reaches the end of its life, it can ingest the surrounding planets and asteroids that were born with it. Now, using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) in Chile, researchers ...
Astronomy
Feb 26, 2024
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156
Using the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have characterized a bright quasar, finding it to be not only the brightest of its kind but also the most luminous object ever observed. ...
Astronomy
Feb 19, 2024
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Magnetars are the strongest magnets in the universe. These super-dense dead stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields can be found all over our galaxy but astronomers don't know exactly how they form.
Astronomy
Aug 17, 2023
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A team of astronomers, with the help of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), have observed a new type of stellar explosion—a micronova. These outbursts happen on the surface of certain stars, ...
Astronomy
Apr 20, 2022
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In 2020 a team led by European Southern Observatory (ESO) astronomers reported the closest black hole to Earth, located just 1,000 light-years away in the HR 6819 system. But the results of their study were contested by other ...
Astronomy
Mar 2, 2022
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The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESO's VLTI) has observed a cloud of cosmic dust at the center of the galaxy Messier 77 that is hiding a supermassive black hole. The findings have confirmed ...
Astronomy
Feb 16, 2022
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Rogue planets are elusive cosmic objects that have masses comparable to those of the planets in our Solar System but do not orbit a star, instead roaming freely on their own. Not many were known until now, but a team of astronomers, ...
Astronomy
Dec 22, 2021
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The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) has captured an image of a planet orbiting b Centauri, a two-star system that can be seen with the naked eye. This is the hottest and most massive planet-hosting ...
Astronomy
Dec 8, 2021
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2032
Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), astronomers have revealed the closest pair of supermassive black holes to Earth ever observed. The two objects also have a much smaller separation ...
Astronomy
Nov 30, 2021
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