ESOnews

“Big surprise”: astronomers find planet in perpendicular orbit around pair of stars Astronomers have found a planet that orbits at an angle of 90 degrees around a rare pair of peculiar stars. This is the first time we have strong evidence for one of these ‘polar planets’ orbiting a stellar pair. The surprise discovery was made using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Oxygen discovered in most distant known galaxy Two different teams of astronomers have detected oxygen in the most distant known galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0. The discovery, reported in two separate studies, was made possible thanks to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner. This record-breaking detection is making astronomers rethink how quickly galaxies formed in the early Universe. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

New ESO analysis confirms severe damage from industrial complex planned near Paranal An in-depth technical analysis by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has evaluated the impact of the INNA megaproject on the facilities at the Paranal Observatory, Chile — and the results are alarming. The analysis reveals that INNA would increase light pollution above the Very Large Telescope (VLT) by at least 35% and by more than 50% above the south site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO-South). INNA would also increase air turbulence in the area, further degrading conditions for astronomical observations, while vibrations from the project could seriously impair the functioning ofRead More →

ESO observations help almost fully rule out 2024 YR4 asteroid impact New observations of 2024 YR4 conducted with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) and facilities around the world have all but ruled out an impact of the asteroid with our planet. The asteroid has been closely monitored in the past couple of months as its odds of impacting Earth in 2032 rose to around 3%, the highest impact probability ever reached for a sizable asteroid. After the latest observations, the odds of impact dropped to nearly zero. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

“Out of science fiction”: First 3D observations of an exoplanet’s atmosphere reveal a unique climate Astronomers have peered through the atmosphere of a planet beyond the Solar System, mapping its 3D structure for the first time. By combining all four telescope units of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), they found powerful winds carrying chemical elements like iron and titanium, creating intricate weather patterns across the planet’s atmosphere. The discovery opens the door for detailed studies of the chemical makeup and weather of other alien worlds. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Star cluster reveals its colours in stunning 80-million-pixel ESO image The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has released a stunning 80 million-pixel image of the star cluster RCW 38, as captured by ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA), operating in Chile’s Atacama Desert. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Extreme supersonic winds measured on planet outside our Solar System Astronomers have discovered extremely powerful winds pummeling the equator of WASP-127b, a giant exoplanet. Reaching speeds up to 33 000 km/h, the winds make up the fastest jetstream of its kind ever measured on a planet. The discovery was made using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile and provides unique insights into the weather patterns of a distant world. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

World’s darkest and clearest skies at risk from industrial megaproject On December 24th, AES Andes, a subsidiary of the US power company AES Corporation, submitted a project for a massive industrial complex for environmental impact assessment. This complex threatens the pristine skies above ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the darkest and clearest of any astronomical observatory in the world [1]. The industrial megaproject is planned to be located just 5 to 11 kilometres from telescopes at Paranal, which would cause irreparable damage to astronomical observations, in particular due to light pollution emitted throughout the project’s operational life. Relocating the complex would save oneRead More →

First ever binary star found near our galaxy’s supermassive black hole An international team of researchers has detected a binary star orbiting close to Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy. It is the first time a stellar pair has been found in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole. The discovery, based on data collected by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), helps us understand how stars survive in environments with extreme gravity, and could pave the way for the detection of planets close to Sagittarius A*. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers take the first close-up picture of a star outside our galaxy “For the first time, we have succeeded in taking a zoomed-in image of a dying star in a galaxy outside our own Milky Way,” says Keiichi Ohnaka, an astrophysicist from Universidad Andrés Bello in Chile. Located a staggering 160 000 light-years from us, the star WOH G64 was imaged thanks to the impressive sharpness offered by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESO’s VLTI). The new observations reveal a star puffing out gas and dust, in the last stages before it becomes a supernova. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

New ESO image captures a dark wolf in the sky For Halloween, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) reveals this spooktacular image of a dark nebula that creates the illusion of a wolf-like silhouette against a colourful cosmic backdrop. Fittingly nicknamed the Dark Wolf Nebula, it was captured in a 283-million-pixel image by the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Space oddity: Most distant rotating disc galaxy found Researchers have discovered the most distant Milky-Way-like galaxy yet observed. Dubbed REBELS-25, this disc galaxy seems as orderly as present-day galaxies, but we see it as it was when the Universe was only 700 million years old. This is surprising since, according to our current understanding of galaxy formation, such early galaxies are expected to appear more chaotic. The rotation and structure of REBELS-25 were revealed using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Scientists discover planet orbiting closest single star to our Sun Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), astronomers have discovered an exoplanet orbiting Barnard’s star, the closest single star to our Sun. On this newly discovered exoplanet, which has at least half the mass of Venus, a year lasts just over three Earth days. The team’s observations also hint at the existence of three more exoplanet candidates, in various orbits around the star. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

ESO telescope captures the most detailed infrared map ever of our Milky Way Astronomers have published a gigantic infrared map of the Milky Way containing more than 1.5 billion objects ― the most detailed one ever made. Using the European Southern Observatory’s VISTA telescope, the team monitored the central regions of our Galaxy over more than 13 years. At 500 terabytes of data, this is the largest observational project ever carried out with an ESO telescope. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers track bubbles on star’s surface in most detailed video yet For the first time, astronomers have captured images of a star other than the Sun in enough detail to track the motion of bubbling gas on its surface. The images of the star, R Doradus, were obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a telescope co-owned by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), in July and August 2023. They show giant, hot bubbles of gas, 75 times the size of the Sun, appearing on the surface and sinking back into the star’s interior faster than expected. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

EHT scientists make highest-resolution observations yet from the surface of Earth The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration has conducted test observations, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and other facilities, that achieved the highest resolution ever obtained from the surface of Earth [1]. They managed this feat by detecting light from distant galaxies at a frequency of around 345 GHz, equivalent to a wavelength of 0.87 mm. The Collaboration estimates that in future they will be able to make black hole images that are 50% more detailed than was possible before, bringing the region immediately outside the boundary of nearby supermassive black holes intoRead More →

Last segment of the world’s largest telescope mirror successfully cast The European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope (ESO’s ELT), under construction in the Chilean Atacama Desert, is one step closer to completion. German company SCHOTT has successfully cast the blank for the last of the 949 segments commissioned for the telescope’s primary mirror (M1). With a diameter of more than 39 metres, M1 will be by far the largest mirror ever made for a telescope. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers see a massive black hole awaken in real time In late 2019 the previously unremarkable galaxy SDSS1335+0728 suddenly started shining brighter than ever before. To understand why, astronomers have used data from several space and ground-based observatories, including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), to track how the galaxy’s brightness has varied. In a study out today, they conclude that they are witnessing changes never seen before in a galaxy — likely the result of the sudden awakening of the massive black hole at its core. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy found 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’ motion on the companion star orbiting it. Data from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) and other ground-based observatories were used to verify the mass of the black hole, putting it at an impressive 33 times that of the Sun. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Beautiful nebula, violent history: clash of stars solves stellar mystery When astronomers looked at a stellar pair at the heart of a stunning cloud of gas and dust, they were in for a surprise. Star pairs are typically very similar, like twins, but in HD 148937, one star appears younger and, unlike the other, is magnetic. New data from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) suggest there were originally three stars in the system, until two of them clashed and merged. This violent event created the surrounding cloud and forever altered the system’s fate. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →