ESOnews

Astronomers find strongest evidence yet that Betelgeuse has a companion At long last, astronomers have firm evidence that Betelgeuse, one of the most famous stars in the night sky, is not alone. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), a team led by French researcher Miguel Montargès obtained the clearest image ever of what likely is Betelgeuse B, the star orbiting Betelgeuse. “This is the conclusion of a century-long quest,” says Montargès. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

New ‘exomoon’ detection challenges cosmic labels Observations made with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) have revealed evidence for a moon-like object in the CD-35 2722 system. Unlike moons in our Solar System, the newly found object does not orbit a planet, raising questions about what to name it. Instead, it circles a brown dwarf, an object larger than a planet, that orbits the CD-35 2722 star. If confirmed, this could be the first ‘moon’ discovered outside our Solar System. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Faintest planet ever imaged from Earth found after more than 10 years of hide-and-seek A team of astronomers have discovered a third planet orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. The new planet, Beta Pictoris d, is 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b — the first planet discovered in the same system — and is among the lightest exoplanets ever to be imaged from the ground. After spotting the planet using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), the team found it had been hiding in archive observations spanning more than a decade. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Older than the Sun: Astronomers find new clues to the origin of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS Astronomers have used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) to study the composition of 3I/ATLAS, the brightest interstellar object ever seen, in detail. By measuring specific chemical fingerprints — the first observations of this kind for a comet that formed outside the Solar System — they found that 3I/ATLAS likely originated in the outskirts of an old star system. The findings shine new light on the formation history of this comet, indicating that it may be much older than the Sun. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

“Beyond the limit”: one million satellites and mirrors in space pose grave threat to the night sky A new European Southern Observatory (ESO) study has found that current proposals to launch over 1.7 million satellites into orbit, including extremely bright ones, would have “devastating consequences for astronomy.” According to the study, no more than 100 000 faint satellites, below naked eye visibility, should orbit Earth, to safeguard our ability to observe the night sky with modern telescopes. The study is the first to compute the extent to which large and bright satellite constellations — which have also raised concerns about their impacts on health andRead More →

Strange winds reveal strongest hints yet of magnetic activity in exoplanets A team of astronomers has found the strongest evidence yet that some planets outside our Solar System may be magnetic. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) and the Gemini North telescope, the researchers measured wind speeds on seven very hot, Jupiter-like exoplanets. The observations revealed that the winds on these planets are most likely governed by magnetic fields, providing the first robust measurement of magnetism on planets outside the Solar System. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

First light for PoET: shining (sun)light on exoplanet research The Paranal solar ESPRESSO Telescope (PoET), installed at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal site in Chile, has made its first observations. The telescope will work with ESO’s ESPRESSO instrument to study the Sun in detail. Described as a solar telescope for planet hunters, PoET aims to understand how the variation in the light from stars like the Sun can mask the presence of planets orbiting them, helping us in our search for worlds outside the Solar System. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

A Solar System in the making? Two planets spotted forming in disc around young star Astronomers have observed two planets forming in the disc around a young star named WISPIT 2. Having previously detected one planet, the team have now employed European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescopes to confirm the presence of another. These observations, and the unique structure of the disc around the star, indicate that the WISPIT 2 system could resemble a young Solar System. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Largest image of its kind shows hidden chemistry at the heart of the Milky Way Astronomers have captured the central region of our Milky Way in a striking new image, unveiling a complex network of filaments of cosmic gas in unprecedented detail. Obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), this rich dataset — the largest ALMA image to date — will allow astronomers to probe the lives of stars in the most extreme region of our galaxy, next to the supermassive black hole at its centre. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

AES Andes announces cancellation of INNA, the industrial complex planned near Paranal ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers surprised by mysterious shock wave around dead star Gas and dust flowing from stars can, under the right conditions, clash with a star’s surroundings and create a shock wave. Now, astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) have imaged a beautiful shock wave around a dead star — a discovery that has left them puzzled. According to all known mechanisms, the small, dead star RXJ0528+2838 should not have such structure around it. This discovery, as enigmatic as it’s stunning, challenges our understanding of how dead stars interact with their surroundings. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Construction begins on the first and largest gamma-ray observatory in Chile Yesterday, a groundbreaking ceremony for the CTAO’s southern array facility took place at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal site in Chile, marking the beginning of construction of the telescope foundations. The CTAO, or Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, will be the world’s largest and most powerful gamma-ray observatory, providing new insights into the high-energy Universe. Its southern array will be the first gamma-ray observatory to be built in Chile. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Unique shape of star’s explosion revealed just a day after detection Swift observations with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) have revealed the explosive death of a star just as the blast was breaking through the star’s surface. For the first time, astronomers unveiled the shape of the explosion at its earliest, fleeting stage. This brief initial phase wouldn’t have been observable a day later and helps address a whole set of questions about how massive stars go supernova. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Laser trial run kickstarts new era of interferometry Last week, four lasers were projected into the skies above the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal site in Chile. The lasers are each used to create an artificial star, which astronomers use to measure and then correct the blur caused by Earth’s atmosphere. The striking launch of these lasers, one from each of the eight-metre telescopes at Paranal, is a significant milestone of the GRAVITY+ project — a large and complex upgrade to ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). GRAVITY+ unlocks a greater observing power and a much wider sky coverage for the VLTI than previously possible.Read More →

New image captures spooky bat signal in the sky A spooky bat has been spotted flying over the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal site in Chile, right in time for Halloween. Thanks to its wide field of view, the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) was able to capture this large cloud of cosmic gas and dust, whose mesmerising appearance resembles the silhouette of a bat. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Andreas Kaufer appointed as next ESO Director General The Council of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has appointed Andreas Kaufer to be the new ESO Director General. Kaufer, who is currently ESO Director of Operations, will succeed Xavier Barcons, who will remain as Director General until the end of August 2026. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Six billion tonnes a second: Rogue planet found growing at record rate Astronomers have identified an enormous ‘growth spurt’ in a so-called rogue planet. Unlike the planets in our Solar System, these objects do not orbit stars, free-floating on their own instead. The new observations, made with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), reveal that this free-floating planet is eating up gas and dust from its surroundings at a rate of six billion tonnes a second. This is the strongest growth rate ever recorded for a rogue planet, or a planet of any kind, providing valuable insights into how they form andRead More →

Can Hayabusa2 touchdown? New study reveals space mission’s target asteroid is tinier and faster than thought Astronomers have used observatories around the world, including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), to study the asteroid 1998 KY26, revealing it to be almost three times smaller and spinning much faster than previously thought. The asteroid is the 2031 target for Japan’s Hayabusa2 extended mission. The new observations offer key information for the mission’s operations at the asteroid, just six years out from the spacecraft’s encounter with 1998 KY26. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers spot mysterious gamma-ray explosion, unlike any detected before Astronomers have detected an explosion of gamma rays that repeated several times over the course of a day, an event unlike anything ever witnessed before. The source of the powerful radiation was discovered to be outside our galaxy, its location pinpointed by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions in the Universe, normally caused by the catastrophic destruction of stars. But no known scenario can completely explain this new GRB, whose true nature remains a mystery. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers witness newborn planet sculpting the dust around it Astronomers may have caught a still-forming planet in action, carving out an intricate pattern in the gas and dust that surrounds its young host star. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), they observed a planetary disc with prominent spiral arms, finding clear signs of a planet nestled in its inner regions. This is the first time astronomers have detected a planet candidate embedded inside a disc spiral. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →