New ‘exomoon’ detection challenges cosmic labels | ESO News Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have found an object in another planetary system that challenges astronomical labels. The object resembles a moon in that it orbits another object which in turn orbits a star. But the newly found ‘moon’ is itself as massive as a planet, and the object it orbits is neither a planet nor a star. This video summarises the discovery. ESO Video Casts Go to SourceRead More →

New exoplanet had been hiding for more than 10 years | ESO News Astronomers have discovered a third planet orbiting the star Beta Pictoris using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). The new planet, Beta Pictoris d, is among the lightest exoplanets ever to be imaged from the ground. After the initial discovery, the team found it had been hiding in archive observations spanning more than a decade. This video summarises the study. ESO Video Casts Go to SourceRead More →

3I/ATLAS likely formed in the outskirts of an old star system | ESO News Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have studied the relative abundances of carbon and nitrogen in 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar comet discovered so far. Their findings suggest that the comet likely formed in the outskirts of the disc around a star older than the Sun. This video summarises the discovery. ESO Video Casts Go to SourceRead More →