Interstellar Thread of Key Piece in the Origin-of-Life Puzzle Revealed by Astronomers
ALMA and Rosetta map the journey of phosphorus Phosphorus, present in our DNA and cell membranes, is an essential element for life as we know…
European Southern Observatory
Black Holes’ Breakfast at the Cosmic Dawn Revealed by VLT [Video]
Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have observed reservoirs of cool gas around some of the earliest galaxies in the Universe. These gas halos are…
Ancient Star Burst Discovered in Stunning New Milky Way Images From ESO Telescope [Video]
ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has observed the central part of the Milky Way with spectacular resolution and uncovered new details about the history of…
First Giant Exoplanet Planet Found Around White Dwarf Star [Video]
ESO observations indicate the Neptune-like exoplanet is evaporating. Researchers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have, for the first time, found evidence of a giant planet…
Hidden Giant Planet Discovered Around Tiny White Dwarf Star [Video]
The first evidence of a giant planet orbiting a dead white dwarf star has been found in the form of a disc of gas formed…
‘Asteroid’ Hygiea Could Actually Be Smallest Dwarf Planet in the Solar System
Astronomers using ESO’s SPHERE instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) have revealed that the asteroid Hygiea could be classified as a dwarf planet. The…
Origin of the Elements: Heavy Element Born From Neutron Star Collision Detected for First Time
Newly created strontium, an element used in fireworks, detected in space for the first time following observations with ESO telescope. For the first time, a…
A Cosmic Pretzel: Twin Baby Stars Grow Among a Twisting Network of Gas and Dust
Astronomers using ALMA have obtained an extremely high-resolution image showing two disks in which young stars are growing, fed by a complex pretzel-shaped network of…
Galaxy’s Tranquil Halo Illuminated by Enigmatic Radio Burst [Video]
Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have for the first time observed that a fast radio burst passed through a galactic halo. Lasting less than…
ALMA Captures Amazing Image of Microquasar SS 433
This is SS 433, a microquasar first discovered forty years ago and located about 18,000 light-years away in the constellation of Aquila (The Eagle). This…
How SPHERE Helps Protect Earth from Dangerous Asteroids
The unique capabilities of the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope have enabled it to obtain the sharpest images of a double asteroid as…
ESO’s SPECULOOS Planet-Hunting Machine Views NGC 6902
This Picture of the Week is a special treat: a first-light image from the newest resident of ESO’s Paranal Observatory, the SPECULOOS Southern Observatory. This…
ESO Captures Dazzling Image of Newly-Forming Stars in the LMC
This dazzling region of newly-forming stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) was captured by the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer instrument (MUSE) on ESO’s Very…
ESO’s Very Large Telescope Captures a Fleeting Moment in Time
The faint, ephemeral glow emanating from the planetary nebula ESO 577-24 persists for only a short time — around 10,000 years, a blink of an…
Enjoy a Stellar Walk Through the Universe – Chile Chill 12 Fire in the Heavens
Before the scientific discoveries made using ESO telescopes can find themselves on your screen, they pass through the expert hands of talented visual artists and…
Astronomers Capture Dramatic Details of Turbulent Stellar Relationship
While testing a new subsystem on the SPHERE planet-hunting instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers were able to capture dramatic details of the turbulent…
SPECULOOS Project Makes Its First Observations
The SPECULOOS Southern Observatory (SSO) has been successfully installed at the Paranal Observatory and has obtained its first engineering and calibration images — a process…
ESO Captures Stunning Image of a Newly Discovered Triple Star System
The VISIR instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope has captured this stunning image of a newly discovered massive triple star system. Nicknamed Apep after an…