A Cosmic First: Astronomers Uncover a Planet-Forming Disc in Another Galaxy
Using the ALMA telescope, astronomers have detected a disc forming around a young star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, marking the first discovery of its…
European Southern Observatory News
Farthest Ever: Galaxy’s Magnetic Field Detected From 11 Billion Light-Years Away
Astronomers have discovered an ancient galaxy’s magnetic field, shedding light on the early universe’s cosmic evolution and star formation processes. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter…
Smashing Records: Astronomers Detect Fast Radio Burst From 8 Billion Light-Years Away
Astronomers have detected the most distant ‘fast radio burst’ (FRB) ever, providing a potential tool to measure the Universe’s hidden matter. Upcoming telescopes promise to…
Mysterious Dark Spot on Neptune Detected From Earth for the First Time
Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have identified a significant dark spot in Neptune’s atmosphere, with an adjacent smaller bright spot….
Stellar Spectacle: ESO Captures “Smiling Cat” Nebula
The Sh2-284 nebula, awash in vibrant hues of orange and red, is beautifully captured in intricate detail thanks to the VLT Survey Telescope at the…
New Type of Astronomical Object Discovered: Massive Magnetic Helium Stars
New Type of Star Gives Clues to Mysterious Origin of Magnetars Magnetars are the strongest magnets in the Universe. These super-dense dead stars with ultra-strong…
The Genesis of Jupiters: Incredible New Image Reveals Secrets of Planet Birth
A spectacular new image released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) gives us clues about how planets as massive as Jupiter could form. Using ESO’s…
Exotrojan Unicorns: Astronomers Uncover Possible Sibling Planets
Astronomers have detected a debris cloud that could indicate a ‘sibling’ planet sharing the orbit of an existing planet around a distant star, using the…
Building the World’s Largest Eye: ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope Reaches Construction Milestone
The European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope (ESO’s ELT) has reached the halfway mark in its construction. Once completed, it will be the world’s largest…
Peering into Cosmic Shadows: BlackGEM Telescopes Join the Hunt for Gravitational Waves
The BlackGEM array, a system of three new telescopes located at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) La Silla Observatory, has begun operations to detect gravitational…
Hidden Views of Vast Stellar Nurseries Unveiled in Epic Million-Image Mosaic
Astronomers have used VISTA to create an infrared atlas of five stellar nurseries, offering unprecedented insights into star formation and revealing previously unseen objects. The…
Stellar “Ashes” – Astronomers Discover Traces of Universe’s First Stars
Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), researchers have found for the first time the fingerprints left by the explosion of the first stars in the…
Let There Be Light: Emerging From the Cosmic Dark Ages in the Early Universe
The early universe, known as the Cosmic Dark Ages, was devoid of light sources, consisting of a hot soup of subatomic particles that formed ionized…
Shedding Light on Darkness: Historic First Direct Image of a Black Hole Emitting a Powerful Jet
In a historic first, astronomers have simultaneously imaged the shadow and jet of the supermassive black hole in galaxy M87, providing new insights into how…
A Star That Defied Death: New Findings Sheds Light on One of the Cosmos’ Most Extreme Environments
A group of physicists has developed a model that charts the unexpected orbit of a star around a supermassive black hole, uncovering new insights into…
Astronomers Discover Missing Link: Water on Earth Is Even Older Than Our Sun
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected gaseous water in the planet-forming disc around the star V883 Orionis. This water carries a…
Unprecedented Discovery: Astronomers Observe Most Distant Black Hole Devouring a Star
Last year, the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) was alerted after an unusual source of visible light had been detected by a…
Climate Change Now Even Affects Our View of the Cosmos
New research reveals how global warming affects astronomy. The clarity of the atmosphere above the site from where the observations are taken has a delicate…