Astronomers Discover Ingredient of Life Around Infant Sun-Like Stars
Using ALMA, astronomers have found traces of methyl isocyanate — a chemical building block of life – around Sun-like stars at a very early stage…
European Southern Observatory
Secondary Mirror of Extremely Large Telescope Successfully Cast
SCHOTT at Mainz, Germany has completed the casting of the secondary mirror blank for ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). The completed mirror will be 4.2…
ESO Astronomers View a Great Cold Spot on Jupiter
This newly released image from the CRIRES instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows a giant cold spot on Jupiter, which is believed to be…
New ALMA Observations Show Stellar Explosion in Unprecedented Detail
Using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers show a stellar explosion in the Orion Nebula in unprecedented detail. Stellar explosions are most…
ALMA Detects Two Planets in the Dust Disk Surrounding Young Star HD 169142
Astronomers have detected the presence of two planets in formation around the young star HD 169142, which is about 470 light-years away. The two planets…
ESO’s VLT Views Stars Born in Winds from Supermassive Black Holes
Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers have revealed stars forming within powerful outflows of material blasted out from supermassive black holes at the cores of…
ESO Observations Show Dark Matter Less Influential in Galaxies in Early Universe
New research reveals that the outer parts of massive disc galaxies 10 billion years ago were rotating less quickly than the spiral galaxies, like the…
Most Distant Galaxy Ever Observed by ALMA Sheds Light on the First Stars
Using ALMA, a team of astronomers has detected a huge mass of glowing stardust in a galaxy seen when the Universe was only four percent…
A Galaxy on the Edge – ESO Views NGC 1055
This new Very Large Telescope image shows spiral galaxy NGC 1055, which is located roughly 55 million light-years away in the constellation of Cetus. This…
ESOcast 96: The Discovery of Earth-Like Worlds
ESOcast 96 explores the discovery of Earth-like, potentially habitable worlds orbiting a nearby star known as TRAPPIST-1. Just 40 light-years away, the star’s diminutive size…
ESO Image of the Week – The Center of the Milky Way Crossed by Zodiacal Light
This newly released ESO image shows the center of the Milky Way crossed by the eerie glow of zodiacal light. The sky is full of…
When Stars Explode – Spiral Galaxy NGC 4981
This newly released ESO image shows spiral galaxy NGC 4981. Over 75 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo (The Virgin) lies NGC 4981…
New ESO Image of the Cat’s Paw and Lobster Nebulae
This newly released image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope Survey Telescope shows the Cat’s Paw Nebula and the Lobster Nebula. Astronomers have for a long…
VISTA Survey Reveals Hidden Secrets of Orion’s Clouds
The VISTA infrared survey telescope reveals the most detailed view of Orion A molecular cloud in the near-infrared. The new image from the VISION survey…
ESO Image of the Week – Planets in the Making
This newly released ESO image shows a disc of rotating, leftover material surrounding the young star HD 163296. Our Solar System formed out of a…
Astronomers Determine Orbit of Proxima Centauri
Using ESO’s planet-hunting HARPS instrument, astronomers have the strongest evidence to date that Proxima Centauri orbits Alpha Centauri A and B. Interest in our neighboring…
Band 5 Receivers Improve ALMA’s Ability to Search for Water in the Universe
With the newly installed Band 5 receivers, ALMA has now opened its eyes to a whole new section of this radio spectrum, creating exciting new…
New Study Shows Dark Matter May Be Smoother Than Expected
Using data from the Kilo Degree Survey, a team of astronomers reveal that dark matter in the cosmic web, which accounts for about one-quarter of…