Elliptical Elegance – ESO Views Elliptical Galaxy NGC 5018
A glittering host of galaxies populate this rich image taken with ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope, a state-of-the-art 2.6-m telescope designed for surveying the sky in…
Very Large Telescope
ESO’s VLT Captures Remarkably Sharp Test Images of Neptune
ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has achieved first light with a new adaptive optics mode called laser tomography — and has captured remarkably sharp test…
European Southern Observatory’s MATISSE Instrument Sees First Light
The new MATISSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) has now successfully made its first observations at the Paranal Observatory in northern Chile….
ESO’s VLT Combines Light From All Four Telescopes For First Time
The ESPRESSO instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile has for the first time been used to combine light from all four of the…
SPHERE Instrument Views Asteroids 29 Amphitrite, 324 Bamberga, 2 Pallas, and 89 Julia
These images were taken by ESO’s SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch) instrument, installed on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory, Chile. These…
VLT Survey Telescope Reveals Galactic Secrets of Galaxy NGC 1316
The VLT Survey Telescope has captured the most detailed image yet of the lenticular galaxy NGC 1316 and its rich surroundings. Countless galaxies vie for…
ESO Detects Titanium Oxide in Atmosphere of Exoplanet WASP-19b
Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope, a team of astronomers has detected titanium oxide in an exoplanet atmosphere for the first time. The new discovery around…
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…
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…
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…
Astronomers Discover an Unusual Mix of Stars in Terzan 5
An international team of astronomers has revealed the unusual mix of stars in the stellar cluster known as Terzan 5. The new results indicate that…
ESO Views the Glowing Gas Cloud LHA 120-N55
This newly released ESO image shows the glowing gas cloud LHA 120-N55 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. In this image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope…
Sharpest View Ever of Dusty Disc Around Aging Star IRAS 08544-4431
This new image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope is the sharpest view ever of the dusty disc around the close pair of aging stars IRAS…
Detailed Images of the Hypergiant Star VY Canis Majoris
Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope, at team of astronomers has captured the most detailed images ever of the hypergiant star VY Canis Majoris. These new…
ESO Image of the Week: SPHERE Reveals Spiral Disc Around Nearby Star
This newly released ESO image shows a spiral disc around HD 100453, which is located 350 light-years away. ESO’s SPHERE, a planet-hunting instrument installed on…
ESO Views the Ghost of a Dying Star – Planetary Nebula ESO 378-1
A new image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope provides the best view to date of planetary nebula ESO 378-1. This extraordinary bubble, glowing like the…
Giant Galaxy Messier 87 is Still Growing
According to new observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope, the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 has swallowed an entire medium-sized galaxy over the last billion…
VLT/SPHERE Reveal a Star Giving Birth to a Butterfly-Like Planetary Nebula
ESO’s Very Large Telescope reveals for the first time what appears to be an aging star in the early stages of forming a butterfly-like planetary…