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ESO
@eso.org
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The European Southern Observatory designs, builds & operates world-class observatories on the ground for the benefit of society. More info on eso.org
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eso.org
Update on the post below: in a letter sent to Chile's Environmental Assessment Service on 6 February, AES Andes requested the withdrawal of INNA from evaluation.

This formally confirms that INNA is not going ahead.

🔭 🧪
eso.org ESO @eso.org · 7d
AES Andes announced that it will step back from the project INNA, planned near our Paranal Observatory.
We welcome this and expect the project to be withdrawn from Chile's Environmental Assessment Service soon, which would formally confirm the cancelation: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2602
🔭 🧪
The Milky Way stretches across the night sky above a dark mountain ridge. An astronomical observatory is silhouetted on the summit.
February 10, 2026 at 11:44 AM
eso.org
Our VLT is softly illuminated by the Sun as it sets in the evening sky.

On an adjacent peak towards the right of the frame, the 4.1-metre VISTA stands apart, cutting a more solitary figure.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1535a/

🔭 #flashback

📷 G.Hüdepohl (atacamaphoto.com )/ESO
Aerial view of an astronomical observatory on a mountaintop at sunset. Multiple large telescope enclosures are arranged on a plateau.
February 10, 2026 at 8:01 AM
eso.org
The full scope of Paranal’s beauty 🤩

Until recently, only one of our four 8-m telescopes was equipped with lasers. But now one additional laser has been installed in each of the other three.
 
Why? Find out: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2606a/

🔭 🧪
📷 A. Trigo/ESO
A panoramic image showing one of the Auxiliary Telescope in front with a closed dome. In the background the four Unit Telescopes are observing the night sky while their lasers light up the image in a warm orange light. The entire Milky Way band is visible on the sky. The horizon is lit up by green, yellow shimmer caused by the airglow.
February 9, 2026 at 8:01 AM
eso.org
#TourESO 📹🔴 Just 5 minutes until our next virtual tour of the Paranal Observatory begins, get ready!

Streamed here https://www.youtube.com/user/ESOobservatory/  

📷 Y. Beletsky (LCO)/ESO
Nighttime view of an astronomical observatory on a mountain ridge. Several white telescope domes are silhouetted against the sky. A large, reddish Moon is visible above the observatory during a lunar eclipse.
February 7, 2026 at 1:55 PM
eso.org
Dorothee Bär (German Minister of Research, Technology and Space), Markus Blume (Bavarian Minister for Science and the Arts) & Thomas Reiter (Director General Space and Security, German Ministry of Research) visited Paranal: https://www.eso.org/public/announcements/annlang26002-es-cl/?nolang

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Dorothee Bär (German Minister of Research, Technology and Space), Markus Blume (Bavarian State Minister for Science and the Arts) and a delegation of several high-profile German dignitaries pose with ESO Director General Xavier Barcons in front of the four Unit Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope.
February 6, 2026 at 11:56 AM
eso.org
Meet the ELT coating machine!

Aside from its main mirror, the other ELT mirrors will be removed every two years for a new reflective coating. And the machine designed to carry out this delicate task is undergoing testing.

Discover it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lST...

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#instrumentation
Keeping the Extremely Large Telescope's mirrors shiny
YouTube video by European Southern Observatory (ESO)
www.youtube.com
February 6, 2026 at 7:57 AM
eso.org
A feast for the eyes 🤩

This gorgeous starscape is a vista of the Lagoon Nebula. See the dark patches scattered all over it? They're huge, collapsing clouds of gas and dust that will soon give birth to clusters of young stars.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0936/ 
🔭

📷 ESO
A wide-field astronomical image showing a glowing pink and red nebula surrounded by countless stars against a dark sky. The nebula has a bright core and clouds of gas and dust spreading outward.
February 5, 2026 at 1:02 PM
eso.org
Today, our journey leads us to a galaxy 215 million light-years away.

A few years ago, astronomers observed a rare blast of light there. It was the telltale sign that one of the galaxy’s stars had been torn apart by a supermassive black hole.

More: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2018/ 🔭
February 4, 2026 at 1:04 PM
eso.org
At the very heart of the Orion Nebula we find the Trapezium, a group of four very hot stars.

They are the brightest of an extended cluster of several thousand young stars, many of which lie unseen within the opaque gas and dust: www.eso.org/public/image...

🔭 #flashback
A glowing nebula with clouds of pink, purple, and blue gas and dust, illuminated by a cluster of bright stars at its centre. Smaller stars are scattered across the surrounding dark space.
February 4, 2026 at 8:23 AM
eso.org
AES Andes announced that it will step back from the project INNA, planned near our Paranal Observatory.
We welcome this and expect the project to be withdrawn from Chile's Environmental Assessment Service soon, which would formally confirm the cancelation: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2602
🔭 🧪
The Milky Way stretches across the night sky above a dark mountain ridge. An astronomical observatory is silhouetted on the summit.
February 2, 2026 at 3:04 PM
eso.org
#ESOjobs We are inviting students from European and Chilean Universities in their career's last period to participate in the Winter Internship 2026 programme at Paranal. The deadline to apply is 28 February 2026.

Details: https://recruitment.eso.org/

📷 ESO/G.Hüdepohl (atacamaphoto.com)
Promotional hiring graphic with the headline “We are hiring!” announcing internships for the Winter 2026 programme in Paranal, Chile. The text includes icons indicating location and application deadline. On the right, a nighttime photograph shows large observatory buildings and telescopes.
February 2, 2026 at 2:02 PM
eso.org
Exclusive view into the heart of the ELT! 👀

This image captures the interior of our ELT, under construction in Chile's Atacama Desert. The main structure shown here will host the ELT’s five mirrors.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2605a/

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📷 ESO/J. C. Muñoz-Mateos
This image shows the interior of the Extremely Large Telescope's (ELT) dome. The telescope structure, supported by struts, takes up most of the image in the centre, with some cranes around working. The gigantic doors of the dome are open, allowing sunlight to shine through.
February 2, 2026 at 8:01 AM
eso.org
We signed the agreement for the construction of BlueMUSE, a new instrument for our VLT ✍️

Anticipated to see first-light in 2034, it will enable detailed observations within our galaxy and help study the distant Universe.

https://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann26001

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#instrumentation
📷 ESO
Céline Reylé, the Deputy Director for Science for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Xavier Barcons (Director General, ESO) shake hand after signing the BlueMUSE instrument agreement. They are seated at a desk in front of which a monitor displays an astronomical image and details of the event. Behind them are the flags of France and the ESO, and large windows overlooking a snow-covered landscape.
January 30, 2026 at 3:05 PM
eso.org
In NGC 6729, very young stars have dramatic effects on the dust & gas from which they were born.
 
Located on the upper left side, the hidden stars eject material that is crashing into the surroundings at speeds as high as one million kilometres per hour: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1109/

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A bright star shines at the center of cloud of gas and dust, with orange and blue structures surrounding it. Numerous smaller stars are scattered across the dark background.
January 30, 2026 at 1:03 PM
eso.org
Astrophotographers, the countdown is on! 📸⏳

You have until 4 May to submit your best images to this year's edition of AstroCamera — the #astrophotography competition organised by the Hevelianum science centre in Gdańsk, Poland, with honorary patronage from ESO. 

ℹ️ https://www.astrocamera.pl/en

🔭
January 30, 2026 at 10:03 AM
eso.org
Today's journey carries you to the Skull Nebula.

This eerie object formed when a Sun-like star expelled its outer layers in its old age, leaving behind its naked core — a white dwarf — one of two stars that can be seen at its very centre.

Read more: www.eso.org/public/news/... 🔭
January 28, 2026 at 1:44 PM
eso.org
Dive into this ultra-detailed image of the Sculptor Galaxy!

Based on observations made with our VLT, it was created by stitching together over 100 exposures, covering an area about 65 000 light-years wide.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2510b/

🔭 #flashback

📷 ESO/E. Congiu et al.
An image of a spiral galaxy, showing only the light from specific gasses within, looking like much of the galaxy has been replaced with empty space and only an outline remains. This outline is composed of specks of different coloured light, with a cone of white-ish light at the centre. Nearby the dots are a warm orange, replaced with pink light as you get to the edges of the grand spiral.
January 27, 2026 at 8:03 AM
eso.org
Meet Ve 7–27.

Long believed to be a planetary nebula — the end phase of a sun-like star’s life, it turned out to actually be a still-forming baby star thanks to our VLT.
Discover more: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2604a/

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📷 ESO/J. Suherli et al.
A bright star at the centre of an hourglass-shaped cloud. The star is shooting a jet along the axis of the hourglass. The jet isn’t a continuous line but has knots or clumps along it. A yellowish-green smudge is visible right next to the bright star
January 26, 2026 at 2:02 PM
eso.org
#TourESO 📹🔴 The countdown is on: just 5 minutes until our next virtual tour of the La Silla Observatory kicks off! ⌛️ Get ready to explore!

Streamed here: https://www.youtube.com/user/ESOobservatory/  

📷 Y. Beletsky (LCO)/ESO
A nighttime view of a domed telescope on a hilltop under the Milky Way, with illuminated roads winding through the dark mountainous landscape.
January 24, 2026 at 1:55 PM
eso.org
A jumble of exotic stars ✨

This is 47 Tucanae, an ancient globular cluster located about 15,000 light-years away from us. It contains millions of stars, and there are many nestled at its core that display unusual properties.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1302/ 🔭
A dense, bright globular star cluster with a glowing core surrounded by tightly packed stars.
January 22, 2026 at 1:02 PM
eso.org
Zoom in from a wide-field view of the sky around quasar P172+18 on the object itself.

Artist's impressions of the host galaxy, the bubble of ionised gas around, and of the quasar and its radio jets are seen in this sequence.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2103/ 🔭
January 21, 2026 at 1:03 PM
eso.org
#Aurora over Europe!

We're currently experiencing a strong geomagnetic storm, which caused a stunning auroral display all over Europe last night. This time-lapse was captured by our colleague Stefan Ströbele over our headquarters in Garching near Munich. 🔭 🧪

📹 S. Ströbele/ESO
January 20, 2026 at 4:35 PM
eso.org
Dust gradually accumulates on the VLT mirrors. So, every 18 months, they are removed from the telescope, taken down the mountain to the recoating facility, and cleaned.

One mirror arrives at the recoating plant 👇
https://www.eso.org/public/images/max_v313949s/ 

🔭 #flashback
A large transport vehicle carries a massive telescope component. Several workers in safety gear walk nearby.
January 20, 2026 at 11:03 AM
eso.org
Not all rings are forged in fantasy, my precious! 

For astronomers, they are found in space. This image shows debris discs captured by ALMA around stars. The two at the top-right told astronomers something very interesting. Find out what here: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2603a/

🔭 🧪
A 5x6 array of astronomical images of debris discs, shaped like rings. Some are thin rings, others are wider and have gaps within them. Some of the discs are face-on and others more inclined. Most of the discs are orange except those on the rightmost column which are blue.
January 20, 2026 at 8:01 AM
eso.org
Today’s trip takes us to a dead star that is puzzling astronomers 🚀

Our VLT discovered that this object is creating a particular type of shock wave as it interacts with the interstellar material. Yet no known mechanisms can fully explain this 😲

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2601/

🔭 🧪
January 17, 2026 at 8:02 PM