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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
1/ A telescope fist bump in the sky 🤜 🤛

Our Unit Telescopes combine their light with interferometry to obtain the level of detail of a huge 130 m virtual telescope. But this requires correcting the effects of Earth’s atmosphere. This is where the lasers come in. 

🔭 🧪
Four massive cylindrical like structures are visible on the bottom. Out of all of these metal structures, a laser is shooting up into the sky to a spot where all four lasers meet
November 25, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Reposted by ESO
andreabettini.bsky.social
Senza alcun dubbio è estremamente grande. Qualche foto dalla visita al cantiere di ELT di @eso.org nel deserto di Atacama in Cile. Seguiranno aggiornamenti
www.rainews.it/photogallery...
Cile, prende forma il telescopio più grande del mondo
Ecco il cantiere dell'Extremely Large Telescope, progetto internazionale da 1,5 miliardi di euro. Avrà uno specchio record da 39 metri
www.rainews.it
November 21, 2025 at 8:39 AM
eso.org
The purr-fect cosmic object for cat lovers 🐱

Located 5500 light-years away, the iconic Cat's paw nebula 🐾 is the birthplace of hundreds of massive stars.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1017/ 🔭

📷 ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA
Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit
Near the center, clusters of pink and violet gas clouds form bright nebulae, set against a dense star field.
November 20, 2025 at 1:02 PM
eso.org
Fancy a visit to Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole lurking in the heart of the #MilkyWay?

The final still is the first image ever of the black hole, unveiled in 2022 by the @ehtelescope.bsky.social .

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2208-eht-mw/ 🔭
November 19, 2025 at 1:04 PM
eso.org
A section of Ara OB1, a stellar association, is visible in this image.

Stellar associations are large groupings of loosely bound stars that have not yet completely drifted away from their initial formation site.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1510/ 🔭 

📷 ESO
#Flashback
A nebula with countless stars of varying brightness and colour scattered across the scene. In the centre, a bright, glowing region is surrounded by swirling clouds of gas and dust in shades of orange, brown, and blue. On the right, reddish gas and dark filaments outline the edge of the nebula.
November 18, 2025 at 8:02 AM
eso.org
Hypnotising view of Paranal!

Yet the sky is not revolving around the tip of an Auxiliary Telescope. The illusion is caused by the alignment with the southern celestial pole, around which stars seem to trail due to Earth's rotation.

https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2546a

🔭 🧪
📷 O. Castillo/ESO
An open white dome, with part of a telescope peeking through its opening at the top. The sky in the background is full of concentric white-ish circles, centered at the top of the telescope.
November 17, 2025 at 8:04 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/  

📷 ESO/M. Claro
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A panoramic view of an astronomical observatory at sunset, featuring multiple large telescope domes. The observatory is situated on a flat, elevated platform.
November 15, 2025 at 1:55 PM
eso.org
Take a peek at the brilliant star WR 22 & its colourful surroundings 🌟 👀

WR 22 is shedding its atmosphere into space at a rate many millions of times faster than the Sun. It lies in the outer part of the Carina Nebula from which it formed.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1031/ 🔭
A glowing red and pink nebula filled with dark clouds of dust and countless stars. A bright star shines at the centre of the image.
November 13, 2025 at 1:02 PM
eso.org
ICYMI, VLT observations have revealed the unique shape of a star’s explosion just a day after detection.

It's the first time that astronomers unveil the shape of the explosion at its earliest stage, providing insights into the deaths of massive stars.
https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2520/

🔭 🧪 ☄️
November 13, 2025 at 10:04 AM
eso.org
For the first time ever, astronomers have unveiled the shape of a supernova explosion just a day after detection, as the blast was breaking through the star’s surface.

Achieved by our VLT, this feat will help us understand how massive stars die: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2520/

🔭 🧪 ☄️
A digital illustration of a star going supernova, surrounded by a gaseous disc in orange and red tones. The star is seen exploding in an olive shape, directed above and below the star.
November 12, 2025 at 7:02 PM
eso.org
Today we’re leaving the #MilkyWay behind and heading into the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Our destination? A binary system that seems like a lone blue star, but actually also hosts an invisible black hole, weighing at least 9 times the mass of our Sun.

More: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2210/ 🔭
November 12, 2025 at 1:04 PM
eso.org
Five thousand light-years away lies the magnificent Lagoon Nebula — an interstellar cloud stretching over 100 light-years across.

It boasts many large, hot stars, whose ultraviolet radiation sculpts the gas and dust into unusual shapes.

www.eso.org/public/image... 🔭

#Flashback
A cloud of gas and dust in shades of pink, purple, and dark brown. Bright stars are scattered throughout the nebula.
November 12, 2025 at 9:13 AM
eso.org
1/ Milestone achieved by the VLTI upgrade GRAVITY+: a laser has been installed at each of the previously unequipped VLT Unit Telescopes.

This will dramatically enhance the VLTI observing power.

Discover more with #ChasingStarlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzK1B3VU1L8

🔭 🧪
Four astronomical domes stand in a desert landscape, each launching a bright orange laser into the sky. A nearly full moon glows on the left of the image. The text “What are these lasers for?” is visible on the image.
November 10, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by ESO
eiroforum.org
🌎 On World Science Day for Peace and Development, senior leaders across EIROforum thank citizens for their trust and support.

Xavier Barcons from ESO talks about how trust in science enables discoveries about exoplanets, very distant galaxies, and black holes.
November 10, 2025 at 9:00 AM
eso.org
While the Magellanic Clouds shine upon the Chilean Desert, two VLTI Auxiliary Telescopes point up to the sky — all together reminding us of how small we are as humans compared to cosmic objects & the telescopes we observe them with.

https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2545a/

🔭 🧪
📷 J. Looten/ESO
Two of ESO’s small Auxiliary Telescopes, accompanied by the Magellanic Clouds up in the night sky. A human silhouette is visible on the right side of the picture.
November 10, 2025 at 8:02 AM
eso.org
How do stars generate their magnetic fields? 🧲

Using the ESO 3.6 m telescope, for the first time astronomers have reconstructed the migration of magnetic regions on the surface of a star other than the Sun. 🔭🧪

Learn more: https://www.eso.org/public/blog/magnetic-butterflies/

📷 NASA/SDO/AIA/LMSAL
A telescopic image of the Sun – a huge, yellow sphere with a turbulent surface full of bright and dark areas. Curved lines are overlaid to illustrate the distribution of magnetic fields.
November 7, 2025 at 10:00 AM
eso.org
Meet our nearest giant galaxy 👀

One of the most spectacular objects in the sky, Centaurus A is located 13 million light-years away. Here we see the jets ejected from the galaxy centre, signatures of the presence of a supermassive black hole. 🔭
A galaxy set against a field of stars. The galaxy’s bright core emits powerful jets of glowing gas—one orange and one bluish—extending outward into space. A dark dust lane cuts across the center, partially obscuring the bright light from the core.
November 6, 2025 at 1:02 PM
eso.org
Fasten your seatbelt and cross the Milky Way! Destination: the Cone Nebula.

Such pillar-like structures are sculpted by massive, newly formed stars, whose winds & radiation compress the gas and dust from their vicinity into these shapes. 🔭
November 5, 2025 at 1:03 PM
eso.org
A small step is being taken up the stairs to one of the BlackGEM telescopes in this picture, but this facility represents a giant leap in gravitational wave studies at our La Silla Observatory in Chile!

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2408a/ 🔭 

#Flashback
November 4, 2025 at 8:01 AM
eso.org
Open Sesame!

The ELT doors have moved for the first time. This was no small feat, as each door will weigh 650 tonnes once completed.

The ELT dome & its doors will guard the telescope from the harsh conditions of the Atacama Desert.

https://www.eso.org/public/videos/potw2544a/

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📹 ESO/ACe
November 3, 2025 at 8:02 AM
eso.org
Join us on a trip to the "cosmic bat" 🚀🦇

This bat is in fact a large stellar nursery, whose most prominent gas clouds are RCW 94, which represents the right wing of the bat, and RCW 95, which forms the body.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2518/
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November 1, 2025 at 8:02 PM
eso.org
#TourESO 📹🔴 Grab a cozy seat, we’re going live in 5 minutes with our virtual tour of the La Silla Observatory! Don’t miss out! 

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

📷 ESO/A. Tsaousis
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An aerial view of an astronomical observatory situated in a rocky, arid landscape. The image shows several telescope domes and smaller structures scattered across the site, connected by paved roads.
November 1, 2025 at 1:56 PM
eso.org
Right in time for #Halloween 🎃

Our VST has spotted a spooky bat flying over Paranal. But fear not, it's located 10,000 light-years away.

This "cosmic bat" is in fact a large cloud of gas. Let's fly through it in this video...if you dare! 🦇

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2518/
🔭 🧪
October 31, 2025 at 8:03 AM
eso.org
A Cosmic Watercolour 🎨

A delicate bluish reflection nebula surrounds the star R Coronae Australis. This impressionist painting vibe is created by starlight reflecting off small dust particles.

Discover more about this process: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1027a/

📷 ESO 🔭
Wide-field image of a dark starry sky with bright, glowing blue and white nebulae. Wisps of dust and gas surround two brilliant stars while countless smaller stars sparkle across the black background.
October 30, 2025 at 1:02 PM
eso.org
Lift off from the ALMA site on a journey across the cosmos to galaxy M87, home to a black hole 6.5 billion times more massive than the Sun.

Our voyage ends with an image of the shadow of the black hole and a powerful jet expelled from it.

More: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2305/

🔭
October 29, 2025 at 1:03 PM