The European Southern Observatory (European Southern Observatory, ESO) celebrates this month of October 50 years since the signing of its founding agreement. After half a century, ESO has becomethe world’s most productive land-based astronomical complex, operating three first-rate observatories in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor.
In Paranal, ESO operates theVery Large Telescope (VLT), the most advanced visible-range astronomical observatory to date, which, since its first light in 1998, has contributed to important discoveries. In the Llano de Chajnantor, in northern Chile, ESO and its international partners are building a revolutionary astronomical telescope – ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array, which will help unravel the mysteries of the cold universe.
For its part, ESO’s first observatory, at La Silla, continues to be very productive and remains at the forefront of astronomical research. In particular, theHARPS instrument, installed on the 3.6-meter telescope, is the cWorld’s most successful planet screener. ESO’s next big telescope is only a few years away. TheExtremely Large European Telescope(E-ELT), at 39 meters, will become “the biggest eye to look at the sky.” When it sees the first light, early in the next decade, the E-ELT will attempt to solve the greatest scientific challenges of our time and it is possible that it will revolutionize our perception of the universe just as the Galileo telescope did more than 400 years ago. .
As part of the anniversary celebrations, on October 5 the VLT targeted a celestial object chosen by the public (the Thor’s Helmet Nebula) during the contest.Choose what the VLT will observe. The result is the image that accompanies this news, which is the most detailed obtained so far of this impressive nebula.
