ESO’s La Silla Observatory

The Swan soars through the Milky Way in stunning view from La Silla Observatory

6 April 2023 Astronomy Now

Messier 17 is a familiar target for amateur astronomers, an impressive nebula in even modest telescopes. But the Swan reveals its vast extent in a spectacular shot from the European Southern Observatory’s 2.2-metre La Silla telescope.

New ‘test-bed’ telescope joins hunt for threatening asteroids

27 April 2021 Astronomy Now

A European Space Agency “test-bed” telescope has been installed at ESO’s La Silla Observatory to hunt for threatening asteroids and test advanced technology.

Astronomers find closest black hole yet in ‘nearby’ star system

8 May 2020 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have stumbled on the closest black hole to Earth discovered to date, an unseen body in a triple star system 1,000 light years away.

Second giant planet found orbiting Beta Pictoris

22 August 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found a second giant planet orbiting the nearby star Beta Pictoris where a solar system is in the process of forming.

Five long-period exoplanets found after 20 years of observation

23 April 2019 Astronomy Now

Persistence pays off as University of Geneva researchers confirm five long-period exoplanets after 20 years of observations

Unexpected changes of bright spots on Ceres discovered

16 March 2016 Astronomy Now

New and very precise observations using the HARPS spectrograph with the ESO 3.6-metre telescope in Chile have not only detected the motion of the enigmatic bright spots on Ceres due to the dwarf planet’s rotation about its axis, but also found unexpected additional variations suggesting that the material of the spots is volatile and evaporates in sunlight.

The lives of sibling stars in open cluster IC 4651

19 August 2015 Astronomy Now

Most stars form within clusters and these clusters can be used by astronomers as laboratories to study how stars evolve and die. The cluster captured here by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at ESO’s La Silla Observatory is known as IC 4651, and the stars born within it now display a wide variety of characteristics.

First detection of element lithium from an exploding star

1 August 2015 Astronomy Now

The chemical element lithium is predicted to have been created by the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago. Observations of Nova Centauri 2013 show that lithium has been found for the first time in material ejected by a nova, helping to explain the mystery of why many young stars seem to have more of this chemical element than expected.

Picture This

Buried in the heart of a giant

2 July 2015 Astronomy Now

This is a young open cluster of stars known as NGC 2367, an infant stellar grouping that lies at the centre of an immense and ancient structure on the margins of the Milky Way, captured by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.