ESO’s VLT Telescope – Astronomy Now

A third planet found orbiting nearest star to Sun

11 February 2022 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found the gravitational signature of a third planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun.

Supermassive black hole triggers blazing ring of star formation around galactic core

24 June 2021 Astronomy Now

A supermassive black hole at the heart of galaxy NGC 1097 powers a brilliant nuclear ring of run-away star formation as imaged by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope.

Triple star system features mis-aligned planet-forming dust rings

4 September 2020 Astronomy Now

A star system in Orion features a warped protoplanetary disc that could indicate the presence of an unseen planet – a first for a triple star system.

Of supernova remnants and stellar nurseries in the Large Magellanic Cloud

2 September 2020 Astronomy Now

One of the Large Magellanic Cloud’s lesser known regions, NGC 2035, shows off a stellar nursery in vast clouds of gas and dust along side a colourful supernova remnant in this close-up view from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope.

Faint cometary globule comes to life in spectacular VLT image of structure’s gaping maw

21 August 2020 Astronomy Now

Cometary globules have no more to do with comets than planetary nebulae do with planets, but they can form intriguing, isolated structures that provide colourful tapestries of faintly glowing gas and dust.

Now you see it, now you don’t; a massive star disappears

2 July 2020 Astronomy Now

Astronomers ponder the fate of a massive star in a remote dwarf galaxy that disappeared without a trace.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows dramatic dimming of Betelgeuse

14 February 2020 Astronomy Now

Astronomers capture dramatic before-and-after views of the red supergiant Betelgeuse, showing major changes in brightness and shape.

A face-on barred spiral that hints at Milky Way’s structure

30 December 2019 Astronomy Now

If one could fly to a point directly above the Milky Way, the vista might look something like NGC 986, a face-on barred spiral in the constellation Fornax that is often overlooked due to is proximity to the Fornax galaxy cluster.

Supermassive black holes feast on vast reservoirs of hydrogen

30 December 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found a likely source of “food” – vast reservoirs of hydrogen – fueling the growth of supermassive black holes in the early universe

In a first, astronomers find traces of a planet orbiting a white dwarf

7 December 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found evidence of a Neptune-class ice giant orbiting a white dwarf, its atmosphere stripped away by intense ultraviolet radiation.