The European Southern Observatory designs, builds & operates world-class observatories on the ground for the benefit of society.
Under a giant's gaze ⛰️
Some of ALMA's antennas can be seen here in this image of the Chajnantor Plateau in #Chile, under the silent gaze of an imposing mountain.
Do you know its name and the secret it hides? Find out: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2540a/
📷 Y. Villalon/ESO
Cha 1107-7626 is surrounded by a disc of gas and dust flowing onto the planet. By August 2025 the planet was accreting about 8 times faster than just a few months before.
This flow of material is possible driven by strong magnetic fields. The findings indicate that at least some rogue planets may share a similar formation path to stars since similar bursts of accretion have been spotted in young stars before. 3/
The planet in question is Cha 1107-7626, located about 620 light-years away in the constellation Chamaeleon. It is still forming and has a mass 5 to 10 times the mass of Jupiter.
Rogue planets float freely in space without orbiting a star, but we don't know if they form like stars or if they're giant planets ejected from their birth system. 2/
🚨 Our VLT spotted a rogue planet growing at record rate: six billion tonnes a second!
This is the strongest growth rate ever recorded for a planet of any kind, providing insights into how rogue planets form & grow: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2516/
Illustration: ESO/L. Calçada
@TrimTab Here's a timelapse of the whole process, which takes several days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-trzjX2mwM
And a short video summarising the different steps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKAaFOuVvKs
The blog article we link at the end of our post contains more details, check it out!
@Su_G 'Through the looking glass'
Not even our mirrors stay clean forever! 🧽
Optical engineer Jaime González is checking for large particles on a VLT mirror. This step is part of a periodic cleaning process that keeps the mirrors ultra-precise & super-reflective.
Find out how this is done: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2539a/
And for a deeper dive: https://www.eso.org/public/blog/exploding-snow/
📷 ESO/N. Schafer
#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science #engineering #technology
A vital tool for our Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is being assembled.
The Phasing and Diagnostics Station will align the hundreds of segments making up the ELT's main mirror, so that they work as a single, unified "phased" surface. The PDS will be used both to test the telescope and later during operations, ensuring that the ELT's huge 39-m mirror delivers perfect images.
Learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKdFO8EgPEM
#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science #engineering #technology
No domes were harmed! ⚡
This is a trial run of a new laser for our Very Large Telescope. Previously, only one of the four Unit Telescopes (UT) had lasers, used to create an artificial star in the atmosphere and correct turbulence.
Now, lasers are being installed on all UTs, as part of the GRAVITY+ upgrade in the VLT Interferometer, which will allow us to observe cosmic objects in even greater detail.
https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2538a/
📷 A. Berdeu/ESO
🎉 6000 exoplanets confirmed! Just three decades since the first exoplanet was discovered 🪐
But how do astronomers find these exoplanets? And can telescopes snap real pics of them? 📸
Answers in this episode of #ChasingStarlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA47z3TGU1c
@kallekn @sharponlooker Thanks for flagging this (and for quoting!). Our posts are setup to be quoted by anyone. As far as we can tell there isn't a "by approval" option. We can also confirm that the quote is visible from accounts on mastodon.online, where quotes have also been rolled out. So perhaps this is an issue when viewing quotes from instances where this option isn't still available.
Can Japan's #Hayabusa2 touchdown on asteroid 1998 KY26?
A new study that includes VLT observations reveals the mission’s target asteroid to be three times smaller and rotating much faster than previously thought.
Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2515/
Video summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFCsw-mcg18
Artist's impression by ESO/M. Kornmesser. Asteroid: T. Santana-Ros et al. Hayabusa2 model: SuperTKG (CC-BY-SA).
Remember the first image of the black hole in the M87 galaxy taken by @ehtelescope ?
New analysis shows that some features of the ring around the black hole don't change over the years, but others do!
Why? Find out with #ChasingStarlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P04NXrNp5U
@jorgecandeias xkcd has us covered 😉 https://xkcd.com/1294/
@spacelizard Thanks for sharing and for the cool AAT story! Here are a couple of videos showing the VLT spelling in action:
https://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso9940e/
https://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso9940f/
@knud It's a cool way to document the progress in the construction!
A rising telescope under a rising Sun and Moon!
This montage offers a kaleidoscope of moments from the construction of our Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), each one perfectly framed by the #Sun and #Moon behind it.
Creating this collage was no small feat: it took Boris Häußler, an ESO astronomer in #Chile, years of meticulous planning to time each frame almost down to the exact second.
Discover why: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2537a/
📷 B. Häußler/ESO
Even with the ELT era starting in just a few years, we’re still committed to keeping the VLT at the forefront of astronomical research.
On 26-30 January 2026 we will host the conference “VLT beyond 2030” in Garching, Germany, and online. We will brainstorm about science topics and new instruments & upgrades for the VLT/I.
Abstract deadline: 26 September 2025
Registration deadline: 21 November 2025
More details: https://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/2026/VLT_beyond_2030.html
Astronomers spot mysterious gamma-ray explosion, unlike any detected before!
Gamma-ray bursts are the most energetic explosions in the Universe. They usually last milliseconds to minutes, but now astronomers have detected one that repeated several times over a day.
Our VLT revealed that the source of this blast lies outside the Milky Way. Yet its cause is still unknown. More: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2514/
📹 ESO/A. Levan, A. Martin-Carrillo et al.
Calling PhD and MSc students in astronomy!
If you would like to get hands-on experience with professional 3-4 m telescopes and the data reduction and analysis afterwards, apply for the next La Silla Observing School.
The school will be held at the ESO premises in Santiago de #Chile and at the La Silla Observatory, from 2 - 13 February 2026.
More information: https://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/2026/lasilla_school2026.html
Deadline: 30 September 2025.
📷 ESO/R. Lucchesi
