Reference Terms

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

European Southern Observatory

The European Southern Observatory (ESO, also more formally the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere) is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy, composed and supported by eleven countries from the European Union plus Switzerland.

Note: The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article "European Southern Observatory", which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.

For more information, see the following related content on ScienceDaily:

1

2

Closest Pair of Supermassive Black Holes Yet

Nov. 30, 2021 — Astronomers have revealed the closest pair of supermassive black holes to Earth ever observed. The two objects also have a much smaller separation than any other previously spotted pair of ...

'Closest Black Hole' System Found to Contain No Black Hole

Mar. 2, 2022 — In 2020, astronomers reported the closest black hole to Earth, located just 1000 light-years away in the HR 6819 system. But the results of their study were contested by other researchers. In a new ...

ESO Captures the Ghost of a Giant Star

Oct. 31, 2022 — A beautiful tapestry of colors, showing the ghostly remains of a gigantic star, was captured in incredible detail with the VLT Survey Telescope, hosted at the European Southern Observatory's ...

An Old Star With Ring-Like Structure: ALMA Demonstrates Highest Resolution Yet

Nov. 15, 2023 — ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) has demonstrated the highest resolution yet with observations of an old star. The observations show that the star is surrounded by a ring-like ...

Signs of Disturbance in Nearby Dwarf Galaxies Indicate an Alternative Gravity Theory

Aug. 5, 2022 — According to the standard model of cosmology, the vast majority of galaxies are surrounded by a halo of dark matter particles. This halo is invisible, but its mass exerts a strong gravitational pull ...

Most Distant Quasar With Powerful Radio Jets Discovered

Mar. 8, 2021 — Astronomers have discovered and studied in detail the most distant source of radio emission known to date. The source is a 'radio-loud' quasar -- a bright object with powerful jets emitting ...

Astronomers Detect Hot Gas Bubble Swirling Around the Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole

Sep. 22, 2022 — Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have spotted signs of a 'hot spot' orbiting Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the centre of our galaxy. The ...

Astronomers Discover Largest Molecule Yet in a Planet-Forming Disc

Mar. 8, 2022 — Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, researchers have for the first time detected dimethyl ether in a planet-forming disc. With nine atoms, this is the largest ...

Furthest Ever Detection of a Galaxy's Magnetic Field

Sep. 6, 2023 — Astronomers have detected the magnetic field of a galaxy so far away that its light has taken more than 11 billion years to reach us: we see it as it was when the Universe was just 2.5 billion years ...

Astronomers Detect Most Distant Fast Radio Burst to Date

Oct. 19, 2023 — An international team has spotted a remote blast of cosmic radio waves lasting less than a millisecond. This 'fast radio burst' (FRB) is the most distant ever detected. Its source was ...

Space & Time News

December 3, 2023

An Astronomical Waltz Reveals a Sextuplet of Planets

Nov. 29, 2023 — Astronomers have found a key new system of six transiting planets orbiting a bright star in a harmonic rhythm. This rare property enabled the team to determine the planetary orbits which initially appeared as an unsolvable ...

Astronomers Discover Disc Around Star in Another Galaxy

Nov. 29, 2023 — In a remarkable discovery, astronomers have found a disc around a young star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy neighboring ours. It's the first time such a disc, identical to those forming planets in our own Milky Way, has ever been found ...

Telescope Array Detects Second Highest-Energy Cosmic Ray Ever

Nov. 23, 2023 — In 1991, an experiment detected the highest-energy cosmic ray ever observed. Later dubbed the Oh-My-God particle, the cosmic ray’s energy shocked astrophysicists. Nothing in our galaxy had the power to produce it, and the particle had more energy ...

Dwarf Galaxies Use 10-Million-Year Quiet Period to Churn out Stars

Nov. 21, 2023 — If you look at massive galaxies teeming with stars, you might be forgiven in thinking they are star factories, churning out brilliant balls of gas. But actually, less evolved dwarf galaxies have bigger regions of star factories, with higher rates of ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET

A New Possible Explanation for the Hubble Tension

Dec. 1, 2023 — The universe is expanding. How fast it does so is described by the so-called Hubble-Lemaitre constant. But there is a dispute about how big this constant actually is: Different measurement methods ...

One of the Largest Magnetic Storms in History Quantified: Aurorae Covered Much of the Night Sky from the Tropics to the Polar Regions

Dec. 1, 2023 — An international multidisciplinary team consisting of solar physicists, geophysicists, and historians from nine countries analysed observations of an ...

Meteorites Likely Source of Nitrogen for Early Earth

Dec. 1, 2023 — Micrometeorites originating from icy celestial bodies in the outer Solar System may be responsible for transporting nitrogen to the near-Earth region in the early days of our solar ...

Discovery of Planet Too Big for Its Sun Throws Off Solar System Formation Models

Nov. 30, 2023 — The discovery of a planet that is far too massive for its sun is calling into question what was previously understood about the formation of planets ...

Rocky Planets Can Form in Extreme Environments

Nov. 30, 2023 — Astronomers have provided the first observation of water and other molecules in the highly irradiated inner, rocky-planet-forming regions of a disk in one of the most extreme environments in our ...

New Astrophysics Model Sheds Light on Additional Source of Long Gamma-Ray Bursts

Nov. 29, 2023 — Cutting-edge computer simulations combined with theoretical calculations are helping astronomers better understand the origin of some of the ...

Building Blocks for Life Could Have Formed Near New Stars and Planets

Nov. 29, 2023 — While life on Earth is relatively new, geologically speaking, the ingredients that combined to form it might be much older than once thought. The simplest amino acid, carbamic acid, could have formed ...

Composition of Asteroid Phaethon

Nov. 28, 2023 — Asteroid Phaethon, which is five kilometers in diameter, has been puzzling researchers for a long time. A comet-like tail is visible for a few days when the asteroid passes closest to the Sun during ...

A Gamma-Ray Pulsar Milestone Inspires Innovative Astrophysics and Applications

Nov. 28, 2023 — Scientists have announced the discovery of nearly 300 gamma ray ...

Solar Activity Likely to Peak Next Year

Nov. 28, 2023 — Researchers have discovered a new relationship between the Sun's magnetic field and its sunspot cycle, that can help predict when the peak in solar activity will occur. Their work indicates that the ...