Astronomy news and discoveries from the European Southern Observatory.

Astronomers find strongest evidence yet that Betelgeuse has a companion

28 Jul 2026 at 12:00pm
At long last, astronomers have firm evidence that Betelgeuse, one of the most famous stars in the night sky, is not alone. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), a team led by French researcher Miguel Montargès obtained the clearest image ever of what likely i... Read more...

New ‘exomoon’ detection challenges cosmic labels

22 Jul 2026 at 3:00pm
Observations made with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) have revealed evidence for a moon-like object in the CD-35 2722 system. Unlike moons in our Solar System, the newly found object does not orbit a planet, raising questions about what to name it. Instead, i... Read more...

Faintest planet ever imaged from Earth found after more than 10 years of hide...

15 Jul 2026 at 12:00pm
A team of astronomers have discovered a third planet orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. The new planet, Beta Pictoris d, is 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b — the first planet discovered in the same system — and is among the lightest exoplanets ever to be imaged from the ground. After spottin... Read more...

Older than the Sun: Astronomers find new clues to the origin of interstellar ...

6 Jul 2026 at 9:00am
Astronomers have used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) to study the composition of 3I/ATLAS, the brightest interstellar object ever seen, in detail. By measuring specific chemical fingerprints — the first observations of this kind for a comet that formed outsid... Read more...

"Beyond the limit": one million satellites and mirrors in space pose grave th...

1 Jul 2026 at 12:00pm
A new European Southern Observatory (ESO) study has found that current proposals to launch over 1.7 million satellites into orbit, including extremely bright ones, would have “devastating consequences for astronomy.” According to the study, no more than 100 000 faint satellites, below naked eye v... Read more...

Strange winds reveal strongest hints yet of magnetic activity in exoplanets

2 Jun 2026 at 9:00am
A team of astronomers has found the strongest evidence yet that some planets outside our Solar System may be magnetic. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) and the Gemini North telescope, the researchers measured wind speeds on seven very hot, Jupiter-like ex... Read more...

First light for PoET: shining (sun)light on exoplanet research

9 Apr 2026 at 12:00pm
The Paranal solar ESPRESSO Telescope (PoET), installed at the European Southern Observatory's (ESO's) Paranal site in Chile, has made its first observations. The telescope will work with ESO's ESPRESSO instrument to study the Sun in detail. Described as a solar telescope for planet hunters, PoET ... Read more...

A Solar System in the making? Two planets spotted forming in disc around youn...

24 Mar 2026 at 1:00pm
Astronomers have observed two planets forming in the disc around a young star named WISPIT 2. Having previously detected one planet, the team have now employed European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescopes to confirm the presence of another. These observations, and the unique structure of the di... Read more...

Largest image of its kind shows hidden chemistry at the heart of the Milky Way

25 Feb 2026 at 1:00pm
Astronomers have captured the central region of our Milky Way in a striking new image, unveiling a complex network of filaments of cosmic gas in unprecedented detail. Obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), this rich dataset — the largest ALMA image to date — will a... Read more...

AES Andes announces cancellation of INNA, the industrial complex planned near...

2 Feb 2026 at 3:00pm
AES Andes announced that it will step back from the megaproject INNA, planned to be located near the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal Observatory. ESO welcomes this announcement and expects that the project will be withdrawn from Chile's Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) soon,... Read more...

European Southern Observatory Resources

ESO – The European Southern Observatory Homepage
The European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental, European organisation for astronomical research and operates astronomical observatories in Chile.

Deep Impact at ESO
ESO’s telescopes will also be used in the post-impact observations. As soon as the comet is visible after the impact from Chile, all major ESO telescopes – the four Unit Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope Array at Paranal, as well as the 3.6m, 3.5m NTT and the 2.2m ESO/MPG telescopes at La Silla – will be observing Comet 9P/Tempel 1.

The site contains a number of animations, photos, interviews and background information on the mission and comets in general.