Astronomy news and discoveries from the European Southern Observatory.

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 ESO welcomes this announcement and expects that the project will be withdrawn from Chile's Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) soon,...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...

Astronomers surprised by mysterious shock wave around dead star

12 Jan 2026 at 10:00am
Gas and dust flowing from stars can, under the right conditions, clash with a star’s surroundings and create a shock wave. Now, astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) have imaged a beautiful shock wave around a dead star — a discovery that has left ... Read more...

Construction begins on the first and largest gamma-ray observatory in Chile

18 Dec 2025 at 1:00pm
Yesterday, a groundbreaking ceremony for the CTAO’s southern array facility took place at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal site in Chile, marking the beginning of construction of the telescope foundations. The CTAO, or Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, will be the world’s ... Read more...

Unique shape of star’s explosion revealed just a day after detection

12 Nov 2025 at 7:00pm
Swift observations with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) have revealed the explosive death of a star just as the blast was breaking through the star’s surface. For the first time, astronomers unveiled the shape of the explosion at its earliest, fleeting stage. ... Read more...

Laser trial run kickstarts new era of interferometry

10 Nov 2025 at 11:00am
Last week, four lasers were projected into the skies above the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal site in Chile. The lasers are each used to create an artificial star, which astronomers use to measure and then correct the blur caused by Earth's atmosphere. The striking launch of thes... Read more...

New image captures spooky bat signal in the sky

31 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
A spooky bat has been spotted flying over the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal site in Chile, right in time for Halloween. Thanks to its wide field of view, the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) was able to capture this large cloud of cosmic gas and dust, whose mesmerising appearance rese... Read more...

Andreas Kaufer appointed as next ESO Director General

27 Oct 2025 at 1:30pm
The Council of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has appointed Andreas Kaufer to be the new ESO Director General. Kaufer, who is currently ESO Director of Operations, will succeed Xavier Barcons, who will remain as Director General until the end of August 2026. 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.