Picture of the Week 2011

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head prefix="og: http://ogp.me/ns# fb: http://ogp.me/ns/fb#"> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <base target="_top" /> <meta name="robots" content="index,follow" /> <meta name="description" content="Picture of the Week 2011" /> <meta name="author" content="information@eso.org" /> <meta name="description" content="ESO, European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere" /> <meta name="keywords" content="ESO, eso.org, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Astronomie, Suedsternwarte, telescopes, detectors, comets, planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae, universe, NTT, VLT, VLTI, ALMA, ELT, La Silla, Paranal, Garching, Chile" /> <meta name="statvooVerification" content="f546f5bccd3fb7f8c5d8e97c6beab814" /> <link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="x-default" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/australia/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="en-au" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="en-gb" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/ireland/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="en-ie" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/czechrepublic/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="cs" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/denmark/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="da" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/netherlands/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="nl" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/belgium-nl/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="nl-be" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/finland/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="fi" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/france/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="fr" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/belgium-fr/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="fr-be" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/switzerland-fr/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="fr-ch" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/germany/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="de" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/austria/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="de-at" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/belgium-de/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="de-be" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/switzerland-de/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="de-ch" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/italy/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="it" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/switzerland-it/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="it-ch" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/poland/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="pl" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/portugal/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="pt" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/spain/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="es" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/chile/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="es-cl" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://www.eso.org/public/sweden/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" hreflang="sv" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://www.eso.org/public/archives/favicon.ico" /> <title>Picture of the Week 2011 | ESO</title>  <style type="text/css"> @import url("https://fast.fonts.net/t/1.css?apiType=css&projectid=03892b9b-79f6-4f01-9746-af912ebf5e47"); </style> <link href="/public/archives/djp/css/main.9116bda0b9f3.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="https://feeds.feedburner.com/EsoTopNews" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="ESO Top News" /> <link href="https://feeds.feedburner.com/EsoAnnouncements" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="ESO Announcements" /> <link href="https://feeds.feedburner.com/ESOcast" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="ESOCast" /> <link href="https://recruitment.eso.org/jobs.rss" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Jobs@ESO" /> <link href="https://www.eso.org/public/blog/feed/" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="ESOblog" />  <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" /> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@ESO" /> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@ESO" />  <script type="text/javascript"> var _paq = window._paq || []; /* tracker methods like "setCustomDimension" should be called before "trackPageView" */ _paq.push(['trackPageView']); _paq.push(['enableLinkTracking']); (function() { var u="/mtmo/"; _paq.push(['setTrackerUrl', u+'matomo.php']); _paq.push(['setSiteId', '1']); var d=document, g=d.createElement('script'), s=d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; g.type='text/javascript'; g.async=true; g.defer=true; g.src=u+'matomo.js'; s.parentNode.insertBefore(g,s); })(); </script>  <meta property="og:title" content="Picture of the Week 2011" /> </head> <body> <input type='hidden' name='csrfmiddlewaretoken' value='jVHrAGZePD1Nurq287kfezMtgOaucr8O8Fd1qf6ByjoE1KgWI0vc8E8Kc3GQ3AcP' /> <div id="privacy-notice" style="display: none"> <p> By continuing to use this website, you are giving consent to our use of cookies.<br> For more information on how ESO uses data and how you can disable cookies, please view <a href="/public/about-eso/privacy/"> our privacy policy</a>. </p> <button type="button" class="btn btn-primary" onclick="accept_privacy_notice()"> Accept </button> <script> // Display the privacy cookie if the cookie is not set if (!has_privacy_cookie()) { document.getElementById('privacy-notice').style.display = 'block' } function has_privacy_cookie() { return document.cookie.split(';').filter(function(item) { return item.indexOf('privacy_notice_accepted=True') >= 0 }).length > 0 } function accept_privacy_notice() { let data = { LANGUAGE_CODE: 'en' } let csrftoken = getCookie('csrftoken'); let headers = new Headers(); headers.append('Content-Type', 'application/json; charset=utf-8'); headers.append('X-CSRFToken', csrftoken); fetch('/public/accept-privacy-notice/', { method: 'post', headers: headers, credentials: 'include', body: JSON.stringify(data) }).then( document.getElementById('privacy-notice').style.display = 'none' ) } function getCookie(name) { var cookieValue = null; if (document.cookie && document.cookie !== '') { var cookies = document.cookie.split(';'); for (var i = 0; i < cookies.length; i++) { var cookie = jQuery.trim(cookies[i]); // Does this cookie string begin with the name we want? if (cookie.substring(0, name.length + 1) == (name + '=')) { cookieValue = decodeURIComponent(cookie.substring(name.length + 1)); break; } } } return cookieValue; } </script> </div> <nav class="navbar-general-wrapper" role="navigation"> <div class="navbar-general"> <div class="minilogo"> <a href="/public/"> <div class="sprites-esologo-23-30" title="European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere"></div> </a> </div> <div id="select-language"> <div class="flags"> <div title="Austria" class="sprites-flag_at"></div> <div title="Belgium" class="sprites-flag_be"></div> <div title="Czechia" class="sprites-flag_cz"></div> <div title="Denmark" class="sprites-flag_da"></div> <div title="Finland" class="sprites-flag_fi"></div> <div title="France" class="sprites-flag_fr"></div> <div title="Germany" class="sprites-flag_de"></div> <div title="Ireland" class="sprites-flag_ie"></div> <div title="Italy" class="sprites-flag_it"></div> <div title="Netherlands" class="sprites-flag_nl"></div> <div title="Poland" class="sprites-flag_pl"></div> <div title="Portugal" class="sprites-flag_pt"></div> <div title="Spain" class="sprites-flag_es"></div> <div title="Sweden" class="sprites-flag_sv"></div> <div title="Switzerland" class="sprites-flag_ch"></div> <div title="UK" class="sprites-flag_gb"></div> <div style="margin-left: 8px" title="Chile" class="sprites-flag_cl"></div> </div> <div class="languages"> <div class="language-button"> <span class="language-text">Select Language (en)</span> <div class="language-flag"><div title="en" class="flag sprites-flag_gb"> </div><span> (en)</span></div> <span class="caret"></span> </div> <ul class="languages-dropdown" role="menu"> <li class="language selected"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="International English" class="flag sprites-flag_en"> </div>International English</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/denmark/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Dansk" class="flag sprites-flag_da"> </div>Dansk</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/germany/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Deutsch" class="flag sprites-flag_de"> </div>Deutsch</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/belgium-de/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Deutsch (Belgien)" class="flag sprites-flag_be"> </div>Deutsch (Belgien)</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/switzerland-de/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Deutsch (Schweiz)" class="flag sprites-flag_ch"> </div>Deutsch (Schweiz)</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/austria/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Deutsch (Österreich)" class="flag sprites-flag_at"> </div>Deutsch (Österreich)</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/australia/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="English (Australia)" class="flag sprites-flag_au"> </div>English (Australia)</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/ireland/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="English (Ireland)" class="flag sprites-flag_ie"> </div>English (Ireland)</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/unitedkingdom/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="English (UK)" class="flag sprites-flag_gb"> </div>English (UK)</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/spain/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Español" class="flag sprites-flag_es"> </div>Español</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/chile/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Español (Chile)" class="flag sprites-flag_cl"> </div>Español (Chile)</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/france/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Français" class="flag sprites-flag_fr"> </div>Français</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/belgium-fr/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Français (Belgique)" class="flag sprites-flag_be"> </div>Français (Belgique)</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/switzerland-fr/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Français (Suisse)" class="flag sprites-flag_ch"> </div>Français (Suisse)</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/italy/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Italiano" class="flag sprites-flag_it"> </div>Italiano</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/switzerland-it/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Italiano (Svizzera)" class="flag sprites-flag_ch"> </div>Italiano (Svizzera)</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/netherlands/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Nederlands" class="flag sprites-flag_nl"> </div>Nederlands</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/belgium-nl/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Nederlands (België)" class="flag sprites-flag_be"> </div>Nederlands (België)</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/poland/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Polski" class="flag sprites-flag_pl"> </div>Polski</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/portugal/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Português" class="flag sprites-flag_pt"> </div>Português</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/finland/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Suomi" class="flag sprites-flag_fi"> </div>Suomi</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/sweden/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Svenska" class="flag sprites-flag_sv"> </div>Svenska</a></li> <li class="language"><a role="menuitem" href="/public/czechrepublic/images/potw/archive/year/2011/?lang"><div title="Česky" class="flag sprites-flag_cs"> </div>Česky</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="sections"> <a href="https://www.eso.org/sci.html">Science</a> <a href="/UserPortal/">User Portal</a> </div> <div class="searchbox"> <button type="button" class="btn btn-default" id="searchbox-button"> <span class="fa fa-search"></span> </button> <div id="searchbox-dropdown"> <form action="/public/search/" method="get" class="form-inline" role="search"> <div class="form-group"> <div class="input-group"> <input type="text" value="" placeholder="Search..." name="q" class="form-control"> <span class="input-group-btn"> <button class="btn btn-default" type="submit"><span class="fa fa-search"></span></button> </span> </div>   </div> </form> </div> </div> <div class="links"> <a href="/public/outreach/newsletters/esonews/">Subscribe</a> <a href="/public/about-eso/travel/">Contact</a> <a href="/public/sitemap/">Site Map</a> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="main-menu-wrapper" role="navigation"> <div class="main-menu"> <div class="mobile-menu clearfix"> <button class="menu-trigger"><span class="fa fa-navicon"></span> Open Menu</button> </div> <ul class="level0 mainmenu-aim"> <li><a href="/public/about-eso/">About<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1"> <ul id="submenu-aim-2" class="submenu-aim"> <li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/esoglance/"> ESO, the European Southern Observatory </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/organisation/"> Organisation </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/mission-vision-values-strategy/"> Mission-Vision-Values-Strategy </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/about-eso/dg-office/"> Director General <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-6" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/about-eso/dg-office/previous-dg/"> List of Directors General <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-7" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/dg-office/xbarcons/"> Prof. Xavier Barcons </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/dg-office/tdezeeuw/"> Prof. T. de Zeeuw </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/dg-office/ccesarsk/"> Dr. C. Cesarsky </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/dg-office/rgiacconi/"> Prof. R. Giacconi </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/dg-office/hvanderlaan/"> Prof. H. van der Laan </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/dg-office/lwoltjer/"> Prof. L. Woltjer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/dg-office/ablaauw/"> Prof. A. Blaauw </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/dg-office/otto-heckmann/"> Prof. O. Heckmann </a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/committees.html"> ESO's Governing Bodies </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/"> Member States and Partners <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-17" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/austrianinvolvement/"> Austria </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/belgianinvolvement/"> Belgium </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/czechinvolvement/"> Czechia </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/danishinvolvement/"> Denmark </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/finnishinvolvement/"> Finland </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/frenchinvolvement/"> France </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/germaninvolvement/"> Germany </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/irishinvolvement/"> Ireland </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/italianinvolvement/"> Italy </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/dutchinvolvement/"> Netherlands </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/polishinvolvement/"> Poland </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/portugueseinvolvement/"> Portugal </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/spanishinvolvement/"> Spain </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/swedishinvolvement/"> Sweden </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/swissinvolvement/"> Switzerland </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/memberstates/britishinvolvement/"> United Kingdom </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/strategicpartners/australianinvolvement/"> Australia (Partner) </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/about-eso/eso-and-chile/"> ESO & Chile <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-35" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/eso-and-chile/representation-office-chile/"> ESO Representation Office in Chile </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/about-eso/travel/"> Travel and Contacts <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-37" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/travel/garching/"> Travel to ESO Headquarters </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/travel/vitacura/"> Travel to Vitacura Office </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/travel/guesthouse/"> Travel to Guesthouse </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/travel/lasilla/"> Travel to La Silla </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/travel/laserena/"> Travel to La Serena </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/travel/paranal/"> Travel to Paranal </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/travel/antofagasta/"> Travel to Antofagasta </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/travel/chajnantor/"> Travel to Chajnantor </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/travel/elt/"> Travel to ELT Armazones </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/about-eso/visitors/"> Visits to ESO Sites <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-47" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/visitors/paranal/"> Weekend visits to Paranal </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/visitors/lasilla/"> Weekend Visits to La Silla </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/pressmedia/mediavisits/"> Media Visits </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/visitors/virtual-tours/"> Virtual Visits </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/visitors/artists-at-eso/"> Artistic Visits </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/societal-benefits/"> ESO and Society </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/architecture/"> Architecture at ESO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/collaborations/"> Collaborations with ESO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/acronyms/"> ESO Acronyms </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/timeline/"> Timeline </a></li><li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> Sustainability <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-58" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/sustainability/green/"> Environmental sustainability at ESO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/sustainability/eso-un-sdgs/"> ESO and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/sustainability/dei-at-eso/"> Diversity, Equity and Inclusion </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/about-eso/faq/"> Frequently Asked Questions <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-62" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/faq/faq-eso/"> ESO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/faq/faq-vlt-paranal/"> VLT/Paranal </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/faq/faq-apex-alma/"> APEX/ALMA </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://elt.eso.org/about/faq/"> ELT </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/faq/privileges_and_immunities/"> Privileges and Immunities </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/faq/faq-eso-australia/"> ESO & Australia </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/dark-skies-preservation/"> Dark skies preservation </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/about-eso/privacy/"> Terms and Conditions </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li class="current"><a href="/public/images/">Images<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1 current"> <ul id="submenu-aim-71" class="submenu-aim selected current"> <li class=""><a href="/public/images/search/"> Advanced Search </a></li><li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> Categories <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-73" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/360pano/ "> 360 Panorama </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/alma/"> ALMA </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/apex/"> APEX </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/chile/"> Chile </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/cosmology/"> Cosmology </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/elt/"> ELT </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/eso-supernova/"> ESO Supernova </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/exoplanets/"> Exoplanets </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/fulldome/"> Fulldome </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/galaxies/"> Galaxies </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/galaxyclusters/"> Galaxy Clusters </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/illustrations/"> Illustrations </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/lasilla/"> La Silla </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/nebulae/"> Nebulae </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/paranal/"> Paranal </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/peopleandevents/"> People and Events </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/premises/"> Premises </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/blackholes/"> Quasars and Black Holes </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/solarsystem/"> Solar System </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/starclusters/"> Star Clusters </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/stars/"> Stars </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/category/surveytelescopes/"> Survey Telescopes </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/comparisons/"> Image Comparisons </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/imageformats/"> Image Formats </a></li><li class="submenu current"><a href="/public/images/potw/"> Picture of the Week <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-98" class="submenu-aim sublevel selected current current-leaf"><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2024/"> 2024 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2023/"> 2023 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2022/"> 2022 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2021/"> 2021 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2020/"> 2020 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2019/"> 2019 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2018/"> 2018 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2017/"> 2017 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2016/"> 2016 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2015/"> 2015 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2014/"> 2014 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2013/"> 2013 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2012/"> 2012 </a></li><li class=" current current-leaf"><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2011/"> 2011 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2010/"> 2010 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2009/"> 2009 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2008/"> 2008 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2007/"> 2007 </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/images/archive/top100/"> Top 100 <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-117" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="https://cdn.eso.org/images/top100-large.zip"> Large JPG Zip File (3.5 GB) </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://cdn.eso.org/images/top100-original.zip"> Original TIF Zip File (50 GB) </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/copyright/"> Usage of ESO Images and Videos </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/wallpapers/"> Wallpapers </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/images/archive/zoomable/"> Zoomable </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li><a href="/public/videos/">Videos<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1"> <ul id="submenu-aim-123" class="submenu-aim"> <li class=""><a href="/public/videos/search/"> Advanced Search </a></li><li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> Categories <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-125" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/abouteso/"> About ESO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/alma/"> ALMA </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/apex/"> APEX </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/chasingstarlight/"> Chasing Starlight </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/compilations/"> Compilations </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/cosmology/"> Cosmology </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/elt/"> ELT </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/esocast/"> ESOcast </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/events/"> Events </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/exoplanets/"> Exoplanets </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/featuremovies/"> Feature Movies </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/fulldome/"> Fulldome </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/galaxies/"> Galaxies </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/galaxyclusters/"> Galaxy Clusters </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/lasilla/"> La Silla </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/nebulae/"> Nebulae </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/paranal/"> Paranal </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/premises/"> Premises </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/blackholes/"> Quasars and Black Holes </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/solarsystem/"> Solar System </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/starclusters/"> Star Clusters </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/stars/"> Stars </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videos/archive/category/vnr/"> Video News Releases </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/copyright/"> Usage of ESO Videos and Images </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/videoformats/"> Video Formats </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li><a href="/public/news/">News<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1"> <ul id="submenu-aim-151" class="submenu-aim"> <li class="submenu"><a href="/public/news/"> Press Releases <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-152" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> 2021-2030 <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-153" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2024/"> 2024 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2023/"> 2023 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2022/"> 2022 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2021/"> 2021 </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> 2011–2020 <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-158" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2020/"> 2020 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2019/"> 2019 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2018/"> 2018 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2017/"> 2017 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2016/"> 2016 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2015/"> 2015 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2014/"> 2014 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2013/"> 2013 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2012/"> 2012 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2011/"> 2011 </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> 2001–2010 <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-169" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2010/"> 2010 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2009/"> 2009 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2008/"> 2008 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2007/"> 2007 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2006/"> 2006 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2005/"> 2005 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2004/"> 2004 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2003/"> 2003 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2002/"> 2002 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2001/"> 2001 </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> 1991–2000 <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-180" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/2000/"> 2000 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1999/"> 1999 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1998/"> 1998 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1997/"> 1997 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1996/"> 1996 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1995/"> 1995 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1994/"> 1994 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1993/"> 1993 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1992/"> 1992 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1991/"> 1991 </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> 1985–1990 <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-191" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1990/"> 1990 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1989/"> 1989 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1988/"> 1988 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1987/"> 1987 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1986/"> 1986 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/archive/year/1985/"> 1985 </a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/announcements/"> Announcements <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-198" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2024/"> 2024 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2023/"> 2023 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2022/"> 2022 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2021/"> 2021 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2020/"> 2020 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2019/"> 2019 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2018/"> 2018 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2017/"> 2017 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2016/"> 2016 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2015/"> 2015 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2014/"> 2014 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2013/"> 2013 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2012/"> 2012 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2011/"> 2011 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2010/"> 2010 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/archive/year/2009/"> 2009 </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/blog/"> ESOblog </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/announcements/webupdates/"> New on eso.org </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/outreach/pressmedia/"> Press Room <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-217" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/broadcast/"> Broadcast Services </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/pressmedia/mediavisits/"> Media Visits </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/copyright/"> Copyright Notice </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/newsletters/"> ESO Newsletters <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-221" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/newsletters/esonews/"> ESO News </a></li><li class=""><a href="/sci/publications/newsletter/"> ESO Science Newsletter </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/newsletters/#2"> ESO Media Newsletter </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/news/pitch-your-research/"> Pitch your Research </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li><a href="/public/shop/">ESOshop<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1"> <ul id="submenu-aim-226" class="submenu-aim"> <li class="submenu"><a href="/public/shop/category/"> Shop Products <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-227" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/annualreport/"> Annual Reports </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/apparel/"> Apparel </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/book/"> Books </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/brochure/"> Brochures </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/calendar/"> Calendars </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/capjournal/"> CAPjournals </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/conferenceitem/"> Conferences </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/donation/"> Donations </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/media/"> DVDs/Bluray/CDs </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/educationalmaterial/"> Educational Material </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/supernovaactivity/"> ESO Supernova Activities </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/flyer/"> Flyers </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/handout/"> Handouts </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/map/"> Maps </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/merchandise/"> Merchandise </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/messenger/"> Messengers </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/mountedimage/"> Mounted Images </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/postcard/"> Postcards </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/printedposter/"> Posters </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/technicaldocument/"> Reports </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/category/sticker/"> Stickers </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/cart/"> View shopping cart </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/checkout/"> Checkout </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/shopinfo/"> Information <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-251" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/shopinfo/bulk_orders/"> Bulk Orders </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shopinfo/"> Purchasing Steps </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shopinfo/payment/"> Payment </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shopinfo/shipping/"> Shipping </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shopinfo/shopstaff/"> Staff Shopping </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shopinfo/terms/"> Terms & Conditions </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/freeorder/"> Free Orders for Educators and Media </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li><a href="/public/teles-instr/">Telescopes & Instruments<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1"> <ul id="submenu-aim-259" class="submenu-aim"> <li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/"> Paranal Observatory <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-260" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/"> Very Large Telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-261" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/"> VLT Instruments <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-262" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/4lgsf/"> 4LGSF </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/cubes/"> CUBES </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/crires/"> CRIRES </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/crires+/"> CRIRES+ </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/espresso/"> ESPRESSO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/eris/"> ERIS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/flames/"> FLAMES </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/fors/"> FORS1 and FORS2 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/hawk-i/"> HAWK-I </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/isaac/"> ISAAC </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/kmos/"> KMOS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/mad/"> MAD </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/mavis/"> MAVIS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/moons/"> MOONS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/muse/"> MUSE </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/naco/"> NACO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/sinfoni/"> SINFONI </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/sphere/"> SPHERE </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/uves/"> UVES </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/vimos/"> VIMOS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/vtl-test-cameras/"> VLT Test Cameras </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/visir/"> VISIR </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/x-shooter/"> X-shooter </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-names/"> VLT Unit Telescopes Names <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-286" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-names/antu/"> Antu </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-names/kueyen/"> Kueyen </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-names/melipal/"> Melipal </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-names/yepun/"> Yepun </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlti/"> VLT Interferometer <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-291" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/gravity+/"> GRAVITY+ </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/gravity/"> GRAVITY </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/matisse/"> MATISSE </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/naomi/"> NAOMI </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/pionier/"> PIONIER </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/amber/"> AMBER </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/midi/"> MIDI </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/vinci/"> VINCI </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/auxiliarytelescopes/"> Auxiliary Telescopes </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/"> Survey Telescopes <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-301" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vista/"> VISTA <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-302" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vista/mirror/"> The VISTA mirror </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vista/camera/"> VIRCAM </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vista/4most/"> 4MOST </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vista/surveys/"> The VISTA surveys </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vista/consortium/"> The VISTA consortium </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vst/"> VST <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-308" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vst/mirror/"> The VST mirrors </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vst/camera/"> OmegaCAM </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/surveytelescopes/vst/surveys/"> The VST surveys </a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/speculoos/"> SPECULOOS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/ngts/"> NGTS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/ctao/"> Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/"> La Silla Observatory <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-315" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/swedish/"> Swedish–ESO Submillimetre Telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-316" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/swedish/simba/"> SIMBA </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/"> New Technology Telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-318" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/efosc2/"> EFOSC2 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/emmi/"> EMMI </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/irspec/"> IRSPEC </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/sofi/"> SOFI </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/soxs/"> SOXS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/susi2/"> SUSI and SUSI2 </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/"> ESO 3.6-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-325" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/adonis/"> ADONIS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/caspec/"> CASPEC </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/irspec/"> IRSPEC </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/harps/"> HARPS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/mefos/"> MEFOS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/nirps/"> NIRPS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/optopus/"> OPTOPUS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/timmi2/"> TIMMI/2 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/36-infrared-photometer-spectrophotometer/"> Infrared Photometer/Spectrophotometer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/36-standard-photometer/"> Standard Photometer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/infrared-specklegraph/"> Infrared Specklegraph </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/infrared-speckle-interferometer/"> Infrared Speckle Interferometer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/efosc/"> EFOSC </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/"> MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-339" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/feros/"> FEROS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/grond/"> GROND </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/irac2/"> IRAC & IRAC2 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/pisco/"> PISCO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/wfi/"> WFI </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/infrared-photometer-spectrophotometer/"> Infrared Photometer/Spectrophotometer </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/swiss/"> Swiss 1.2-metre Leonhard Euler Telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-346" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/swiss/coralie/"> CORALIE </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/rem/"> Rapid Eye Mount telescope </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/trappist/"> TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope–South </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish154/"> Danish 1.54-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-350" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish154/coravel/"> CORAVEL </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish154/dfosc/"> DFOSC </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish154/ccd/"> CCD camera </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish154/hb-photometer/"> Hβ Photometer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish154/two-channel-photometer/"> Two-Channel Photometer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish154/four-channel-photometer/"> Four-Channel Photometer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish154/six-channel-photometer/"> Six-Channel uvby-Hβ Photometer </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/tarot/"> Télescope à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/1mschmidt/"> ESO 1-metre Schmidt telescope </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/152metre/"> ESO 1.52-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-360" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/152metre/bandc/"> Boller and Chivens Spectrograph </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/152metre/coude/"> Coudé Spectrograph </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/152metre/echelec/"> ECHELEC </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/152metre/rv-cass-spectrograph/"> RV Cass Spectrograph </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/1metre/"> ESO 1-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-365" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/1metre/fideos/"> FIDEOS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/1metre/infrared-photometer/"> Infrared Photometer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/1metre/single-channel-photometer/"> Single-Channel Photometer </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/05metre/"> ESO 0.5-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-369" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/05metre/single-channel-photometer/"> Single-Channel Photometer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/05metre/double-channel-photometer/"> Double-Channel Photometer </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/coude/"> Coudé Auxiliary Telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-372" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/coude/ces/"> CES </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/marly/"> MarLy 1-metre telescope </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/09metre/"> Dutch 0.9-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-375" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/09metre/walraven/"> Walraven Photometer </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/t70/"> Swiss T70 telescope </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/bochum/"> Bochum 0.61-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-378" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/bochum/bochum-scanner/"> Bochum Scanner </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/bochum/bochum-photometer/"> Bochum Photometer </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish05/"> Danish 0.5-metre telescope <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-381" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish05/danish-two-channel-hb-photometer/"> Two-Channel Hβ Photometer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish05/danish-four-channel-uvby-photometer/"> Four-Channel uvby Photometer </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish05/danish-six-channel-uvby-hb-photometer/"> Six-Channel uvby–Hβ Photometer </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/gpo/"> Grand Prisme Objectif telescope </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/swiss04/"> Swiss 0.4-metre telescope </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/marseille/"> Marseille 0.36-metre telescope </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/grb/"> GRB Monitoring System </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mascara/"> MASCARA </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/blackgem/"> BlackGEM </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/extra/"> ExTrA </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/lasilla/test-bed/"> Test-Bed Telescope </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/"> APEX <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-393" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/apex-2a/"> APEX–2A </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/artemis/"> ArTéMiS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/aszca/"> ASZCa </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/champ-plus/"> CHAMP+ </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/concerto/"> CONCERTO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/flash/"> FLASH </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/flash-plus/"> FLASH+ </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/laboca/"> LABOCA </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/mpi_11thz/"> MPI_1.1THz </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/p-artemis/"> P-ArTéMiS </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/pi230/"> PI230 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/polka/"> PolKa </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/saboca/"> SABOCA </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/sepia/"> SEPIA </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/apex/shefi/"> SHeFI </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/alma/"> ALMA <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-409" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/alma/antennas/"> Antennas </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/alma/transporters/"> Transporters </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/alma/interferometry/"> Interferometry </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/alma/receiver-bands/"> Receiver Bands </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/alma/residencia/"> ALMA Residencia </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/elt/"> ELT </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/teles-instr/technology/"> Technology for Telescopes <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-416" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/technology/active_optics/"> Active Optics </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/technology/adaptive_optics/"> Adaptive Optics </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/technology/ifu/"> Integral Field Units </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/technology/interferometry/"> Interferometry </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/technology/spectroscopy/"> Spectroscopy </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/technology/polarimetry/"> Polarimetry </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/teles-instr/instruments/"> Instruments </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li><a href="/public/science/">Discoveries<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1"> <ul id="submenu-aim-424" class="submenu-aim"> <li class=""><a href="/public/science/key-discoveries/"> ESO Key Astronomical Discoveries </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/science/exoplanets/"> Exoplanets </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/science/gravitationalwaves/"> Gravitational Wave Sources </a></li><li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> Black Holes <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-428" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/science/event-horizon/"> First image of a black hole </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/science/EHT-MilkyWay/"> First image of the Milky Way central black hole </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/science/gc/"> More about the black hole at the galactic centre </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/science/grb/"> Gamma-Ray Bursts </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/science/archive/"> Science Archive </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li><a href="/public/events/">Events<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1"> <ul id="submenu-aim-434" class="submenu-aim"> <li class=""><a href="/public/events/press-evt/"> Press Events </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/events/special-evt/"> Special Events <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-436" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/events/special-evt/60years/"> ESO at 60 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/special-evt/eeltblast/"> ELT Groundbreaking </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/special-evt/cafe-and-kosmos/"> Café & Kosmos in Munich </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/special-evt/awesome-universe/"> Awesome Universe </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/special-evt/100ha/"> 100 Hours of Astronomy </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/special-evt/theeye/"> The Eye 3D </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/special-evt/imax-hidden-universe/"> IMAX® 3D Film Hidden Universe </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/bond/"> Bond at Paranal </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/events/exhibitions/"> Exhibitions <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-445" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/events/exhibitions/perma_exhibitions/"> ESO Permanent Exhibitions </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.esof.eu/"> EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/events/astro-evt/"> Astronomical Events <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-448" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/events/astro-evt/solareclipse2019/"> Total Solar Eclipse 2019 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/astro-evt/mcnaught2007/"> The Comet McNaught 2007 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/astro-evt/deepimpact/"> Deep Impact - 04.07.2005 </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/outreach/eduoff/vt-2004/"> The Venus Transit - 08.11.2004 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/astro-evt/leonids99/"> The Leonids - 17.11.1999 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/astro-evt/eclipse99/"> Solar Eclipse at ESO HQ - 11.08.1999 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/astro-evt/leonids98/"> The Leonids - 11.1998 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/astro-evt/pathfinder/"> Mars Pathfinder - 1997 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/astro-evt/hyakutake/"> Comet Hyakutake - 1997 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/astro-evt/sl9/"> SL-9 and Jupiter - 1994 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/events/astro-evt/hale-bopp/"> Comet Hale Bopp - 1994 </a></li></ul></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li><a href="/public/outreach/">Outreach<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1"> <ul id="submenu-aim-460" class="submenu-aim"> <li class="submenu"><a href="/public/outreach/eduoff/"> Education <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-461" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/products/education/"> Educational Material </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.scienceinschool.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Science in School </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/eduoff/teacherschools/"> Teacher Schools </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/outreach/eduoff/prev-programmes/"> Previous Programmes <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-465" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/outreach/eduoff/prev-programmes/catch-a-star/"> Catch a Star </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/eduoff/liu/"> Life in the Universe </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/eduoff/pos/"> Physics On Stage </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="http://kids.alma.cl/?lang=en"> ALMA Kids </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/outreach/partnerships/"> Partnerships <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-470" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/partnerships/translators/"> Volunteer Translators </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/partnerships/eson/"> ESO Science Outreach Network </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/outreach/partnerships/chile/"> Collaborations in Chile <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-473" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/partnerships/chile/2010/"> 2010 </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/partnerships/chile/2009/"> 2009 </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/partnerships/organisations/"> ESO Outreach Partner Organisations </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/partnerships/educators/"> Informal Educators </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/partnerships/photo-ambassadors/"> ESO Photo Ambassadors </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/partnerships/music-ambassadors/"> ESO Music Ambassadors </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/outreach/first-picture-of-a-black-hole/blog/"> Taking the First Picture of a Black Hole </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/gems/"> Cosmic Gems </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/social/"> Social Media </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/for_planetariums/"> For Planetariums </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/outreach/webcams/"> Webcams </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/your_eso_pictures/"> Your ESO Pictures </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/astroprize/"> European Astronomy Journalism Prize </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/outreach/department/"> Our Team <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-487" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/department/students/"> Students and Visitors </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://supernova.eso.org/join-us/"> Join us </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="https://supernova.eso.org/"> ESO Supernova </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/art/"> Art at ESO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/data2dome/"> Data2Dome </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/blog/"> ESOblog </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/starsateso/"> Stars@ESO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/outreach/ai-disclaimer/"> AI Disclaimer </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li><a href="/public/products/">Products<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1"> <ul id="submenu-aim-496" class="submenu-aim"> <li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> Audiovisual and multimedia <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-497" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/products/models3d/"> 3D models </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/applications/"> Apps </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/media/"> DVDs and CDs </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/imaxfilms/"> IMAX movies </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/minisites/"> Mini-sites </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/music/"> Music </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/planetariumshows/"> Planetarium shows </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/presentations/"> Presentations </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/soundscapes/"> Soundscapes </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/products/virtualbackgrounds/"> Virtual Backgrounds </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/virtualtours/"> Virtual Tours </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> Periodicals <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-509" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/products/messengers/"> Messenger </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/capjournals/"> CAPjournal </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/schools/"> Science in School </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> Print products <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-513" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/products/annualreports/"> Annual Reports </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/books/"> Books </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/brochures/"> Brochures </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/bulletins/"> Bulletins </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/calendars/"> Calendars </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/conf_posters/"> Conference posters </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/flyers/"> Flyers </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/handouts/"> Handouts </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/maps/"> Maps </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/presskits/"> Press kits </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/reports/"> Reports </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/postcards/"> Postcards </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/stickers/"> Stickers </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/print_posters/"> Printed posters </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/papermodels/"> Paper models </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/products/merchandise/"> Merchandise <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-529" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/products/merchandise/"> Merchandise </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/apparel/"> Apparel </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/mountedimages/"> Mounted images </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/stationery/"> Stationery </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a class="no-link children" href="#"> Electronic products <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-534" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/products/electroniccards/"> Electronic cards </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/elec_posters/"> Electronic posters </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/epublications/"> ePublications </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/products/virtualbackgrounds/"> Virtual Backgrounds </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/education/"> Educational material </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/exhibitions/"> Exhibition material </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/products/logos/"> Logos </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/shop/"> Order in ESOshop </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li><a href="/public/industry/">Business@ESO<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1"> <ul id="submenu-aim-543" class="submenu-aim"> <li class=""><a href="/public/industry/cp.html"> Procurement at ESO </a></li><li class=""><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/industry/events/"> Industry Events </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/industry/techtrans/"> Technology Transfer <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-546" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/industry/techtrans/technology-developed-by-industry-or-institutes/"> Technology Developed by Industries </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/industry/techtrans/develeso/"> Novel technologies by ESO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/industry/techtrans/developments/"> ESO know-how </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/industry/projects/"> Future Projects <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-550" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/industry/projects/elt/"> Working with the ELT </a></li></ul></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/industry/safety.html"> Safety <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-552" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/industry/safety/emergency.html"> Emergency & Evacuation </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/industry/safety/traffic.html"> Traffic & Parking at ESO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/industry/safety/contractors.html"> Contractors at ESO </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/industry/contact/"> Contact Information </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> <li><a href="https://recruitment.eso.org/">Career Opportunities<span class="fa fa-angle-down level0-children-arrows"></span></a> <span class="mobile-children"> <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span> </span> <div class="level1-wrapper"> <div class="level1"> <ul id="submenu-aim-557" class="submenu-aim"> <li class=""><a href="https://recruitment.eso.org/"> Recruitment </a></li><li class="submenu"><a href="/public/jobs/conditions/"> Employment Conditions <span class="desktop-children topmenu-arrow fa fa-angle-right"></span></a><span class="mobile-children"><span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></span><ul id="submenu-aim-559" class="submenu-aim sublevel"><li class=""><a href="/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/"> International Staff Members </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/jobs/conditions/localstaff/"> Local Staff Members (Spanish / English) </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/jobs/conditions/fellows/"> Fellows </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/jobs/conditions/students/"> Students </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/jobs/conditions/paidassoc/"> Paid Associates </a></li></ul></li><li class=""><a href="/public/jobs/working-at-eso/"> Working at ESO </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/jobs/other-information/"> Other Information </a></li><li class=""><a href="/public/jobs/how_to_use/"> How to use this site </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </nav> <div id="content" class=""> <div id="eso-side-logo"> <a href="/public/"> <div data-spy="affix" class="affix"> <div class="sprites-esologo"></div> <span>European<br>Southern<br>Observatory</span> </div> </a> </div> <div class="container " id="body"> <div class="row no-page"> <div class="col-md-12"> <div class="archive-search outside"><form class="form-inline" role="form" action="/public/images/potw/" method="GET"><div class="form-group"><div class="input-group"><input id="id_archivesearch" type="text" value="" placeholder="Search Picture of the Week 2011..." name="search" class="form-control input-sm" /><span class="input-group-btn"><button class="btn btn-default btn-sm" type="submit"><span class="fa fa-search"></span></button></span></div></div></form></div> </div> </div> <div class="row no-page"> <div class="col-md-12"> <h1>Picture of the Week 2011 <a href="https://feeds.feedburner.com/eso_potw" class="listviewrsslink"><span class="fa fa-rss"></span></a></h1> </div> </div> <div class="row no-page"> <div class="col-md-12"> <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/outreach/newsletters/esonews.html" class="esonews_link">Subscribe to receive news from ESO in your language!</a> <div class="row news-list"> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1152a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1152a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1152 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">Inside Euler's Head — Or how to see a telescope through the walls of its dome</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>26 December 2011</strong>: As night was falling over ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile on 20 December 2009, the sky was not yet dark enough for the telescopes to start observations. But conditions were perfect to perform a clever trick with the dome of the Swiss 1.2-metre Leonhard Euler Telescope: allowing us to peer inside with this photograph apparently taken through the dome. This image is a 75-second exposure taken while the slit of the Euler telescope’s dome was performing half a rotation at full speed. Through the ghostly blur of the moving dome walls, the telescope is clearly visible. A dim light was switched on in the interior of the building especially for the purpose of this photo. The picture was taken by Malte Tewes, a young astronomer from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, who had just finished a two-week observing run at the telescope on the evening in ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1151a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1151a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1151 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">Llullaillaco, clear as day</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>19 December 2011</strong>: Bathed in the pristine light of the Chilean Atacama Desert, the ESO VLT’s Auxiliary Telescope 2 stands on Cerro Paranal. It is one of four that are used with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer. During the day, its bulbous dome is closed, protecting the sensitive telescope within. The magnificent 6739-metre volcano Llullaillaco stands proudly in the background of this photograph. Although it looks relatively close on the horizon, it is actually an incredible 190 kilometres away, on the border with Argentina. That Llullaillaco can be seen so clearly is evidence of the region’s unparallelled atmospheric conditions. The clear air is one of the many factors that make this such a wonderful location for astronomical observatories. It is from this excellent vantage point that ESO astronomers study objects that are not just hundreds of kilometres in the distance, but billions of light-years away. This photograph was taken by ESO Photo Ambassador ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1150a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1150a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1150 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">ALMA's world at night</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>12 December 2011</strong>: This panoramic view of the Chajnantor plateau, spanning about 180 degrees from north (on the left) to south (on the right) shows the antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) ranged across the unearthly landscape. Some familiar celestial objects can be seen in the night sky behind them. These crystal-clear night skies explain why Chile is the home of not only ALMA, but also several other astronomical observatories. This image is just part of an even wider panorama of Chajnantor. In the foreground, the 12-metre diameter ALMA antennas are in action, working as one giant telescope, during the observatory’s first phase of scientific observations. On the far left, a cluster of smaller 7-metre antennas for ALMA’s compact array can be seen illuminated. The crescent Moon, although not visible in this image, casts stark shadows over all the antennas. In the sky above the antennas, the most prominent bright “star” ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1149a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1149a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1149 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">The VLT’s Next-generation Laser Launch Telescope</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>5 December 2011</strong>: This telescope is an important new component of the Four Laser Guide Star Facility, which will sharpen the already excellent vision of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). Four powerful 20-watt lasers, fired to an altitude of 90 kilometres up in the atmosphere, will help the VLT correct the image distortion caused by turbulence in the air. The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) is developing the launch telescopes through which the laser beams will be fired. The first of these laser launch telescopes — known as the Optical Tube Assembly — is seen here in the cleanroom at TNO’s Van Leeuwenhoek Laboratory in Delft, the Netherlands, having recently held its Acceptance Review. A special anti-reflective coating gives the lens on the telescope a distinctive blue hue. The photograph was taken by Fred Kamphues, who appears on the left. He is project manager for the Optical Tube Assembly, and is ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> </div> <div class="row news-list"> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1148a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1148a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1148 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">A galaxy full of surprises — NGC 3621 is bulgeless but has three central black holes</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>28 November 2011</strong>: This image, from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows a truly remarkable galaxy known as NGC 3621. To begin with, it is a pure-disc galaxy. Like other spirals, it has a flat disc permeated by dark lanes of material and with prominent spiral arms where young stars are forming in clusters (the blue dots seen in the image). But while most spiral galaxies have a central bulge — a large group of old stars packed in a compact, spheroidal region — NGC 3621 doesn’t. In this image, it is clear that there is simply a brightening to the centre, but no actual bulge like the one in NGC 6744 (eso1118), for example. NGC 3621 is also interesting as it is believed to have an active supermassive black hole at its centre that is engulfing matter and producing radiation. This is somewhat unusual because most of these so-called active galactic nuclei ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1147a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1147a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1147 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">A double green flash</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>21 November 2011</strong>: At sunset, the sky is often painted with an array of oranges, reds and yellows, and even some shades of pink. There are, however, occasions when a green flash appears above the solar disc for a second or so. One such occurrence was captured beautifully in this picture taken from Cerro Paranal, a 2600-metre-high mountain in the Chilean Atacama Desert, by ESO Photo Ambassador Gianluca Lombardi. Cerro Paranal is home to ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The green flash is a rather rare phenomenon; seeing such a transient event requires an unobstructed view of the setting (or rising) Sun and a very stable atmosphere. At Paranal the atmospheric conditions are just right for this, making the green flash a relatively common sight (see for example eso0812). But a double green flash such as this one is noteworthy even for Paranal. The green flash occurs because the Earth’s atmosphere works like a ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1146a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1146a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1146 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">Working at ALMA, day and night</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>14 November 2011</strong>: In the foothills of the Chilean Andes, at an altitude of 2900 metres, the Operations Support Facility (OSF) for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a hive of activity. This photograph shows engineers moving a heavyweight antenna at night — with the help of a special 28-wheel transporter — and illustrates how work at ALMA continues around the clock. The antenna, one of 25 provided for the ALMA project by ESO, is being moved into position next to antennas from the other ALMA partners to be tested and equipped with highly sensitive detectors. When completed, ALMA will consist of 66 12-metre and 7-metre antennas that will work together as a giant radio telescope observing at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths. The facility will allow astronomers to study our cosmic origins by probing the first stars and galaxies, and imaging the formation of planets. The telescope is being constructed on Llano ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1145a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1145a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1145 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">GRAAL on a quest to improve HAWK-I's vision</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>7 November 2011</strong>: This image shows some of the GRAAL instrument team, inspecting GRAAL’s mechanical assembly in the integration hall of ESO’s Headquarters in Garching bei Munchen, Germany. GRAAL, which will be installed on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal in Chile, is designed to improve the vision of the VLT’s already excellent HAWK-I camera even further. GRAAL stands for GRound layer Adaptive optics Assisted by Lasers. It will use the technique of adaptive optics to improve the quality of images by compensating for turbulence in the lower layers of the atmosphere, up to an altitude of 1 kilometre. GRAAL will form part of the observatory’s next generation Adaptive Optics Facility (AOF). The VLT already uses a powerful laser beam to create an artificial guide star, 90 kilometres up in the atmosphere. The current adaptive optics systems use this guide star as a reference to remove the effect of turbulence in ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> </div> <div class="row news-list"> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1144a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1144a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1144 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">Twinkle twinkle little star</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>31 October 2011</strong>: A glowing laser shines forth from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. Piercing the dark Chilean skies, its mission is to help astronomers explore the far reaches of the cosmos. ESO Photo Ambassador Gerhard Hüdepohl was on hand to capture the moment in a stunning portrait of modern science in action. We have all gazed up at the night sky and seen the stars gently twinkle as the Earth’s turbulent atmosphere causes their light to shimmer. This is undoubtedly a beautiful sight, but it causes problems for astronomers, who want the crispest possible views. To help them achieve this, professional stargazers use something that sounds as though it has come from science fiction: a laser guide star that creates an artificial star 90 km above the surface of the Earth. The method by which it achieves this is nothing short of remarkable. The laser energises sodium atoms high in ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1143a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1143a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1143 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">Portrait of an imperfect but beautiful spiral</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>24 October 2011</strong>: Not all spiral galaxies have to be picture-perfect to be striking. Messier 96, also known as NGC 3368, is a case in point: its core is displaced from the centre, its gas and dust are distributed asymmetrically and its spiral arms are ill-defined. But this portrait, taken with the FORS1 instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, shows that imperfection is beauty in Messier 96. The galaxy's core is compact but glowing, and the dark dust lanes around it move in a delicate swirl towards the nucleus. And the spiral arms, patchy rings of young blue stars, are like necklaces of blue pearls. Messier 96 lies in the constellation of Leo (The Lion). It is the largest galaxy in the Leo I group of galaxies; including its outermost spiral arms, it spans some 100 000 light-years in diameter — about the size of our Milky Way. Its graceful imperfections likely result ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1142a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1142a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1142 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">Stars dancing above the VLT</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>17 October 2011</strong>: The night sky above the 2600-metre-high Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert in Chile is dark and clear. So clear, that very long sequences of photos can easily be taken without a single cloud obscuring the stars as they rotate around the southern celestial pole. The site is home to ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) array. Its four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes dominate this image made by Farid Char, a student at Chile’s Universidad Católica del Norte. One of the smaller Auxiliary Telescopes is also visible, hiding in the background in the bottom left corner. But the star of the show is the striking starry sky. Made by combining 450 exposures of 20 seconds each, the image captures the apparent stellar movement during two and a half hours. This movement, signalled by dotted trails, is illusory: the Earth, and not the stars, is rotating as time goes by. The sequence has ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1141a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1141a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1141 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">Flying above the ALMA site: the Operations Support Facility</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>10 October 2011</strong>: This spectacular aerial view shows the ALMA Operations Support Facility (OSF), located 2900 metres above sea level in the foothills of the Chilean Andes, near San Pedro de Atacama. ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, is currently under construction on the 5000-metre-high Chajnantor plateau. Such a high altitude site is necessary for ALMA’s array of antennas to observe the Universe in millimetre and submillimetre radiation, but the lack of oxygen makes the Array Operations Site (AOS) a very uncomfortable place for people to work. For this reason, as much of the scientific and technical work as possible takes place at the OSF, which is 2100 metres lower in altitude. The antennas are even controlled remotely from the OSF. In this picture, from the bottom left to the centre right, the North American, the Japanese and the European antenna assembly facilities are clearly distinguishable. In these areas, the antennas are assembled ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> </div> <div class="row news-list"> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1140a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1140a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1140 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">VLT observes the Antennae Galaxies</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>3 October 2011</strong>: A new Very Large Telescope (VLT) image of the Antennae Galaxies gives us what may be the second-best visible-light view yet of this striking pair of colliding galaxies with dramatically distorted shapes. This amazing object takes its name from the long antenna-like "arms" extending far out from the nuclei of the two galaxies, best seen in wider-field images by ground-based telescopes such as the one at this link. This VLT view focuses instead on the galaxies’ nuclei, where the real action is taking place as the two galaxies merge into a single giant galaxy. Spurred by shock waves created by their gravitational wrestling, the two galaxies have become dotted with brilliant blue hot young stars in star-forming regions, surrounded by glowing hydrogen gas, shown here in pink. The two pale yellow blobs are the cores of the original galaxies, shining with the light of old stars and picked out by ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1139a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1139a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1139 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">All four VLT Unit Telescopes working as one</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>26 September 2011</strong>: When light from all four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Cerro Paranal on 17 March 2011 was successfully combined for the first time (ann11021), ESO Photo Ambassador Gerhard Hüdepohl was there to capture the moment. Having all four of the Unit Telescopes (UTs) working as one telescope observing the same object was a major step in the development of the VLT. While mostly used for individual observations, the UTs were always designed to be able to operate together as part of the VLT Interferometer (VLTI). All the UTs are pointed in the same direction, at the same object, although this isn’t obvious because of the wide-angle lens used to take the photo. The light collected by each of the telescopes was then combined using an instrument called PIONIER [1]. When combined, the UTs can potentially provide an image sharpness that equals that of a telescope ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1138a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1138a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1138 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">The “little world” of Paranal</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>19 September 2011</strong>: This interpretation of a previous Picture of the Week was created by astronomer Alex Parker. It captures some of the essence of Paranal Observatory — a little world where astronomers leave the Earth behind and travel to the stars... metaphorically at least. The observatory lies deep in the barren Atacama Desert, which can really seem like an alien environment. It is far from civilisation and modern life, a place where visiting astronomers spend their nights gazing out at the wonders of the Universe using ESO’s flagship facility, the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The VLT is the reason why Cerro Paranal was transformed from just another mountain in the Chilean Andes into a base for world-class scientific research. When night falls over Paranal, and the night sky is aglow with stars, nebulae and nearby galaxies, the unearthly view emphasises our place in the Universe — as Alex Parker so creatively demonstrates ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1137a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1137a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1137 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">Red Moon rising</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>12 September 2011</strong>: Deep in the heart of the Atacama Desert, home of the Paranal Observatory, the Sun is setting at the start of another clear night. This charming photograph, taken by ESO Photo Ambassador Gianluca Lombardi shows one of four Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) that belong to ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) sitting boldly against a vivid sky of pink and blue. The full Moon, seen hovering over the horizon, has a distinctly reddish hue, a phenomenon caused by the scattering of light by Earth’s atmosphere. When the Moon is close to the horizon, the light we see from it must travel through a greater thickness of the atmosphere, so the effects of scattering are increased. As red light is more resilient to scattering than green or blue, our view of the Moon is reddened. As it happens, the reddening effect is somewhat less pronounced at sites like Paranal, as the clear air ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> </div> <div class="row news-list"> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1136a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1136a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1136 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">Laser meets lightning</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>5 September 2011</strong>: As ESO tested the new Wendelstein laser guide star unit by shooting a powerful laser beam into the atmosphere, one of the region’s intense summer thunderstorms was approaching — a very visual demonstration of why ESO’s telescopes are in Chile, and not in Germany. Heavy grey clouds threw down bolts of lightning as Martin Kornmesser, visual artist for the ESO outreach department, took time-lapse photographs of the test for ESOcast 34. With purely coincidental timing this photograph was snapped just as lightning flashed, resulting in a breathtaking image that looks like a scene from a science fiction movie. Although the storm was still far from the observatory, the lightning appears to clash with the laser beam in the sky. Laser guide stars are artificial stars created 90 kilometres up in the Earth’s atmosphere using a laser beam. Measurements of this artificial star can be used to correct for the blurring ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1135a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1135a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1135 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">First 7-metre ALMA antenna arrives at Chajnantor</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>29 August 2011</strong>: The first of twelve 7-metre diameter ALMA antennas has just been transported on 24 August 2011 to the 5000-metre-high Chajnantor plateau, where the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is under construction. ALMA is a giant radio telescope composed of an array of fifty 12-metre antennas, as well as a smaller array known as the Atacama Compact Array (ACA). This will have a total of four 12-metre antennas and the twelve 7-metre dishes. The four 12-metre ACA antennas have already been moved up to the high plateau, but this is the first of the smaller 7-metre dishes — which put the “compact” into Atacama Compact Array — to reach Chajnantor. It is seen in the centre of this photograph, surrounded by some of the other ALMA antennas. Penitentes ice formations are seen in the foreground.The larger 12-metre antennas of the main array cannot be placed closer than 15 metres apart as ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1134a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1134a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1134 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">Flying over the ALMA site: the Array Operations Site</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>22 August 2011</strong>: ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, will be initially composed of 66 antennas, designed to observe the Universe in millimetre and submillimetre radiation. The main array will consist of fifty 12-metre antennas that can be spread over distances from 150 metres to 16 kilometres. In addition to the main array, ALMA will also have a compact array, composed of four 12-metre antennas plus twelve 7-metre antennas. By using the technique of interferometry, ALMA will work as a single giant telescope, enabling astronomers to observe the cold universe with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution. From the high altitudes of the Andes, ALMA will provide a revolutionary contribution to the search for our cosmic origins. ALMA, an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on behalf of North ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> <div class="col-md-3 col-sm-6 col-xs-12"> <a href="/public/images/potw1133a/"> <div class="news-wrapper"> <div class="news-image"> <img class="img-responsive" src="https://cdn.eso.org/images/thumb350x/potw1133a.jpg"> </div> <div class="news-description"> <div class="news-id">potw1133 — Picture of the Week</div> <div class="news-title">As time goes by</div> <div class="news-teaser"><strong>15 August 2011</strong>: Just as the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so do the stars appear to slowly march across the sky. Their leisurely pace is imperceptible to a casual observer, but you can test the effect for yourself: on the next clear night note the position of a bright star, and then check again a few hours later. The change is not caused by the motion of the stars themselves, but rather the rotation of the Earth. Long-exposure photography is the ideal way to capture this motion. A camera is set up on a tripod, and the shutter opened to the sky. Normal snapshots gather light for a fraction of a second, but these special images need starlight to pour onto them for much longer, like a bucket collecting rainwater. To obtain this image, ESO Photo Ambassador Gianluca Lombardi collected light for a total of 25 minutes. ...</div> </div> <div class="news-readmore">Read more</div> </div>  </a> </div> </div> <div class="row statusbar"><div class="col-md-3"> Showing 1 to 20 of 52 </div><div class="col-md-6"><div class="text-center"><ul class="pagination"><li class="active"><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2011/list/1/">1</a></li><li><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2011/list/2/">2</a></li><li><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2011/list/3/">3</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="col-md-3 prev-next"><a href="/public/images/potw/archive/year/2011/list/2/">Next</a></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-md-12"></div></div> <div class="copyright"> <a href="/public/outreach/copyright/">Usage of ESO Images, Videos, Web texts and Music</a><br /> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="row footernote"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-3"> <a href="mailto:information@eso.org">Send us your comments!</a> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-3"> <a href="/public/outreach/newsletters/esonews/">Subscribe to receive news from ESO in your language</a> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-3"> <a href="https://www.cdn77.com">Accelerated by CDN77</a> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 col-md-3"> <a href="/public/about-eso/privacy/">Terms & Conditions</a> </div> </div> <link href="/public/archives/djp/css/extras.d3e54451ebbb.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <script type="text/javascript">var MEDIA_URL = "/public/archives/"</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/public/archives/djp/js/main.04a7335af5a0.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div>  <div id="social-share" class="hidden-print"> <div class="link facebook" data-toggle="tooltip" data-placement="right" title="Share on Facebook"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i class="fa-brands fa-facebook-f" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> </div> <div class="link twitter" data-toggle="tooltip" data-placement="right" title="Share on X/Twitter"> <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw/archive/year/2011/&text=&via=ESO" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i class="fa-brands fa-x-twitter"></i></i></a> </div> <div class="link pinterest" data-toggle="tooltip" data-placement="right" title="Share on Pinterest"> <a href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw/archive/year/2011/&media=&description=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i class="fa-brands fa-pinterest-p" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> </div> <div class="link print" data-toggle="tooltip" data-placement="right" title="Print"> <a href="javascript:window.print()" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i class="fa fa-print" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> </div> <div class="link email" data-toggle="tooltip" data-placement="right" title="Share by email"> <a href="mailto:%20?subject=ESO — Picture of the Week 2011&body=https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw/archive/year/2011/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i class="fa-regular fa-envelope" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> </div> </div> <script> $('[data-toggle="tooltip"]').tooltip(); </script> <input type='hidden' name='csrfmiddlewaretoken' value='jVHrAGZePD1Nurq287kfezMtgOaucr8O8Fd1qf6ByjoE1KgWI0vc8E8Kc3GQ3AcP' /> </body> </html>

CINXE.COM

Picture of the Week 2011 | ESO