January 14th, 2013 at 8:00PM
(via APOD: 2012 December 15) When Gemini Sends Stars to Paranal Image Credit & Copyright: Stéphane Guisard (Los Cielos de America), TWAN The ESO, the darkened skies over Paranal Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the Very Large Telescopes (VLT - big buildings in the middle), the Auxiliary Telescopes (for VLT interferometry - short ones that don’t look like they have hoods), and the new VLT Survey Telescope (looks like a mini-VLT on the right), all combine to make a great foreground for a shot of the Geminid meteor shower. This multi-exposure, long-shutter (20 seconds) composite points toward the constellation Gemini, so the meteor are streaking very obviously from their radiant. Jupiter is the bright ball on the left, with Orion obvious above it, and the faint trail of the Milky Way in the middle.

(via APOD: 2012 December 15)

When Gemini Sends Stars to Paranal

Image Credit & Copyright: Stéphane Guisard (Los Cielos de America), TWAN

The ESO, the darkened skies over Paranal Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the Very Large Telescopes (VLT - big buildings in the middle), the Auxiliary Telescopes (for VLT interferometry - short ones that don’t look like they have hoods), and the new VLT Survey Telescope (looks like a mini-VLT on the right), all combine to make a great foreground for a shot of the Geminid meteor shower.

This multi-exposure, long-shutter (20 seconds) composite points toward the constellation Gemini, so the meteor are streaking very obviously from their radiant. Jupiter is the bright ball on the left, with Orion obvious above it, and the faint trail of the Milky Way in the middle.

1 note Source: apod.nasa.gov #Geminids#meteors#ESO#Paranal#space#stars#science#astronomy#Very Large Telescope#VLT#VST#VLT Survey Telescope#Atacama Desert#Chile#European Southern Observatory
January 7th, 2013 at 1:20PM
(via ESO - eso1250 - Image of the Carina Nebula Marks Inauguration of VLT Survey Telescope) You have to click through for this. JUST DO IT. This is from a survey telescope down at Paranal. The VLT Survey Telescope, specifically, is designed to map the sky, but it has some image quality much like the VLT itself. From the ESO page: A spectacular new image of the star-forming Carina Nebula has been captured by the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory and released on the occasion of the inauguration of the telescope in Naples today. This picture was taken with the help of Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile, during his visit to the observatory on 5 June 2012. The latest telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile — the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) — was inaugurated today at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) Observatory of Capodimonte, in Naples, Italy. The ceremony was attended by the Mayor of Naples, Luigi De Magistris, the INAF President, Giovanni Bignami, the ESO representatives Bruno Leibundgut and Roberto Tamai, and the main promoter of the telescope, Massimo Capaccioli of the University of Naples Federico II and INAF. The VST is a state-of-the-art 2.6-metre telescope, with the huge 268-megapixel camera OmegaCAM at its heart. It is designed to map the sky both quickly and with very fine image quality. The VST is a joint venture between ESO and INAF and OmegaCam has been provided by the OmegaCam consortium [1]. This new telescope is the largest telescope in the world exclusively dedicated to surveying the sky at visible wavelengths (eso1119). The occasion of the inauguration has been marked by the release of a dramatic picture of the Carina Nebula taken with the new telescope. The main link goes to the story, the link under it goes to the incredible zoomable image.

(via ESO - eso1250 - Image of the Carina Nebula Marks Inauguration of VLT Survey Telescope)

You have to click through for this. JUST DO IT.

This is from a survey telescope down at Paranal. The VLT Survey Telescope, specifically, is designed to map the sky, but it has some image quality much like the VLT itself.

From the ESO page:

A spectacular new image of the star-forming Carina Nebula has been captured by the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory and released on the occasion of the inauguration of the telescope in Naples today. This picture was taken with the help of Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile, during his visit to the observatory on 5 June 2012.

The latest telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile — the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) — was inaugurated today at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) Observatory of Capodimonte, in Naples, Italy. The ceremony was attended by the Mayor of Naples, Luigi De Magistris, the INAF President, Giovanni Bignami, the ESO representatives Bruno Leibundgut and Roberto Tamai, and the main promoter of the telescope, Massimo Capaccioli of the University of Naples Federico II and INAF.

The VST is a state-of-the-art 2.6-metre telescope, with the huge 268-megapixel camera OmegaCAM at its heart. It is designed to map the sky both quickly and with very fine image quality. The VST is a joint venture between ESO and INAF and OmegaCam has been provided by the OmegaCam consortium [1]. This new telescope is the largest telescope in the world exclusively dedicated to surveying the sky at visible wavelengths (eso1119). The occasion of the inauguration has been marked by the release of a dramatic picture of the Carina Nebula taken with the new telescope.

The main link goes to the story, the link under it goes to the incredible zoomable image.

6 notes Source: eso.org #space#science#Carina Nebula#astronomy#ESO#VST#Very Large Telescope#VLT Survey Telescope#Chile#Paranal#European Southern Observatory
September 10th, 2012 at 11:34AM
ESO - Tweet Your Way to the VLT!

Hey! I was a runner-up in the “Tweet Your Way to the VLT” competition. I almost went on an observing run in Chile at Paranal. (Probably not really, but it’s great to think about.)

As it is, I get a package of ESO goodies, DVDs, books, posters, etc.

The winner, Brigitte Bailleul, a freelance writer in France, will travel to the Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile to work on the observing run chosen in the other competition, an open vote to choose what the VLT observes. For what I suspect are rather obvious reasons to anyone connecting “internet” and “vote”, the winner what the Thor’s Helmet Nebula (NGC 2359). As the ESO’s outreach astronomer states, though, it’s an interesting object anyway, as it has a distinctive shape and the star at its center is massive, hot, and ready to go supernova.

You can read more about the two contests and the winners here:

http://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann12060/ 
6 notes #VLT#ESO#Paranal#Chile#Atacama#Very Large Telescope#twitter#competition#Hey look I won some cool stuff!#astronomy#space
September 5th, 2012 at 1:14PM
(via ESO - eso1141 - VISTA Finds New Globular Star Clusters) The VISTA telescope is an optimized infrared telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Being IR-optimized means that it can take wide-field images through the dust and gas that normally blocks our view of the other side of the galaxy. What it has found in a recent survey (the Via Lactea/VVV survey) is some star clusters, two globular and one open, that we could never have seen before. The main picture is of VVV CL001, the faint globular cluster on the left half of the frame, just above and to the right of the foreground star (with diffraction spikes). The larger, brighter globular cluster on the right has been known for some time. It is UKS 1, and the two clusters may actually be gravitationally bound to each other. While it looks quite bright in this shot, it was known previously as the dimmest globular cluster, because all the dust obscured and reddened the light. However, in IR it shines very brightly. Not sure what I mean? Here, ESO gives you a comparison of visible light (top, from the Digitized Sky Survey II) and infrared (bottom, from VISTA): See how much “pops out” with the infrared “bypassing” the obscuring dust? Amazing enough already, right? Well, it turns out that there are a couple more in the VISTA survey: VVV CL002 is the closest globular cluster to the center of the galaxy: And finally, there’s VVV CL003, an open cluster about 15,000 light-years beyond the galactic center: Click through to the story on the ESO’s website to get the images and even some great video (zooming in on the cluster and a transition of the view from visible to infrared).

(via ESO - eso1141 - VISTA Finds New Globular Star Clusters)

The VISTA telescope is an optimized infrared telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Being IR-optimized means that it can take wide-field images through the dust and gas that normally blocks our view of the other side of the galaxy.

What it has found in a recent survey (the Via Lactea/VVV survey) is some star clusters, two globular and one open, that we could never have seen before.

The main picture is of VVV CL001, the faint globular cluster on the left half of the frame, just above and to the right of the foreground star (with diffraction spikes). The larger, brighter globular cluster on the right has been known for some time. It is UKS 1, and the two clusters may actually be gravitationally bound to each other. While it looks quite bright in this shot, it was known previously as the dimmest globular cluster, because all the dust obscured and reddened the light. However, in IR it shines very brightly.

Not sure what I mean? Here, ESO gives you a comparison of visible light (top, from the Digitized Sky Survey II) and infrared (bottom, from VISTA):

See how much “pops out” with the infrared “bypassing” the obscuring dust?

Amazing enough already, right? Well, it turns out that there are a couple more in the VISTA survey:

VVV CL002 is the closest globular cluster to the center of the galaxy:

And finally, there’s VVV CL003, an open cluster about 15,000 light-years beyond the galactic center:

Click through to the story on the ESO’s website to get the images and even some great video (zooming in on the cluster and a transition of the view from visible to infrared).

4 notes Source: eso.org #ESO#Paranal#Atacama#Chile#VISTA#infrared astronomy#astronomy#space#stars#clusters#open cluster#globular cluster#Milky Way#interstellar dust#Via Lactea#sky survey
April 25th, 2012 at 6:01PM
(via APOD: 2012 April 21 - 3 ATs) They look like R2D2, but are the ATs for Panaral, so they’re AT-AT-AT, I guess? Anyway, “AT” stands for Auxiliary Telescope, 1.8 meter movable telescopes designed to be used for interferometry in tandem with the 8 m Very Large Telescope units. Interferometry allows for very high resolution observations without having to build quite so monolithically large a mirror in the telescope. You use the observations from all the various ‘scopes to reduce interference from the atmosphere (by compensating for the effects of the air) and collect as much light as possible. It requires the light to all be added together and collected in underground tunnels with mirrors. Pretty nifty “little” droids, if you ask me. Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (ESO)

(via APOD: 2012 April 21 - 3 ATs)

They look like R2D2, but are the ATs for Panaral, so they’re AT-AT-AT, I guess?

Anyway, “AT” stands for Auxiliary Telescope, 1.8 meter movable telescopes designed to be used for interferometry in tandem with the 8 m Very Large Telescope units. Interferometry allows for very high resolution observations without having to build quite so monolithically large a mirror in the telescope. You use the observations from all the various ‘scopes to reduce interference from the atmosphere (by compensating for the effects of the air) and collect as much light as possible. It requires the light to all be added together and collected in underground tunnels with mirrors.

Pretty nifty “little” droids, if you ask me.

Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (ESO)

1 note Source: apod.nasa.gov #APOD#NASA#ESO#VLT#Very Large Telescope#Panaral Observatory#Atacama Desert#Chile#ATs#interferometry#astronomy#telescopes#optics
March 22nd, 2012 at 2:00PM
scipsy: Stellar Cluster NGC 1850 in the LMC [The image] shows that there is indeed still much gas around NGC 1850. While part of this may well be the remnant of the “parent” gas cloud (i.e. the one from which both clusters were born), the presence of filaments and of various sharp “shocks”, e.g. to the left and below NGC 1850, offers support to the theory of supernova-induced star birth in the younger of the two clusters. Some “protostars” are located near or in some of the filaments — this is interpreted as additional evidence for that theory. The nebulosity directly above the main cluster, that is shaped like a “3”, is the well-known supernova remnant N57D which itself may also be associated with NGC 1850. Credit: ESO I figured a straight quote from the ESO site would explain a good chunk of why this image is so cool. I’d include all the technical specs, but I’m sure those who actually care will probably click through and read them. The brief overview is that this is a 300 x 300 light-year2 composite from one of the unit telescopes at the Very Large Telescope, VLT, down in Chile. Three filters, including a Hydrogen-alpha filter in the familiar red, were used to bring out as much intricate detail as possible, especially in the gas filaments. Note that this shot is from just one of the main unit telescopes at the VLT. If all four telescopes are used in interferometry mode, they have a resolving power that would be like being able to differentiate the headlights on a car at the distance of the Moon.

scipsy:

Stellar Cluster NGC 1850 in the LMC

[The image] shows that there is indeed still much gas around NGC 1850. While part of this may well be the remnant of the “parent” gas cloud (i.e. the one from which both clusters were born), the presence of filaments and of various sharp “shocks”, e.g. to the left and below NGC 1850, offers support to the theory of supernova-induced star birth in the younger of the two clusters. Some “protostars” are located near or in some of the filaments — this is interpreted as additional evidence for that theory. The nebulosity directly above the main cluster, that is shaped like a “3”, is the well-known supernova remnant N57D which itself may also be associated with NGC 1850.

Credit: ESO

I figured a straight quote from the ESO site would explain a good chunk of why this image is so cool. I’d include all the technical specs, but I’m sure those who actually care will probably click through and read them.

The brief overview is that this is a 300 x 300 light-year2 composite from one of the unit telescopes at the Very Large Telescope, VLT, down in Chile. Three filters, including a Hydrogen-alpha filter in the familiar red, were used to bring out as much intricate detail as possible, especially in the gas filaments.

Note that this shot is from just one of the main unit telescopes at the VLT. If all four telescopes are used in interferometry mode, they have a resolving power that would be like being able to differentiate the headlights on a car at the distance of the Moon.

(via universalnomad)

220 notes Source: eso.org #astronomy#space#ESO#VLT#Very Large Telescope#interferometry#optical telescope#Panaral#Chile
December 29th, 2011 at 12:00PM
(via APOD: 2011 December 28 - Comet Lovejoy over Paranal) This is the dome of one of the VLT units in Paranal, Chile, with Comet Lovejoy and the Milky Way providing an amazing background. If you look on the other side of the telescope, you can see the two most visible satellite galaxies to the Milky Way, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Image Credit & Copyright: Guillaume Blanchard

(via APOD: 2011 December 28 - Comet Lovejoy over Paranal)

This is the dome of one of the VLT units in Paranal, Chile, with Comet Lovejoy and the Milky Way providing an amazing background. If you look on the other side of the telescope, you can see the two most visible satellite galaxies to the Milky Way, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.

Image Credit & Copyright: Guillaume Blanchard

6 notes Source: apod.nasa.gov #APOD#NASA#Comet Lovejoy#VLT#Very Large Telescope#Paranal#Chile#Milky Way#Magellanic Cloud#space#astronomy
August 11th, 2011 at 3:35PM
(via APOD: 2011 August 11 - The Snows of Paranal) The VLT on top of Paranal in Chile. The clear skies are fairly common, and the satellite streak on the left is too. The meteor streak on the right, from the Perseids, is also common, especially since they peak tomorrow. “In fact, the rarest aspect of the picture is just the snow. Cerro Paranal rises above South America’s Atacama desert, known as the driest place on planet Earth.”

(via APOD: 2011 August 11 - The Snows of Paranal)

The VLT on top of Paranal in Chile. The clear skies are fairly common, and the satellite streak on the left is too. The meteor streak on the right, from the Perseids, is also common, especially since they peak tomorrow.

“In fact, the rarest aspect of the picture is just the snow. Cerro Paranal rises above South America’s Atacama desert, known as the driest place on planet Earth.”

2 notes Source: apod.nasa.gov #APOD#NASA#Paranal#VLT#Very Large Telescope#ESO#astronomy#Chile