15 Facts About ESO

ESO has built and operated some of the largest and most technologically advanced telescopes.

ESO's observing facilities have made astronomical discoveries and produced several astronomical catalogues.

The decision was preceded by the ESO Convention, signed 5 October 1962 by Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Sweden.

An ESO project is the Extremely Large Telescope, a 40-metre-class telescope based on a five-mirror design and the formerly planned Overwhelmingly Large Telescope.

ESO began its design in early 2006, and aimed to begin construction in 2012.

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ESO telescopes generate large amounts of data at a high rate, which are stored in a permanent archive facility at ESO headquarters.

Telescope time is shared between MPG and ESO observing programmes, while operation and maintenance of the telescope are ESO's responsibility.

ESO's observatories are equipped with an arsenal of instruments for finding, studying, and monitoring extrasolar planets.

In March 2019, ESO astronomers, employing the GRAVITY instrument on their Very Large Telescope Interferometer, announced the first direct detection of an exoplanet, HR 8799 e, using optical interferometry.

In 2003, ESO telescopes followed the aftermath of an explosion for one month.

In 2005, ESO telescopes detected visible light after a short-duration burst and tracked this light for three weeks.

Organisational releases cover a range of themes related to ESO operations, including news on current and future observatories, new astronomical instruments and announcements of exhibitions worldwide.

ESO selects its best astronomical images, and presents them publicly in periodic photo releases.

ESO publishes announcements and Pictures of the Week on its website.

ESO publishes several newsletters aimed at scientists and the general public; these are available upon subscription.