European Southern Observatory

Shown in this nighttime image are the three telescopes of the BlackGEM array at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds can be seen just above the telescopes. The BlackGEM array can quickly scan large areas of the sky to find a source that has emitted gravitational waves detected by LIGO and Virgo.

Space

New trio of telescopes scans the southern sky for gravitational waves

Able to detect gravitational waves and visible light sources, ESO's BlackGEM telescopic array at La Silla Observatory in Chile is on the hunt for ripples in space-time. And unlike existing observatories, it can pinpoint where they're coming from.

Artist's impression of a Jupiter-like exoplanet orbiting its parent star

Space

Exoplanet with iron rain puzzles with even heavier atmospheric element

The exoplanets WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b are already known to be peculiar places, but a new discovery has raised even more questions about the composition of the exotic atmospheres around these celestial bodies.

The Very Large Telescope (VLT), which captured the new image

Space

First-ever direct image of two giant planets orbiting Sun-like star

Although astronomers have detected over 4,000 planets outside our solar system, most of them appear as points of data. Now, astronomers have captured a very rare sight, with an image of two exoplanets orbiting a star very much like our own.

2015 Hubble image of the Pillars of Creation (Image: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA))

Space

Astronomers create first 3D image of iconic Pillars of Creation

Astronomers from the European Southern Observatory have used data from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument to compile the first 3D image of the Pillars of Creation, uncovering some key characteristics of the structures in the process

Space

Dark matter may not be completely dark at all

New studies by astronomers are slowly throwing some light on dark matter, the invisible and mysterious stuff that scientists believe makes up much of the universe. For the first time, astronomers believe they've observed the interactions of dark matter via a factor other than the force of gravity.

The rare collision is seen here in this composite image from the Gemini, SMA and APEX telescopes (Image: ESO/T. Kamiński)

Space

APEX observations shed light on 17th-century star collision

The ESO's Atacama Pathfinder Experiment telescope (APEX) has been used to solve a 340 year-old astronomical mystery. The findings reveal that an object that appeared in the sky in the 17th century was not a nova as astronomers at the time believed, but actually a rare stellar collision.

Mars as it may have looked 4.5 billion years ago

Space

Mars may have had more water than the Arctic Ocean

NASA scientist's say that they have estimated that Mars may once have had enough water to form a vast body the size of the Arctic Ocean surrounding its north pole, where only plains remain.

Extract from the VISTA survey of the central parts of our galaxy, displaying the stars ordinarily shrouded behind the Trifid Nebula (Photo: ESO/VVV consortium/D. Minniti)

Space

Infrared imaging shows Trifid Nebula in a new light

The European Southern Observatory's (ESO) VISTA survey telescope has revealed a beautiful new aspect of the Trifid Nebula, a star formation area that sits around 5,200 light years away from Earth by observing and imaging the nebula in infrared light, exposing a wealth of previously obscured stars.