Space Station Crew Set to Return Tomorrow

ISS - Expedition 45 Mission patch.

Dec. 10, 2015

Three International Space Station crew members are preparing to return to Earth early Friday after 141 days in space. Expedition 45 Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos (Russian Federal Space Agency) and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will land in their Soyuz spacecraft at 8:12 a.m. EST, northeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

NASA Television coverage begins at 1 a.m. Friday as they bid the station farewell, enter the Soyuz, and close the hatches. So far, the crew’s return is on track, and the space station is in good shape.

Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA, along with crewmates Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos, will operate the station for four days until the arrival of three new crew members.

Image above: Russian spacecraft are seen docked to the International Space Station as it orbits over the Earth during the day. Image Credit: NASA TV.

NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency) are scheduled to launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on Dec. 15 and arrive at the station about 6 hours later.

Kelly and Kornienko are on the first joint U.S.-Russian one-year mission, an important stepping stone on NASA’s journey to Mars. These activities also will stream online at: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.

For more information about the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Text, Credit: NASA.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA Telescopes Detect Jupiter-Like Storm on Small Star

NASA - Spitzer Space Telescope logo / NASA - Kepler Mission logo.

Dec. 10, 2015

Astronomers have discovered what appears to be a tiny star with a giant, cloudy storm, using data from NASA's Spitzer and Kepler space telescopes. The dark storm is akin to Jupiter's Great Red Spot: a persistent, raging storm larger than Earth.

"The star is the size of Jupiter, and its storm is the size of Jupiter's Great Red Spot," said John Gizis of the University of Delaware, Newark. "We know this newfound storm has lasted at least two years, and probably longer." Gizis is the lead author of a new study appearing in The Astrophysical Journal.

Animation above: This illustration shows a cool star, called W1906+40, marked by a raging storm near one of its poles. The storm is thought to be similar to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. Scientists discovered it using NASA's Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes. Animation Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

While planets have been known to have cloudy storms, this is the best evidence yet for a star that has one. The star, referred to as W1906+40, belongs to a thermally cool class of objects called L-dwarfs. Some L-dwarfs are considered stars because they fuse atoms and generate light, as our sun does, while others, called brown dwarfs, are known as "failed stars" for their lack of atomic fusion.

The L-dwarf in the study, W1906+40, is thought to be a star based on estimates of its age (the older the L-dwarf, the more likely it is a star). Its temperature is about 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (2,200 Kelvin). That may sound scorching hot, but as far as stars go, it is relatively cool. Cool enough, in fact, for clouds to form in its atmosphere.

"The L-dwarf's clouds are made of tiny minerals," said Gizis.

Spitzer has observed other cloudy brown dwarfs before, finding evidence for short-lived storms lasting hours and perhaps days.

In the new study, the astronomers were able to study changes in the atmosphere of W1906+40 for two years. The L-dwarf had initially been discovered by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer in 2011. Later, Gizis and his team realized that this object happened to be located in the same area of the sky where NASA's Kepler mission had been staring at stars for years to hunt for planets.

Kepler Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASA

Kepler identifies planets by looking for dips in starlight as planets pass in front of their stars. In this case, astronomers knew observed dips in starlight weren't coming from planets, but they thought they might be looking at a star spot -- which, like our sun's "sunspots," are a result of concentrated magnetic fields. Star spots would also cause dips in starlight as they rotate around the star.

Follow-up observations with Spitzer, which detects infrared light, revealed that the dark patch was not a magnetic star spot but a colossal, cloudy storm with a diameter that could hold three Earths. The storm rotates around the star about every 9 hours. Spitzer's infrared measurements at two infrared wavelengths probed different layers of the atmosphere and, together with the Kepler visible-light data, helped reveal the presence of the storm.

Spitzer Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASA

While this storm looks different when viewed at various wavelengths, astronomers say that if we could somehow travel there in a starship, it would look like a dark mark near the polar top of the star.

The researchers plan to look for other stormy stars and brown dwarfs using Spitzer and Kepler in the future.

"We don't know if this kind of star storm is unique or common, and we don't why it persists for so long," said Gizis.

Other authors of the study are: Adam Burgasser--University of California, San Diego; Kelle Cruz, Sara Camnasio and Munazza Alam--Hunter College, New York City, New York; Stanimir Metchev--University of Western Ontario, Canada; Edo Berger and Peter Williams--Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Kyle Dettman--University of Delaware, Newark; and Joseph Filippazzo--College of Staten Island, New York.

NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, manages the Kepler and K2 missions for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. JPL managed Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. operates the flight system with support from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

JPL manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech.

Related article:

Stormy Stars? NASA's Spitzer Probes Weather on Brown Dwarfs:
http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2014/01/stormy-stars-nasas-spitzer-probes.html

Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about Kepler and Spitzer visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer

Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/JPL/Whitney Clavin/Ames Research Center/Michele Johnson/Tony Greicius.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

What Spawned the Jellyfish Nebula?

NASA - Chandra X-ray Observatory patch.

Dec. 10, 2015

The Jellyfish Nebula, also known by its official name IC 443, is the remnant of a supernova lying 5,000 light years from Earth. New Chandra observations show that the explosion that created the Jellyfish Nebula may have also formed a peculiar object located on the southern edge of the remnant, called CXOU J061705.3+222127, or J0617 for short. The object is likely a rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar.

When a massive star runs out of thermonuclear fuel, it implodes, forming a dense stellar core called a neutron star. The outer layers of the star collapse toward the neutron star then bounce outward in a supernova explosion. A spinning neutron star that produces a beam of radiation is called a pulsar. The radiation sweeps by like a beacon of light from a lighthouse and can be detected as pulses of radio waves and other types of radiation.

This new composite image includes a wide-field view from an astrophotographer that shows the spectacular filamentary structure of IC 443. Within the inset box, another optical image from the Digitized Sky Survey (red, green, orange, and cyan) has been combined with X-ray data from Chandra (blue). The inset shows a close-up view of the region around J0617.

The Chandra image reveals a small, circular structure (or ring) surrounding the pulsar and a jet-like feature pointing roughly in an up-down direction that passes through the pulsar. It is unclear if the long, pink wisp of optical emission is related to the pulsar, as similar wisps found in IC 443 are unrelated to X-ray features from the pulsar.  The ring may show a region where a high speed wind of particles flowing away from the pulsar, is slowing down abruptly. Alternately, the ring may represent a shock wave, similar to a sonic boom, ahead of the pulsar wind. The jet could be particles that are being fired away from the pulsar in a narrow beam at high speed.

The X-ray brightness of J0617 and its X-ray spectrum, or the amount of X-rays at different wavelengths, are consistent with the profiles from known pulsars. The spectrum and shape of the diffuse, or spread out, X-ray emission surrounding J0617 and extending well beyond the ring also match with expectations for a wind flowing from a pulsar.

The comet-like shape of the diffuse X-ray emission suggests motion towards the lower right of the image. As pointed out in previous studies, this orientation is about 50 degrees away from the direction expected if the pulsar was moving away from the center of the supernova remnant in a straight line. This misalignment has cast some doubt on the association of the pulsar with the supernova remnant. However, this misalignment could also be explained by movement towards the left of material in the supernova remnant pushing J0617’s cometary tail aside.

Chandra X-ray Observatory

This latest research points to an estimate for the age of the supernova remnant to be tens of thousands of years. This agrees with previous work that pegged IC 443’s age to be about 30,000 years. However, other scientists have inferred much younger ages of about 3,000 years for this supernova remnant, so its true age remains in question.

These findings are available in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal and is available online (http://arxiv.org/abs/1506.05507). The authors are Douglas Swartz (Marshall Space Flight Center), George Pavlov (Penn State University), Tracy Clarke (Naval Research Laboratory), Gabriela Castelletti (IAEF, Argentina), Vyacheslav Zavlin (MSFC), Niccolo Bucciantini (INAF, Italy), Margarita Karovska (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory), Alexander van der Horst (George Washington University), Mihoko Yukita (Goddard Space Flight Center), and Martin Weisskopf (MSFC).

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra's science and flight operations.

Read More from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2015/ic443/

For more Chandra images, multimedia and related materials, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/chandra

Images, Text, Credits: NASA/Lee Mohon/Wide Field Optical: Focal Pointe Observatory/B.Franke, Inset X-ray: NASA/CXC/MSFC/D.Swartz et al, Inset Optical: DSS, SARA.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Satellite Animation Shows Series of Storms Pummel Pacific Northwest

NOAA / NASA - GOES Mission logo.

Dec. 9, 2015

An animation of satellite imagery over the course of 10 days shows a series of low pressure areas pummeling the Pacific Northwest. The video, created by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland combined visible and infrared imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite.

GOES-15 Video of Storms Buffeting the Pacific Northwest

Video above: This animation of imagery from NOAA's GOES-15 shows a series of storms buffeting the Pacific Northwestern U.S. from Nov. 29 to early Dec. 9. Video Credits: NASA/NOAA GOES Project.

The animation shows a series of storms buffeting the Pacific Northwestern U.S. from Nov. 29 to Dec. 9, 2015.

The National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center (NWS NPC) in College Park, Maryland called it "a classic atmospheric river event" that was on-going across the pacific northwest with subtropical moisture streaming Into the region combined with a series of upper level disturbances.

On Dec. 9, National Weather Service doppler radars and surface observations showed moderate to heavy rain falling in western Washington and northwestern Oregon. Light to moderate rain, along with snow in higher elevations was also falling across portions of the northern inter-mountain west and northern Rockies.

Image above: This image from NOAA's GOES-15 on Dec. 9 at 1545 UTC (10:45 a.m. EST) shows the latest in a series of storms that have been affecting the Pacific Northwestern U.S. Image Credits: NASA/NOAA GOES Project.

On Dec. 9, there were a lot of watches and warnings in the region. Flood watches, warnings and flood advisories were in effect for portions of the Pacific Northwest as well as parts of northern California and northern Idaho. Winter storm watches and warnings were in effect for the Sierra Nevada Range in California and parts of the intermountain west. High wind watches, warnings and wind advisories were in effect for portions of the northwest U.S., especially in the higher terrain.

NWS Portland said that the active weather pattern will likely continue through Tuesday, Dec. 15, as a series of systems push across the Pacific Northwest. Models continue to bring more rain and cascade snow to the region this weekend.

Related links:

GOES (Geostationary Environmental Operational Satellites): http://www.nasa.gov/goes/

Goddard Space Flight Center: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html

Image (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Rob Gutro/Lynn Jenner.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

New Clues to Ceres' Bright Spots and Origins

NASA - Dawn Mission patch.

Dec. 9, 2015

Ceres Rotation and Occator Crater

Video above: Dwarf planet Ceres is shown in these false-color renderings, which highlight differences in surface materials. Images from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft were used to create a movie of Ceres rotating, followed by a flyover view of Occator Crater, home of Ceres’ brightest area. Video Credits: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Ceres reveals some of its well-kept secrets in two new studies in the journal Nature, thanks to data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. They include highly anticipated insights about mysterious bright features found all over the dwarf planet's surface.

In one study, scientists identify this bright material as a kind of salt. The second study suggests the detection of ammonia-rich clays, raising questions about how Ceres formed. 

About the Bright Spots

Ceres has more than 130 bright areas, and most of them are associated with impact craters. Study authors, led by Andreas Nathues at Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany, write that the bright material is consistent with a type of magnesium sulfate called hexahydrite. A different type of magnesium sulfate is familiar on Earth as Epsom salt.

Image above: This representation of Ceres' Occator Crater in false colors shows differences in the surface composition. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA.

Nathues and colleagues, using images from Dawn's framing camera, suggest that these salt-rich areas were left behind when water-ice sublimated in the past. Impacts from asteroids would have unearthed the mixture of ice and salt, they say.

"The global nature of Ceres' bright spots suggests that this world has a subsurface layer that contains briny water-ice," Nathues said.

A New Look at Occator

The surface of Ceres, whose average diameter is 584 miles (940 kilometers), is generally dark -- similar in brightness to fresh asphalt -- study authors wrote. The bright patches that pepper the surface represent a large range of brightness, with the brightest areas reflecting about 50 percent of sunlight shining on the area. But there has not been unambiguous detection of water ice on Ceres; higher-resolution data are needed to settle this question.

Image above: An image of Occator Crater draped over a digital terrain model provides a 3-D-like perspective view of the impact structure. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA.

The inner portion of a crater called Occator contains the brightest material on Ceres. Occator itself is 60 miles (90 kilometers) in diameter, and its central pit, covered by this bright material, measures about 6 miles (10 kilometers) wide and 0.3 miles (0.5 kilometers) deep. Dark streaks, possibly fractures, traverse the pit. Remnants of a central peak, which was up to 0.3 miles (0.5 kilometers) high, can also be seen.

With its sharp rim and walls, and abundant terraces and landslide deposits, Occator appears to be among the youngest features on Ceres. Dawn mission scientists estimate its age to be about 78 million years old.

Study authors write that some views of Occator appear to show a diffuse haze near the surface that fills the floor of the crater. This may be associated with observations of water vapor at Ceres by the Herschel space observatory that were reported in 2014. The haze seems to be present in views during noon, local time, and absent at dawn and dusk, study authors write. This suggests that the phenomenon resembles the activity at the surface of a comet, with water vapor lifting tiny particles of dust and residual ice. Future data and analysis may test this hypothesis and reveal clues about the process causing this activity.

Image above: A group of scientists from NASA's Dawn mission suggests that when sunlight reaches Ceres' Occator Crater, a kind of thin haze of dust and evaporating water forms there. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA.

"The Dawn science team is still discussing these results and analyzing data to better understand what is happening at Occator," said Chris Russell, principal investigator of the Dawn mission, based at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The Importance of Ammonia

In the second Nature study, members of the Dawn science team examined the composition of Ceres and found evidence for ammonia-rich clays. They used data from the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer, a device that looks at how various wavelengths of light are reflected by the surface, allowing minerals to be identified.

Ammonia ice by itself would evaporate on Ceres today, because the dwarf planet is too warm. However, ammonia molecules could be stable if present in combination with (i.e. chemically bonded to) other minerals.

The presence of ammoniated compounds raises the possibility that Ceres did not originate in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, where it currently resides, but instead might have formed in the outer solar system. Another idea is that Ceres formed close to its present position, incorporating materials that drifted in from the outer solar system – near the orbit of Neptune, where nitrogen ices are thermally stable.

"The presence of ammonia-bearing species suggests that Ceres is composed of material accreted in an environment where ammonia and nitrogen were abundant. Consequently, we think that this material originated in the outer cold solar system,” said Maria Cristina De Sanctis, lead author of the study, based at the National Institute of Astrophysics, Rome.

Image above: Oxo Crater, which is about 6 miles (9 kilometers) in diameter, is the second-brightest feature on Ceres. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA.

In comparing the spectrum of reflected light from Ceres to meteorites, scientists found some similarities. Specifically, they focused on the spectra, or chemical fingerprints, of carbonaceous chondrites, a type of carbon-rich meteorite thought to be relevant analogues for the dwarf planet. But these are not good matches for all wavelengths that the instrument sampled, the team found. In particular, there were distinctive absorption bands, matching mixtures containing ammoniated minerals, associated with wavelengths that can't be observed from Earth-based telescopes.

The scientists note another difference is that these carbonaceous chondrites have bulk water contents of 15 to 20 percent, while Ceres' content is as much as 30 percent.

"Ceres may have retained more volatiles than these meteorites, or it could have accreted the water from volatile-rich material," De Sanctis said.

The study also shows that daytime surface temperatures on Ceres span from minus 136 degrees to minus 28 degrees Fahrenheit (180 to 240 Kelvin). The maximum temperatures were measured in the equatorial region. The temperatures at and near the equator are generally too high to support ice at the surface for a long time, study authors say, but data from Dawn's next orbit will reveal more details. 

As of this week, Dawn has reached its final orbital altitude at Ceres, about 240 miles (385 kilometers) from the surface of the dwarf planet. In mid-December, Dawn will begin taking observations from this orbit, including images at a resolution of 120 feet (35 meters) per pixel, infrared, gamma ray and neutron spectra, and high-resolution gravity data.

Dawn's mission is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA. Dawn is a project of the directorate's Discovery Program, managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital ATK Inc., in Dulles, Virginia, designed and built the spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Italian Space Agency and Italian National Astrophysical Institute are international partners on the mission team.

For a complete list of mission participants, visit:

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission

More information about Dawn is available at the following sites:

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov

http://www.nasa.gov/dawn

Images (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Elizabeth Landau/Tony Greicius.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Long March 3B launches Chinasat 1C

CASC - China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation logo.

December 9, 2015

Image above: (Illustration) a Long March 3B carrier rocket carrying the ChinaSat-2C satellite blasts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Nov. 3, 2015. Image Credit: Xinhua/Zhao.

China launched the second of a new generation of tactical communications satellites. Zhongxing-1C – or Chinasat-1C – was launched at 16:46 UTC on December 9, 2015 – from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. A Long March-3B/G2 rocket was used to loft the spacecraft uphill.

Zhongxing-1C is possibly the second satellite of the second generation Fenghuo geostationary tactical military communication satellites based on the DFH-4 satellite platform.

Chinasat 1C (ZX 1C) communications satellite

China uses two types of satellites for secure military communications: the Fenghuo and the Shentong. The Fenghuo series is used for tactical military communications, providing secured digital data and voice communication to Chinese military forces.

For more information about China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), visit: http://english.spacechina.com/n16421/index.html

Images, Text, Credits: CASC/Günter Space Page/ Orbiter.ch Aerospace.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

VLT Revisits a Curious Cosmic Collision

ESO - European Southern Observatory logo.

December 9, 2015

The surroundings of the interacting galaxy NGC 5291

The spectacular aftermath of a 360 million year old cosmic collision is revealed in great detail in new images from ESO’s Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory. Among the debris is a rare and mysterious young dwarf galaxy. This galaxy is providing astronomers with an excellent opportunity to learn more about similar galaxies that are expected to be common in the early Universe, but are normally too faint and distant to be observed by current telescopes.

NGC 5291, the hazy, golden oval dominating the centre of this image, is an elliptical galaxy located nearly 200 million light-years away in the constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur). Over 360 million years ago, NGC 5291 was involved in a dramatic and violent collision as another galaxy travelling at immense speeds barrelled into its core. The cosmic crash ejected huge streams of gas into nearby space, which later coalesced into a ring formation around NGC 5291 [1].

The interacting galaxy NGC 5291 in the constellation of Centaurus

Over time, material in this ring gathered and collapsed into dozens of star-forming regions and several dwarf galaxies, revealed as pale blue and white regions scattered around NGC 5291 in this new image from the FORS instrument, mounted on the VLT. The most massive and luminous clump of material, to the right of NGC 5291, is one of these dwarf galaxies and is known as NGC 5291N.

The Milky Way, like all large galaxies, is believed to have formed through the build-up of smaller dwarf galaxies in the early years of the Universe. These small galaxies, if they have survived on their own up to the present day, now normally contain many extremely old stars.

Wide-field view of the sky around the interacting galaxy NGC 5291

Yet NGC 5291N appears to contain no old stars. Detailed observations with the MUSE spectrograph [2] also found that the outer parts of the galaxy had properties typically associated with the formation of new stars, but what was observed is not predicted by current theoretical models. Astronomers suspect that these unusual aspects may be the result of massive collisions of gas in the region.

NGC 5291N doesn’t look like a typical dwarf galaxy, but instead it shares a striking number of similarities with the clumpy structures present within many of the star-forming galaxies in the distant Universe. This makes it a unique system in our local Universe and an important laboratory for the study of early gas-rich galaxies, which are normally much too distant to be observed in detail by current telescopes.

The surroundings of the interacting galaxy NGC 5291 (annotated)

This unusual system has previously been observed by a wide range of ground-based facilities, including ESO’s 3.6-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory [3]. However, the capabilities of MUSE, FORS and the Very Large Telescope have only now allowed some of the history and properties of NGC 5291N to be determined.

Zooming in on the interacting galaxy system NGC 5291

Future observations, including those by ESO’s European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), may allow astronomers to further unravel this dwarf galaxy’s remaining mysteries.

Close-up view of the surroundings of the interacting galaxy NGC 5291

Notes:

[1] NGC 5291 is currently also interacting more gently with MCG-05-33-005 — or the Seashell Galaxy — the unusual comma-shaped galaxy appearing to leech off NGC 5291’s luminous core.

[2] NGC 5291N was observed using integral field spectrography during MUSE’s first Science Verification run. Integral field spectrography collects a spectrum at every point on the sky, providing a powerful three-dimensional view of the target. The MUSE observations revealed unexpected oxygen and hydrogen emission lines in the outskirts of NGC 5291N.

[3] NGC 5291 was studied by astronomers using ESO’s 3.6-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory back in 1978. These observations revealed large amounts of material in the intergalactic space around the galaxy, which we now know to be the star-forming regions and several dwarf galaxies created from the collapse of the galaxy’s gaseous ring.

More information:

This research was presented in a paper entitled “Ionization processes in a local analogue of distant clumpy galaxies: VLT MUSE IFU spectroscopy and FORS deep images of the TDG NGC 5291N”, by J. Fensch et al., to appear in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

The team is composed of J. Fensch (Laboratoire AIM Paris-Saclay, CEA/IRFU/SAp, Universite Paris Diderot, Gif-sur-Yvette, France [CEA]), P.-A. Duc (CEA) , P. M. Weilbacher (Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik, Potsdam, Germany), M. Boquien (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile) and E. Zackrisson (Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden).

ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It is supported by 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world’s most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the world’s largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. ESO is a major partner in ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre European Extremely Large Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.

Links:

- Research paper: http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1547/eso1547a.pdf

- Photos of the ESO Very Large Telescope: https://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/category/paranal/

Related links:

FORS instrument: http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/vlt/vlt-instr/fors/

MUSE spectrograph: http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/vlt/vlt-instr/muse/

ESO’s 3.6-metre telescope: http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/

La Silla Observatory: http://eso.org/lasilla

ESO’s European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT): http://eso.org/public/teles-instr/e-elt/

Images, Text, Credits: ESO/IAU and Sky & Telescope/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin/Videos: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org).

Greetings, Orbiter.ch