The Antiope doublet
VLT observations of the double asteroid (90) Antiope during 2004. The adaptive optics NACO instrument was used, allowing the astronomers to perfectly distinguish the two components and so, precisely determine the orbit. The two objects are separated by 171 km, and they perform their celestial...
The spiral galaxy NGC 5584 and SN 2007af
This image is a colour-composite of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 5584. It is based on data collected by the Paranal Science Team with the FORS1 instrument on Kueyen, the second 8.2-m Unit Telescope of ESO's Very Large Telescope. The supernova SN 2007af is the bright object seen slightly below...
The cluster collinder 261
Field around the old open cluster Collinder 261 (upper centre), seen in the red filtre.
The newly identified cluster
Colour-composite image of the newly discovered globular cluster candidate FSR 1735 in the inner parts of the Milky Way. The cluster is the circular regions of stars and enhanced brightness in the centre of the image. The image is based on data obtained through three near-infrared filters (J, H,...
The overlooked dwarf and its apparent companion
Colour image of the two galaxies NGC 5011B (top) and NGC 5011C (bottom blue galaxy). NGC 5011C is a dwarf galaxy located in the Centaurus A group, while its companion on the sky is in fact an S0 galaxy, located 12 times further away and belonging to the Centaurus cluster of galaxies. The...
Light echoes around SN1987A
Light Echoes around SN1987A.
A ring around SN1987A
Image of SN1987A obtained at different times in the near-infrared with ESO's telescopes. The two first images were taken with the 2.2-m telescope at La Silla with the IRAC instrument, 2468 and 2865 days, respectively, after the explosion. The third image, obtained in October 2006 or 7170 days...
Nebula around SN1987A
Nebula around SN1987A.
RS Ophiuchi in outburst
Radio map and VLTI measurements of the outburst of the binary system RS Ophiuchi. The characteristics dimensions measured with AMBER on the VLT Interferometer are shown as the blue, yellow and red lines - corresponding to different wavelengths. They are overplotted on a radio map of the same...
Central parts of comet McNaught
Imaging of the central coma of Comet McNaught. Left: a raw image taken through a filter centred on the emission by CN gas. Middle: the CN image processed using the Larson-Sekanina algorithm to reveal spiral jets of gas from the nucleus. Right: A similarly processed image of the dust in the...
SN1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Image obtained with the ESO Schmidt Telescope of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Supernova 1987A is clearly visible as the very bright star in the middle right. At the time of this image, the supernova was visible with the unaided eye.
Triple quasar QQQ 1429-008
Using ESO's Very Large Telescope and the W.M. Keck Observatory, astronomers at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland and the California Institute of Technology, USA, have discovered what appears to be the first known triplet of quasars. This close trio of supermassive...
SN 1987A and the Honeycomb Nebula
The brightest supernova which has exploded in the current epoch is SN 1987A, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, at the edge of the Tarantula nebula. The explosion was seen on 23 February 1987 and since then the ejected material has created a set of ring structures. The outer ring is clearly...
GRB 060505
Three-colour image (B, V, and R-band) of the gamma-ray burst observed on 5 May 2006, GRB 060505, with FORS on the VLT. The galaxy is a spiral galaxy at a distance of 1,300 million light-years. The yellow arrow on the zoomed-in image (ESO Press Photo eso0649) shows where the star exploded,...
GRB 060614
Three-colour (V, R, and I-bands) image of the gamma-ray burst GRB 060614 as observed with FORS on ESO's Very Large Telescope. The gamma-ray burst is seen in the upper middle of the image. The two images were taken at different times: left, on the night of 15 June 2006 (1.7 days after the...
The companion to HD 3651
The SofI small field image of the planet host star HD 3651, taken in June 2006 in the H-band. The co-moving companion HD 3651B is indicated with a white circle.
The topsy-turvy galaxy NGC 1313*
The central parts of the starburst galaxy NGC 1313. The very active state of this galaxy is very evident from the image, showing many star formation regions. A great number of supershell nebulae, that is, cocoon of gas inflated and etched by successive bursts of star formation, are visible. The...
Larger field around NGC 1313
Larger region of the sky around the starburst galaxy NGC 1313 showing the larger scale disturbance of the galaxy. The galaxy shows some large deformations in the lower right part of the image, while diffuse matter is also present at the top of the image. All this signals a very tormented past...
The field around Baade's window
Part of one of the four regions of the sky in the direction of the Galactic Bulge in which the astronomers measured the iron and oxygen abundances in stars. This particular field is in the vicinity of the so-called 'Baade's Window', a region with relatively low amounts of interstellar "dust"...
Globular cluster NGC 6397
This image shows the nearby metal-poor globular cluster NGC 6397, located at a distance of approx. 7,200 light-years in the southern constellation Ara. Some of the FLAMES-UVES target stars are highlighted with yellow squares. The photo is a composite of exposures in the B-, V- and I-bands...
Emission of the galaxy BzK-15504
H-alpha line emission of the galaxy BzK-15504, at cosmological redshift of 2.38, corresponding to a time of 3 billion years after the Big Bang. The colours show whether the ionised gas is moving away from us (red), toward us (blue) or is stationary (green), relative to the overall rest frame of...
The field around SN2006aj
Region of the sky around the newly discovered X-ray flash/Supernova SN2006aj. The left image comes from the DSS2 survey and is taken in the red filter. The image was taken prior to the explosion and shows at the position of the flash (circle) the tiny host galaxy. The right image shows the VLT...
Maps of BzK-15504
SINFONI maps of H-alphaline emission in BzK-15504, separated in 65 km/s bins of Doppler velocity (marked at the bottom left of each image) and centred on the systemic cosmological redshift of the galaxy (z=2.38). North is up and East is to the left, and a bar marks the angular scale of 0.5"....
The system Oph 1622
Near-infrared image of the system Oph 162225-240515AB, obtained with ISAAC on ESO's Very Large Telescope. North is up and East is to the left. The apparent separation is less than 2 arcseconds, corresponding to 242 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun (242 astronomical units) at the...
The spectacular spiral galaxy ESO 269-G57
Located about 155 million light-years away towards the southern constellation Centaurus (the Centaur), ESO 269-G57 is a spectacular spiral galaxy of symmetrical shape that belongs to a well-known cluster of galaxies seen in this direction. An inner 'ring', of several tightly wound spiral arms,...
The irregular galaxy NGC 1427A
Colour composite image of NGC 1427A, based on observations collected with FORS1 in Service mode for Andreas Reisenegger and his colleagues in November 2002 and January 2003. A very tenuous galaxy is also visible in the upper right corner. For the blue, green and red channels the U, V and...
The starburst galaxy NGC 908
NGC 908, located 65 million light-years towards the constellation of Cetus (the Whale). This spiral galaxy, discovered in 1786 by William Herschel, is a so-called starburst galaxy, that is, a galaxy undergoing a phase where it spawns stars at a frantic rate. Clusters of young and massive stars...
Hydrogen gas falling onto a dark matter clump?
Sky field around the newly discovered 'blob'. The left image shows an HST image of part of the GOODS field, centred on the position of this unusal object. The two bottom right images show the same field observed in the B (blue) and R (red) bands with the ESO/MPG 2.2-m telescope at La Silla. In...
Faint red galaxy in the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey
Zooming into one tiny section of the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey, revealing a faint red galaxy which is believed to be at a distance of 12 billion light years. The full survey covers a region approximately four times the area of the full moon. The colour image was produced by combining infrared...
The hooked galaxy and its companion
Composite image based on data acquired with the FORS1 multi-mode instrument in April and May 2006 for the European Supernova Collaboration. The observations were made in four different filters (B, V, R, and I) that were combined to make a colour image. The field of view covers 5.6 x 8.3 arcmin....
The 2M1207 system
Two new studies, based on observations made with ESO's telescopes, show that objects only a few times more massive than Jupiter are born with discs of dust and gas, the raw material for planet making. This suggests that miniature versions of the solar system may circle objects that are some 100...
The hooked galaxy and its companion - annotated image
Annotated version of ESO Press Photo eso0622. The two interacting galaxies and the location of SN 2005cf are indicated. When the supernova exploded, more than a year ago, it was almost as bright as its host galaxy. One year later, it is much dimmer and can only be studied with the largest...
Phase folded measurements of HD 69830
The HARPS radial velocity measurements of HD 69830 are folded with the orbital periods of the three discovered planets: 8.67, 31.6 and 197 days, respectively. In each case, the contribution of the two other planets has been subtracted. The solid line shows the best fit to the measurements,...
Mini-comets coming off comet SW-3
Image of Fragment B and associated mini-comets. This is a digitally-enhanced zoom-in version of ESO Press Photo eso0615 to show in a better way some of the smaller fragments. An arrow indicates the fragments that could be seen, including the main one - on top, the two just below that have just...
Fragment B of comet SW-3
Image of the broken fragments surrounding Fragment B of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 observed with FORS1 on ESO's VLT in four filters (B, V, R, and I). As the telescope was tracking the comet, the stars appear as coloured trails, indicating the order in which the comet was observed in the...
Broken fragments of Comet SW-3
Image of the broken fragments surrounding Fragment B of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 observed with FORS1 on ESO's VLT in three filters (B - blue, V - green, and R - red). As the telescope was tracking the comet, the stars appear as coloured trails, indicating the order in which the comet...
The DPS Deep 3 Field (detail)
Detail of a portion of the Deep 3 field, showing the large variety of shapes and colours of the very numerous galaxies present in the image. The amount of details of the original image is such that this small portion can still be shown in very high resolution.
Tarantula's central cluster, R136
Inside the giant emission nebula lies a cluster of young, massive and hot stars, denoted R 136, whose intense ultra-violet radiation and strong winds make the nebula glow, shaping it in the form of a giant arachnid. The cluster is about 2 to 3 million years old. Several of the brighter members...
The stellar cluster Hodge 301
Above and to the right of the central cluster in the Tarantula Nebula, another cluster of bright, massive stars is seen. Known to astronomers as Hodge 301, it is about 20 million years old, or about 10 times older than R136. The more massive stars of Hodge 301 have therefore already exploded as...
The Deep 3 'empty' field
Colour image of the Deep 3 'empty' field observed with the Wide-Field Camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at La Silla. The image is the combination of 714 frames for a total exposure time of 64.5 hours obtained through four different filters (B, V, R, and I). It consists of four adjacent...
Cosmic spider: the Tarantula Nebula
Three-colour image of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The image is based on observations made on 10 February 2002 and 22 March 2003 with the FORS1 multi-mode instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope in three different narrow-band filters (centred on 485 nm, 503 nm, and 657...
Red Bubbles in Tarantula Nebula
The star that blows the material making this reddish bubble is thought to be 20 times more massive, 130 000 times more luminous, 10 times larger and 6 times hotter than our Sun. A possible fainter example of such a bubble is also visible just above the large red bubble in the image.
Galaxy ESO 570-19 and variable star UW Crateris
Part of the Deep 3 Deep Public Survey field, showing the brightest galaxy in the field ESO 570-19 (upper left) and the brightest star UW Crateris. This red giant (upper right) is a variable star that is about 8 times fainter than what the unaided eye can see. An 'S'-shaped ensemble of galaxies...
Images of SCR 1845-6357 A and B in different filters (NACO-SDI/VLT)
A movie of the SDI camera's images of the low mass star SCR 1845A and its companion, SCR 1845B. Note how the brown dwarf companion (B) is clearly changing in brightness in and out of the SDI methane filters. This proves that B is methane-rich and is thus a rare cool low-mass brown dwarf...
Gas pillars in Tarantula Nebula
Zoom-in on gas pillars in the Tarantula Nebula. Some structures have the appearance of elephant trunks, not unlike the famous and fertile "Pillars of Creation" at the top of which stars are forming.
The system SCR 1845-6357 (NACO-SDI/VLT)
Three-colour image of SCR1845-6357AB generated from the SDI filter images (blue=1.575 micron, green=1.600 micron, red=1.625 micron). Since the T-dwarf fades away towards the longer wavelengths, it appears quite blue in this image. It is roughly 50 times fainter than the star and is separated...
Mapping distant galaxies
Three examples of results obtained with GIRAFFE on distant galaxies. In the first column, images of galaxies as obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope are shown. The second column is the velocity field as deduced from GIRAFFE observations : the reddish parts show material moving away from us...
Twin explosions in gigantic dusty potato crisp
The beautiful edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3190 with tightly wound arms and a warped shape that makes it resemble a gigantic potato crisp, as seen by ESO's Very Large Telescope. Supernova SN 2002bo is found in between the 'V' of the dust lanes in the south-western part of NGC 3190. SN 2002cv is...
Model image of Cepheid L Carinae
Two model images of the Cepheid star L Carinae as deduced from the interferometric observations: in the near-infrared from VINCI measurements (left) and in the mid-infrared from MIDI (right). In both cases, an envelope is found to surround the star. The contribution from the envelope is about...
SN 2006X in Messier 100
Comparison between two images of Messier 100, taken in March 2002 with the VIMOS instrument on Melipal (VLT) and in February 2006 with FORS1 on Kueyen (VLT). The difference in colours comes from the different filters used. The supernova SN 2006X is clearly present in the FORS1 image as the...
The central part of Messier 12
Centre of the globular cluster Messier 12 as observed with the FORS-1 multi-mode instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope (Cerro Paranal, Chile). The picture covers a region of about 3.5 arcmin on a side, corresponding to about 23 light-years at the distance of Messier 12. It is based on data...
Spiral galaxy Messier 100
Composite based on five images taken with FORS1 on Kueyen (VLT) by Dominique Naef, Eric Depagne and Chris Lidman (ESO). The images were taken through different filters: U, V, R, I, and a narrow-band filter centred on the H-alpha line. The exposure time is 60 seconds in the V, R and I filters, 3...
Open cluster Haffner 18
Open stellar cluster Haffner 18, perfectly illustrating three different stages of this process of star formation : in the centre of the picture, Haffner 18, a group of mature stars that have already dispersed their birth nebulae, represents the completed product or immediate past of the star...
Pluto-Charon system
A composite of 13x13 arcsec wide images taken with the adaptive optics camera NACO on Yepun, one of the Unit Telescopes of ESO's VLT (Paranal). The images were taken in the K-band (2.2 microns) from about three hours to about one hour before the occultation. All images were centred on Pluto and...
Star ejected from the Large Magellanic Cloud (artist''s view)
Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have recorded a massive star moving at more than 2.6 million kilometres per hour. Stars are not born with such large velocities. Its position in the sky leads to the suggestion that the star was kicked out from the Large Magellanic Cloud, providing...
Robert's Quartet
Robert's Quartet is a family of four very different galaxies, located at a distance of about 160 million light-years, close to the centre of the southern constellation of the Phoenix. Its members are NGC 87, NGC 88, NGC 89 and NGC 92, discovered by John Herschel in the 1830s. NGC 87 (upper...
NGC 92 in H-alpha
The largest member of the galaxy group known as Robert''s Quartet is NGC 92, a spiral Sa galaxy with an unusual appearance. One of its arms, about 100,000 light-years long, has been distorted by interactions and contains a large quantity of dust. Using this H-alpha image obtained with FORS2 on...
The centre of the active galaxy NGC 1097
Colour-composite image of the central 5,500 light-years wide region of the spiral galaxy NGC 1097, obtained with the NACO adaptive optics on the VLT. More than 300 star forming regions - white spots in the image - are distributed along a ring of dust and gas in the image. At the centre of the...
First visible light from GRB 050709
First image in the visible (more precisely here, in the so-called R-band) of a short gamma-ray burst. The image was taken with the Danish 1.5-m telescope and the DFOSC camera at La Silla on 11 July 2005. It shows the gamma-ray burst to be situated on the edge of a low-redshift galaxy.
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