Quasar HE 1013-2136 with tidal tails
This photograph shows an image of the Quasar HE 1013-2136 (center) and its surroundings sharpened with a computer algorithm to bring out more details in the immediate neighbourhood of the quasar. Now numerous details can be recognized within the two tidal tails, including various knotty...
Very young brown dwarfs in the Orion Nebula
This is an animated GIF of a colour composite of near-infrared images of the central regions of the Orion Nebula and its corresponding finding chart, obtained on March 14, 2000, with the SOFI instrument at the ESO 3.5-m New Technology Telescope (NTT) at La Silla. Three exposures were made...
Jupiter and Io
This is a thermal-infrared image of Jupiter, obtained by the ISAAC multi-mode instrument at the 8.2-m VLT ANTU telescope on Paranal on November 14, 2000; the Universal Time (UT) of exposure is indicated. It is part of a series of images showing the dramatically different appearance of...
Three nuclei of comet LINEAR
This photograph shows the three nuclei of Comet LINEAR (C/2001 A2). It is a reproduction of a 1-min exposure in red light, obtained in the early evening of May 16, 2001, with the 8.2-m VLT YEPUN (UT4) telescope at Paranal. Technical information: this image is based on a 1-min exposure on May...
The break-up of comet LINEAR
This photograph shows the three nuclei of Comet LINEAR (C/2001 A2), but in a false-colour rendering for more clarity. The cometary fragment "B" (right) has split into "B1" and "B2" (separation about 1 arcsec, or 500 km) while fragment "A" (upper left) is considerably fainter. Technical...
A group of objects at redshift 3.04
This is a "true-colour" image of part of the sky field near the quasar Q 1205-30. Red, blue and yellow objects are displayed with their true colours, while objects at a redshift of about 3 and with strong Lyman-alpha emission lines have a bright green colour (see the text). Six Lyman-alpha...
The sky area of EROS-BLG-2000-5
This is a photo of the sky area around the microlensing event EROS-BLG-2000-5 (indicated, near the centre). Technical information: this image shows a 0.25-sec acquisition exposure of EROS-BLG-2000-5, obtained with VLT ANTU + FORS1 in order to set up the spectrograph slit for the subsequent...
Interacting galaxies in the Capodimonte Deep Field
This is an image of interacting galaxies that are seen in the Capodimonte Deep Field. The enlargement covers 1250 x 1130 WFI pixels (1 pixel = 0.24 arcsec), or about 5.0 x 4.5 arcmin 2 in the sky. The lower spiral is itself an interactive double. Technical information: this image displays...
Celestial objects in the Capodimonte Deep Field
This image shows a spiral galaxy and a nebulous object in the Capodimonte Deep Field. The field shown covers 1250 x 750 pixels, or about 5 x 3 arcmin 2 in the sky. Note the very red objects next to the two bright stars in the lower-right corner. The colours of these objects are consistent with...
Lithium-6 in HD 82943
This chart represents the spectrum of HD 82943, showing the region around the Lithium absorption line. The general shape of this spectral line is caused by Lithium-7 atoms in the atmosphere of the star, while the presence of Lithium-6 causes a certain asymmetry. Model computations have been...
The Capodimonte Deep Field
This image shows an enlargement of an elliptical galaxy that is located to the west (right) in the Capodimonte Deep Field. The numerous tiny objects surrounding the galaxy may be globular clusters. The fuzzy object on the right edge of the field may be a dwarf spheroidal galaxy. The size of the...
The Eagle's EGGs *
Messier 16 (M16), also known as the Eagle Nebula, is located in the southern constellation of Serpens (the Snake). Using the infrared multi-mode ISAAC instrument on the 8.2-m VLT ANTU telescope, European astronomers were able to image the Eagle Nebula at near-infrared wavelength. The ISAAC...
Galaxy cluster in the Capodimonte Deep Field
This image shows an enlargement of a moderately distant galaxy cluster in the south-east quadrant (lower left) of the Capodimonte Deep Field. The field measures 1380 x 1260 pixels, or about 5.5 x 5.0 arcmin 2 in the sky. Technical information: this image displays selected areas of the field...
The Capodimonte Deep Field
This is a three-colour image of about 1/4 of the Capodimonte Deep Field (OACDF) obtained with the Wide-Field Imager (WFI) on the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at the la Silla Observatory. It covers "OACDF Subfield no. 2 (OACDF2)" with an area of about 35 x 32 arcmin 2 (about the size of the full...
A VLT spectrum of EROS-BLG-2000-5
This chart shows a spectrum of EROS-BLG-2000-5, obtained with the FORS1 multi-mode instrument at the 8.2-m VLT ANTU telescope at Paranal on June 25, 2000, before the second caustic crossing described in the text. A small part of the spectrum around the H-alpha line at wavelength 656.2 nm is...
BN/KL complex in the Orion Nebula
This is one of a series of mid-infrared images of the BN/KL complex, a star-forming region deep inside the Orion Nebula, obtained with ESO's Thermal Infrared MultiMode Instrument (TIMMI2), mounted at the Cassegrain focus of the 3.6-m telescope on La Silla. The area is located close to the...
BN/KL complex in the Orion Nebula
This is one of series of mid-infrared images of the BN/KL complex, a star-forming region deep inside the Orion Nebula, obtained with ESO's Thermal Infrared MultiMode Instrument (TIMMI2), mounted at the Cassegrain focus of the 3.6-m telescope on La Silla. The area is located close to the...
BN/KL complex in the Orion Nebula
This is one of a series of mid-infrared images of the BN/KL complex, a star-forming region deep inside the Orion Nebula obtained with ESO''s Thermal Infrared MultiMode Instrument (TIMMI2), mounted at the Cassegrain focus of the 3.6-m telescope on La Silla. The area is located close to the...
Galaxy cluster in the Capodimonte Deep Field
This is an enlargement of a galaxy cluster of the Capodimonte Deep Field, which most members are located in the north-east quadrant (upper left) and have a reddish colour. The nebulous object to the upper left is a dwarf galaxy of spheroidal shape. The red object, located near the centre of the...
ISAAC spectrum of the centre of Centaurus A
Two wavelength regions of one of the infrared ISAAC spectra of the center of Centaurus A. The direction of the long spectrograph slit is vertical and the dispersion (wavelength) direction is horizontal; longer wavelengths are towards the right. The two emission lines shown originate in singly...
The heavily obscured centre of Centaurus A
A small area in the direction of the heavily obscured centre of the peculiar radio galaxy Centaurus A, as seen in visual light. It measures about 80 x 80 arcsec 2, or 4400 x 4400 light-year 2 at the distance of this galaxy, and has been reproduced from exposures made with the FORS2 multi-mode...
Optical and IR images of the type II quasar CXOCDFS J033229.9 -275106
Optical/infrared images in three wavebands ('Blue', 'Red', 'Infrared') from ESO telescopes of the Type II Quasar CXOCDFS J033229.9 -275106 (at the centre), one of the distant X-ray sources identified in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) area during the present study.
Comet Hale-Bopp
Image of the comet Hale Bopp that has been enhanced to show these faintest parts better. The frames on which this photo is based were obtained during three nights (February 27-March 2, 2001). As the comet moved in the meantime, there are several images of each star in the field — they appear...
Comet Hale-Bopp, at a distance of nearly 2,000 million kilometres from the Sun
Comet Hale-Bopp, still active at a distance of nearly 2,000 million kilometres from the Sun. The photo is a colour composite of several exposures in different wavebands, obtained with the Wide-Field Imager (WFI) camera at the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at the La Silla Observatory. Despite the very...
The Milky Way star field around CS 31082-001
The Milky Way star field around CS 31082-001, the 12th-magnitude star at the centre. The "cross" is caused by reflections in the telescope optics, a typical effect for relatively bright stars.
Spectra of dwarf stars in NGC 6752
A series of spectra of dwarf stars in the globular cluster NGC 6752, obtained with the UVES high-dispersion spectrograph at the 8.2-m VLT KUEYEN telescope. Sodium (Na) and Oxygen (O) lines are marked, and the spectra are arranged according to the strength of the Sodium lines, with the...
Observed spectrum of the old star CS 31082-001
The observed spectrum (dots) of the old star CS 31082-001 in the region of the uranium (U II) line at 385.96 nm. The origin of some of the other spectral lines in the region is also indicated (e.g. iron, neodymium). The synthetic spectrum (thin line) was computed for the adopted abundances of...
The Orion Nebula and Trapezium cluster (detail)
This image shows smaller, particularly interesting areas of ESO Press Photo eso0104a. The traces of a massive outflow of gas from a very young object embedded in the dense molecular cloud behind the Orion Nebula. Shards of gas from the explosion create shocks and leave bow-waves as they move at...
Giant interacting galaxies NGC 6872/IC 4970
Three-colour composite reproduced from one blue (B), one green-yellow (V) and one red (R) exposure, obtained with FORS1 at ANTU in the morning of March 29, 1999. The field size is again 6.8x6.8 arcmin 2 . It shows the spectacular barred spiral galaxy NGC 6872 that is shaped like an "integral...
The globular cluster NGC 6752
An image of the globular cluster NGC 6752 ; stars for which spectra were obtained in the present programme are marked by small circles (only visible in the high-resolution version of this photo). NGC 6752 is a typical globular cluster, containing many hundreds of thousands of stars, of which...
The Orion Nebula: The jewel in the sword
This image shows smaller, particularly interesting areas of ESO Press Photo eso0104a. It shows the delicate tracery created at the so-called Bright Bar, as the intense UV-light and strong winds from the hot Trapezium stars eat their way into the surrounding molecular cloud. Also visible are a...
Orion Nebula detail
ESO Press Photo eso0104d shows a small section of the observational data (in one infrared spectral band only, here reproduced in B/W) on which ESO Press Photo eso0104a is based. The field is centred on one of the famous Orion silhouette disks (Orion 114-426) (it is located approximately...
Bok globule B68
ESO Press Photo eso0102 shows a comparison of the central area of globule B68 in a colour composite of visible and near-infrared on the left and a false-colour composite based on a visible (here rendered as blue), a near-infrared (green) and an infrared (red) on the right.
Spectrum of quasar PKS 1232+0815 with neutral carbon lines at z=2.34
A small part of the spectrum of the distant quasar PKS 1232+0815, as obtained with the UVES spectrograph at the 8.2-m VLT KUEYEN telescope at Paranal. Some carbon absorption lines from an intervening cloud are identified, that are sensitive to the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR)....
The Orion Nebula*
This photo shows a colour composite mosaic image of the central part of the Orion Nebula, based on 81 images obtained with the infrared multi-mode ISAAC instrument on the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory. The famous Trapezium stars are seen near the centre and the photo...
Massive spiral galaxy ISOHDFS 27
This photo is reproduced from an optical image of the distant galaxy ISOHDFS 27, obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The angular size of this galaxy is about 7 arcsec, corresponding to about 130,000 light-years (40 kpc) at the distance of the galaxy, approx. 6,000 million...
Bok globule B68
This view of the dark cloud B68, a so-called Bok globule, is a false-colour composite based on a visible (here rendered as blue), a near-infrared (green) and an infrared (red) image. Since the light from stars behind the cloud is only visible at the longest (infrared) wavelengths, they appear...
Infrared wide angle view of RCW 108
Image showing a unique, wide-field infrared view of the region around IRAS 16362-4845, an "emission" nebula that shines by its own light. It is situated within a dark cloud in a Milky Way region (the "RCW 108 complex") at a distance of about 4,000 light-years in the direction of the Southern...
Cosmic shear in sky field with galaxy cluster
The image shows an example of the mapping of the dark mass distribution in one of the 50 sky fields observed with the VLT and FORS1. To the left is the original image, a 36-min exposure in a near-infrared wavelength band. To the right is the reconstructed map of the mass (a "mass photo") in...
New satellite of Saturn S/2000 S1
The photo shows the discovery of two new Saturnian moons, as registered on August 7, 2000, with the Wide-Field Imager (WFI) camera at the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at the La Silla Observatory. It displays the faint image of the newly discovered moon S/2000 S 1 in the lower right corner of the...
New satellite of Saturn S/2000 S2
This animated GIF image shows the discovery images of S/2000 S2, as registered on August 7, 2000, with the Wide-Field Imager (WFI) camera at the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at the La Silla Observatory. Technical information: Combination of three 100 sec exposures in R-band filter, obtained at...
Sky field around GRB 000131
Colour composite image of the sky field around the position of the gamma-ray burst GRB 000131 that was detected on January 31, 2000. It is based on images obtained with the ESO Very Large Telescope at Paranal. The object is indicated with an arrow, near a rather bright star (magnitude 9, i.e.,...
New satellite of Saturn S/2000 S2
The photo shows the discovery images of a new Saturnian moon, as registered on August 7, 2000, with the Wide-Field Imager (WFI) camera at the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at the La Silla Observatory. This is a combination of three successive WFI exposures of the moon, S/2000 S 2 . Due to its motion,...
The disk around Iota Horologii
This image displays a dusty disk around the star iota Horologii (left) as compared with that of a "reference" star (right). At a distance of 56 light-years from Earth, Iota Horologii was already known to possess an extrasolar planet. The discovery of the disk may help to better understand how...
R Coronae Australis Complex
This is a colour photo of the R Coronae Australis region in the southern Milky Way, obtained with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) (camera) at the 2.2-m MPG/ESO Telescope on La Silla (Chile). It is based on a series of CCD exposures through optical B-, V- and R-filters, here rendered as blue, green...
Spectrum of the optical counterpart of GRB 000131
This image shows the spectrum of the afterglow of GRB 000131, obtained during a 3-hr exposure with the FORS1 multi-mode instrument at VLT ANTU on February 8, 2000. The "Lyman-alpha break" at wavelength 670.1 nm is indicated. Technical information: The spectrum was obtained during a 3-hr...
Infrared wide angle view of RCW 108 (detail)
This image shows an area near the centre of a unique, wide-field infrared view of the region around IRAS 16362-4845, an "emission" nebula that shines by its own light. It is situated within a dark cloud in a Milky Way region (the "RCW 108 complex") at a distance of about 4,000 light-years in...
A massive star forming in M17
This image shows an enlargement of a small area of the field in ESO Press Photo eso0030a (slightly above and to the right of the centre), centred on the position of a massive star in the process of being formed. Its colour is such that it can only be seen in the longest-wavelength image (Ks)....
A bowshock Nebula near the neutron star RXJ 18565-3754
False-colour composite photo of the sky field with the lonely neutron star RX J1856.5-3754 and the related cone-shaped nebula. It is based on a series of exposures obtained with the multi-mode FORS2 instrument at VLT KUEYEN through three different optical filters: R (29 exposures of 136 sec...
A bowshock Nebula near the neutron star RXJ 18565-3754
False-colour composite photo of the sky field with the lonely neutron star RX J1856.5-3754 and the related cone-shaped nebula. It is based on a series of exposures obtained with the multi-mode FORS2 instrument at VLT KUEYEN through three different optical filters: R (29 exposures of 136 sec...
Optical counterpart of GRB 000131
A gamma-ray burst was detected on January 31, 2000, by an international network of satellites (Ulysses, NEAR and Konus) via the InterPlanetary Network (IPN). It was designated GRB 000131 according to the date of the event. This image shows the rapid fading of the optical counterpart of GRB...
How to become a star
This image shows a colour composite of visible and near-infrared images of the dark cloud Barnard 68. It was obtained with the 8.2-m VLT ANTU telescope and the multimode FORS1 instrument in March 1999. At these wavelengths, the small cloud is completely opaque because of the obscuring effect of...
R Coronae Australis Complex (detail)
This is a colour photo of a small area of about 12 x 12 arcmin 2, near the centre of the R Coronae Australis region in the southern Milky Way, obtained with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) (camera) at the 2.2-m MPG/ESO Telescope on La Silla (Chile). It is based on a series of CCD exposures through...
Field in dwarf galaxy NGC 6822
Colour composite of three exposures of a field in the dwarf galaxy NGC 6822, a member of the Local Group of Galaxies at a distance of about 2 million light-years. They were obtained by YEPUN and the VLT Test Camera at about 23:00 hrs local time on September 3 (03:00 UT on September 4), 2000....
Peering into a star factory
This is a near-infrared, colour-coded composite image of a sky field in the south-western part of the galactic star-forming region Messier 17. In this image, young and heavily obscured stars are recognized by their red colour. Bluer objects are either foreground stars or well-developed massive...
Planetary Nebula Hen 2-428
Colour composite of some of the first astronomical exposures obtained by YEPUN . The object is the planetary nebula Hen 2-428 that is located at a distance of 6,000-8,000 light-years and seen in a dense sky field, only 2° from the main plane of the Milky Way. As other planetary nebulae, it is...
Break-up of comet Linear
A computer-processed composite of three CCD exposures of the head of Comet LINEAR, obtained with VLT ANTU and the multi-mode FORS-1 instrument through a R(ed) optical filter on August 6, 2000. The telescope followed the comet's fast motion perfectly during the duration of the exposures (9, 10...
New Jupiter moon S/1999 J1
This photo shows the moving, point-like image of the newly discovered Jupiter moon, S/1999 J 1 , as observed with VLT ANTU and the FORS-1 instrument, low in the sky and just before sunrise on July 28, 2000. It is a composite of three CCD frames, obtained through a R(ed) optical filter. Because...
Brightness decline of Nova in NGC 1316
This composite image shows the blue images (B-filter) obtained in January 9 (upper left), 12 (upper right), 15 (lower left) and 19 (lower right), 2000, respectively. The decline of the brightness of the objects is obvious.
Brightness decline of Nova in NGC 1316
This composite image shows the blue images (B-filter) obtained in January 9 (upper left), 12 (upper right), 15 (lower left) and 19 (lower right), 2000, respectively. The decline of the brightness of the objects is obvious.
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