ESO

Blogs about ESO (European Southern Observatory) activities

Galaxy NGC 3621 with the location of supernova SN 2024ggi in the small circle

0

An article published in the journal “Science Advances” reports the first reconstruction ever of the shape of a Type II supernova in its early stages. A team of researchers led by Professor Yi Yang of Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, used observations conducted with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile to study the supernova cataloged as SN 2024ggi on April 11, 2024, the day after the explosion began.

The 4MOST instrument mounted on the VISTA telescope (Photo AIP/A. Saviauk)

0

On October 18, the 4-meter Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST), mounted on ESO’s VISTA telescope in Chile, saw its so-called first light in its initial observation tests. With its system made of 2,436 optical fibers, 4MOST can capture light from a field of view with a diameter of up to 2.5 degrees, which in practice translates to an area equivalent to 16 times the size of the full Moon. The light is directed into three spectrographs that divide it into color components in the visible light range, providing individual spectra. This will enable a cosmological survey encompassing 25 million objects in the first five years of its operation.

The 3D structure of the atmosphere of the exoplanet Tylos

0

Two articles, one published in the journal “Nature” and one in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics”, report the results of two studies of the exoplanet WASP-121b, officially named Tylos, which describe different aspects of its very turbulent atmosphere. Two teams of researchers with several members in common used the ESPRESSO instrument mounted on ESO’s VLT (Very Large Telescope) in Chile exploiting the combination of the four telescopes to examine the atmosphere of Tylos during a complete transit in front of its star. The result was a mapping of the layers of the atmosphere and the detection of traces of various chemical elements including sodium, iron, and titanium.

The RCW 38 cluster in infrared light (Image ESO/VVVX survey)

0

ESO has released images of the stellar nursery cataloged as RCW 38, obtained using the VISTA InfraRed CAMera (VIRCAM) mounted on its Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) in Chile. It was obtained as part of the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) astronomical survey, which produced the most detailed infrared map of the Milky Way. The infrared observations allow to see the electromagnetic emissions generated by young stars and protostars within RCW 38, which can pass through the blanket of gas and dust that blocks almost all other electromagnetic bands.

The WOH G64 star seen from the VLTI (ESO Image/K. Ohnaka et al.)

0

An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” reports the creation of a detailed image of the red supergiant star WOH G64 and its surroundings, the first ever obtained of a star outside the Milky Way. A team of researchers led by astrophysicist Keiichi Ohnaka of the Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile, used the GRAVITY instrument on ESO’s VLTI in Chile to obtain details of this star in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This study may provide important insights into a star that is going through the death throes that will end with its explosion as a supernova. A dust cocoon and a possible torus surrounding WOH G64 show signs of that death throes.