Virtual guided tour ESO's La Silla Observatory. 30/11/24, 16:00h CEST.
This virtual guided tour of ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile provides an overview of the organization, its observatories, and key scientific discoveries. The tour highlights the 3.6m and NTT telescopes, showcasing advancements in telescope technology, such as active optics, while also presenting a captivating view of the night sky from the observatory's location, including the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds.
ESO Overview
• 00:03:10 The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is an intergovernmental organization with 16 member states, headquartered in Germany. Chile hosts all ESO observatories, including La Silla, Paranal, and Chajnantor, selected for their optimal astronomical conditions in the Atacama Desert. ESO's mission is to design, build, and operate astronomical observatories to foster scientific discovery and international collaboration.
La Silla Observatory
• 00:07:39 La Silla Observatory was ESO's first observatory in Chile, located at 2,400 meters above sea level in the Coquimbo region. It boasts a high number of clear nights per year, a stable and dry atmosphere, and dark skies, making it an ideal location for astronomy. The observatory was officially inaugurated in 1969 and continues to house several operational telescopes.
ESO 3.6m Telescope
• 00:11:32 The ESO 3.6m telescope, or '3.6m' as it's known by the staff, is named after the diameter of its main mirror. In the mid-1970s, it was one of the largest telescopes on Earth. Currently, it houses HARPS, an exoplanet hunter, used to search for planets outside our solar system. The telescope structure is equivalent to a seven-story building with a dome height of 25 meters.
NTT Telescope
• 00:23:51 The New Technology Telescope (NTT), inaugurated in 1989, features a smaller, compact octagonal dome and represents a leap in telescope construction. Its innovative design allows for smaller and lighter structures with improved airflow, reducing turbulence and preserving image sharpness. The telescope's 3.58-meter mirror is significantly thinner and lighter than the ESO 3.6m, enabling the use of active optics for maintaining its shape during movement.
Active Optics
• 00:27:08 Active optics, developed by ESO, is a system that utilizes actuators or pistons to maintain the perfect concave shape of a telescope's mirror. It is computer-controlled and allows for the construction of larger, next-generation telescopes. This technology is applied to many modern telescopes, including the Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory and the upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).
Control Room
• 00:28:51 The control room of La Silla Observatory is where the scientific and technical staff operates the telescopes. It is located in a separate building from the telescopes themselves. The staff, including telescope operators and astronomers, work throughout the night, utilizing the dark and clear skies for observations.
ESO's Top 10 Discoveries
• 00:36:28 ESO telescopes have played a crucial role in numerous astronomical discoveries, including the detection of the brightest galaxy in the early universe, the confirmation of long gamma-ray bursts linked to stellar explosions, and the discovery of planetary systems. Other key findings include precise measurements of cosmic temperatures, the analysis of exoplanet atmospheres, and the detailed imaging of the environment around the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.
Black Hole Image
• 00:42:04 In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a network of eight ground-based telescopes, captured the first-ever image of a black hole. The image shows the supermassive black hole at the center of Messier 87, located 55 million light-years from Earth, with a mass 6.5 billion times that of the Sun. This achievement is a significant milestone in our understanding of black holes.
Night Sky View
• 00:43:30 The night sky from La Silla Observatory provides a stunning view of the Milky Way, our galaxy, which appears as a band of light across the sky because of our perspective within it. The tour highlights constellations such as Orion and the presence of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. The Southern Cross constellation is also used to locate the South Celestial Pole, serving as a guide for navigation.