ESO’s prestigious postdoctoral fellowship programme in both Garching (Germany) and Santiago (Chile) offers outstanding early-career scientists the opportunity to further develop their independent research programmes. From exoplanets to cosmology, observational, theoretical and fundamental astrophysics, these are all areas where ESO Fellows can benefit from a highly dynamic scientific environment, at some of the most advanced ground-based telescopes in the world. Do watch ESOCast 165 to hear what recent ESO fellows have to say about the fellowship programme or watch the virtual tour to ESO’s premises from 2020 or 2021 where young scientists could ask questions about the fellowship programme.

This release provides stellar spectroscopy of galactic globular clusters in YJ band (1.0-1.35 μm), for a total of 5397 1-D extracted spectra in 30 clusters. The data was acquired using the K-band Multi Object Spectrograph (KMOS) under the ESO Large Programme 193.D-0232, PI F. R. Ferraro.

Exoplanets have become central to astrophysics. The formation and evolution of exoplanets can now be explored with instrumentation and observational techniques covering multiple physical scales and wavelengths. The composition and substructures of planet-forming disks can be observed directly to witness and characterise young proto-planets in formation. Planetary atmospheres, architectures and demographics can be systematically scrutinised to refine our understanding of the physical processes at play in the formation of giant and terrestrial planets, and in favorable conditions for the emergence of life. ESO facilities provide access to a large part of the electromagnetic spectrum to probe cold and hot phases, dynamics and interactions, close and distant environments, and the relations with the host star. Observations with different ESO facilities have led to unique discoveries, e.g. the PDS 70 planetary system, and can successfully be used in synergy with space facilities, e.g. HST, CHEOPS, TESS, GAIA, JWST. 

The 110th Observing Programmes Committee (OPC) met online in May 2022. Based on the committee’s recommendations to the ESO Director General, a total of 2221 (10-hour equivalent) nights of (Designated) Visitor Mode and Service Mode observations were allocated on the VLT/VLTI, 3.6-metre and NTT, and APEX telescopes. The submission deadline for Phase 2 observations is Thursday, 4 August 2022; see the separate announcement for further details.

With the release of the La Silla Paranal telescope schedule, the Phase 2 preparation for runs scheduled in Service Mode begins. The deadline for the submission of the Phase 2 material for Period 110 observations is Thursday, 4 August 2022.

A  VLTI-HOW: The VLTI High angular resolution Observations Workshop will take place at ESO Vitacura, Santiago, Chile on 10-21 October 2022. This ESO/IAU predominantly hands-on workshop aims at training a new generation of scientists from Chile and Latin American countries in how to access, analyse, and use Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) data for their research projects. The curriculum will also cover topics important for career development such as proposal and grant writing, job hunting, and work ethics. Moreover, the workshop will encourage new scientific collaborations across nations.

The Near InfraRed Planet Searcher (NIRPS) instrument, mounted on ESO’s 3.6-m telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, has successfully performed its first observations. The instrument will focus its search on rocky worlds, which are key targets for understanding how planets form and evolve, and are the most likely planets where life may develop. NIRPS will search for these rocky exoplanets around small, cool red dwarf stars — the most common type of stars in our Milky Way galaxy, which have masses from about two to ten times smaller than our Sun.

A major technical intervention was completed on ESPRESSO in May to address the instrument stability and the detector system performances. The improvement has been noticeable, achieving an internal drift below 10 cm/s and the detector’s readout noise below 6e- for the fast readout mode. The instrument is back in operation. The updated ESPRESSO performances will be included in the next version of the User Manual.

The European Interferometry Initiative (EII) is announcing its 11th VLTI School, funded by the Opticon/Radionet Pilot programme, which will take place in Budapest between 12 and 17 June 2023. The school is aimed at PhD students, postdocs and astronomers who are new to optical interferometry. The training will address basics of optical interferometry theory, data reduction and interpretation, model fitting, image reconstruction, as well as observation proposals preparation for VLTI. The local organising institute is the Konkoly Observatory in Hungary.  

A preview of the Cycles 9, 10 and 11 ALMA Configuration Schedule is now available. This schedule is being released to allow ALMA users to plan their proposal strategy for the next three Cycles.