Registration and abstract submision are now open for the ESO conference "Galactic Ecosystems under the Microscope: Lessons from Highly-Resoved Studies", Garching bei München, Germany, 7th to 11th July 2025. This workshop is dedicated to exploring the latest developments in resolved galaxy properties and evolution. With next-generation observatories like JWST, ELT, and the SKA, upgrades to ALMA and VLA, we are entering a new era in understanding these critical aspects of galaxies throughout cosmic history.

ESO is pleased to announce that binary packages for the installation of ESO Pipelines are now available for all commonly used operating systems. This results in a faster and more reliable installation compared to compiling locally from source. Compiled binaries can be installed using the Homebrew package manager under Linux, MacOS or Windows. Alternatively, RPM binaries can be installed within the Apptainer container system or natively in some versions of Linux Fedora or CentOS. Source code installation is still available for all operating systems, including with MacPorts on MacOS. 

After the great success of the program in the last six editions, ESO is delighted to announce that the call for applications for the 7^th ESO Summer Research Programme is now open. This fully funded program is available to students in STEM fields who have not yet started a Ph.D. program and have completed at least two years of their degree. This year, ESO is offering several projects covering a variety of topics. Successful applicants will be invited to work at the ESO Headquarters in Garching for six weeks between 30 June and 8 August 2025.

This is the initial announcement for the upcoming ESO workshop "Planetary Formation and Exoplanets in the ELT era" at ESO Garching, 17 - 21 November 2025. This workshop will discuss the understanding of how giant and rocky planets form and evolve, their internal structure
and that of their atmosphere, in the context of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).

This issue 193 focuses on the potential synergies between ESO and SKAO facilities and what science would be possible with well-planned coordinated surveys. The specific cases of exploring with such surveys the Galaxy, galaxy formation and evolution, cosmology, and the epoch of reionisaiton are presented in a series of articles. Further in this issue the VST-SMASH survey and its first results are presented, as well as the latest news on the ongoing upgrades of GRAVITY+. 

With the Extremely Large Telescope (ESO’s ELT) just a few years away from completion, ESO has started the process to identify its next programme. The process has been given the name Expanding Horizons and will aim to identify the next transformational facility that will advance humanity’s understanding of the Universe whilst fostering international collaboration. 

By the deadline on October 15, 2024, ESO received nine letters of intent for the ESO public survey with KMOS. These letters of intent cover a wide range of scientific topics from young stellar objects to the evolution of galaxies at cosmic noon and beyond. There are three submitted letters of intent covering galactic and stellar evolution topics, followed by the local universe (two letters of intent) and galaxy evolution at higher redshift (four letters of intent). Nine PIs and more than one hundred co-Is are participating in these scientific projects. The overall total time request is equivalent to an over-subscription by a factor 5.

This is the initial announcement for the upcoming ESO workshop "Galactic Ecosystems under the Microscope: Lessons from High-Resolution Studies" at ESO Garching, 7-11 July 2025. This workshop will explore the latest developments in resolved galaxy properties and evolution. With next-generation observatories such as JWST, ELT and SKA, and upgrades to ALMA and VLA, a new era is being entered in understanding these critical aspects of galaxies throughout cosmic history.

The deadline for proposal submission for Period 115 (1 April 2025 - 30 September 2025) was 26 September 2024. 763 valid proposals were submitted. On the VLT, the most demanded ESO instrument was MUSE with a request of 233 nights, followed by ESPRESSO with 214 nights, and XSHOOTER with 182 nights. HARPS/NIRPS on the ESO 3.6-metre telescope was the most demanded instrument at La Silla, with a combined request of 202 nights. The figure above shows the time request since Period 62, for Paranal (VLT/I), La Silla, and APEX. The fluctuations since Period 106 are partly because Large Programmes are offered only in even periods since P106. The highest peak in P106 is due to the extension of the proposal submission deadline during the pandemic.

This ESO workshop will focus on variability in young stellar objects and its role in the evolution of their protoplanetary disks. Specifically, addressing accretion and ejection variability and their connection to outer disk scales. Such variability is observed at the time of formation of stars and planets, two closely linked events. With the ratio of accretion to ejection still not fully understood, it remains an open question how exactly protoplanetary disks lose their mass and disperse. Since the mass budget within disks directly influences how and where planets can form, it is critical to understand and discuss results from the time-dependent nature of these environments. ESO welcomes researchers to join in May 2025.