ESO announces discovery of first ring system around asteroid

ESO announces discovery of first ring system around asteroid

Observations at many sites in South America, including ESO’s La Silla Observatory, have made the surprise discovery that the remote asteroid Chariklo is surrounded by two dense and narrow rings. This is the smallest object by far found to have rings and only the

Amazing timelapse video by Very Large Telescope

Amazing timelapse video by Very Large Telescope

This timelapse video shows the sky spinning over the Very Large Telescope observatory in Chile, one of the finest observatories in one of the darkest sites on the planet. Set the resolution to 720p to see it properly unpixelated. At 1:10 into the video, you see…

Dusty spiral galaxy is closer than once thought

Dusty spiral galaxy is closer than once thought

The star-forming regions of a nearby spiral galaxy glow bright pink in a spectacular new image from a telescope atop a Chilean peak. And the galaxy's actually slightly closer than astronomers once thought, researchers say. The glowing pink clouds seen in the…

Ground-Based Lasers Vie With Satellites To Map Earth’s Magnetic Field

Ground-Based Lasers Vie With Satellites To Map Earth’s Magnetic Field

Mapping the Earth’s magnetic field – to find oil, track storms or probe the planet’s interior – typically requires expensive satellites. University of California, Berkeley, physicists have now come up with a much cheaper way to measure the Earth’s magnetic field