ESOcast HD

A team of astronomers have released colourful new observations of nearby galaxies obtained with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) as part of the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) project. By combining these new observations with data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner, the team is helping shed new light on what triggers stars to form. This ESOcast Light summarises the work.

When Betelgeuse, a bright orange star in the constellation of Orion, became visibly darker in late 2019 and early 2020, the astronomy community was puzzled. A team of astronomers have now published new research done with ESO's Very Large Telescope and Very Large Telescope interferometer that solves the mystery of Betelgeuse's dimming. This ESOcast Light summarises the discovery.

Part of the world-wide effort to scan and identify potentially dangerous asteroids and other near-Earth objects, asteroid hunter Test-Bed Telescope 2 (TBT2), a European Space Agency telescope hosted at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, has now started operating.

New observations with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) indicate that the rogue comet 2I/Borisov, which is only the second and most recently detected interstellar visitor to our Solar System, is one of the most pristine ever observed. This video summarises new findings on this mysterious alien visitor.

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, who produced the first ever image of a black hole, has today revealed a new view of the massive object at the centre of the Messier 87 galaxy: how it looks in polarised light. This is the first time astronomers have been able to measure polarisation, a signature of magnetic fields, this close to the edge of a black hole. This video summarises the discovery.

With the help of ESO’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered and studied in detail the most distant source of radio emission known to date. The source is a “radio-loud” quasar — a bright object with powerful jets emitting at radio wavelengths — that is so far away its light has taken 13 billion years to reach us. This video summarises the discovery.

Using a combination of telescopes, including the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO's VLT), astronomers have revealed a system consisting of six exoplanets, five of which are locked in a rare rhythm around their central star. This video summarises the discoveries and explains why this puzzling system is challenging our theories of how planets form.

Captured in astounding detail by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), the eerie Skull Nebula is showcased in a new image in beautiful pink and red tones. This planetary nebula is the first known to be associated with a pair of closely bound stars orbited by a third outer star. This video offers stunning views of this object and tells the story of the three stars at its centre.

Using telescopes from ESO and other organisations around the world, astronomers have spotted a rare blast of light from a star being ripped apart by a supermassive black hole. This video summarises the findings.

ESOcast is a video podcast series dedicated to bringing you the latest news and research from ESO, the European Southern Observatory. Here we explore the Universe's ultimate frontier. The ESOcast HD is presented in High Definition.