How can astrophysicists study the story of the Universe? Billions of years ago, when the Big Bang happened, there was no Milky Way Galaxy, no Solar System, no planet Earth and, especially, no human beings to witness these and all the events that followed. So, how would they know about this stuff?

The VLT Survey Telescope has captured the most detailed image yet of the galaxy NGC 1316 and its rich surroundings. Discover more in this episode of ESOcast Light.

Astronomers using a fleet of ESO telescopes have observed a visible counterpart to gravitational waves for the first time: a kilonova from merging neutron stars.

What are you made of? You’re made of matter, which is made of molecules, which are made of atoms. But where did those atoms come from? The ones in you! How were they formed? Well, they were created inside of stars! Really, you’re made of star stuff!

ESOcast 130 describes why astronomers are so keen to exploit ALMA’s enormous size and power, and how its state of the art technology is leading to observations of groundbreaking precision and quality.

Astronomers found the molecule Freon-40, which is made by biological processes on Earth, in places which predate life... Watch this episode to find out more!

The spectacular planetary nebula NGC 7009, or the Saturn Nebula, emerges from the darkness like a series of oddly-shaped bubbles, lit up in glorious pinks and blues.

ESOcast 128 describes how astronomers look at the Universe and why astronomers need ALMA, the largest ground-based facility for observing radio waves, in order to understand phenomena in some of the dustiest and most distant regions of our Universe.

ESO’s new Director General, Xavier Barcons, gives his perspective on ESO, astronomy, and his new position.