VLT

The new generation of 8m-class telescopes and sensitive infrared instruments facilitates studies of the stellar populations in young, massive clusters down to substellar masses, despite their much larger distance than the typical low-mass star formation regions in out solar neighbourhood. more

Exoplanets - planets around star other than the sun - are nowadays being found by the dozens and start to be characterized in detail now. more

There is a wealth of molecules out in the Universe constituting the material of galaxies, stars, planets and everything in between. Surprisingly chemically rich, various cosmic environments reveal distinct degrees of chemical complexity that we can study via multi-wavelength observations of molecular emission lines. more

Ten years ago today, NACO became operational: the first adaptive optics system of ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). Adaptive Optics allows astronomers to remove the stars' twinkling – disturbances due to the Earth's atmosphere –, allowing for extremely sharp images of celestial objects. NACO looks back on a decade of scientific results, including the first direct image of an exoplanet and insight into the surroundings of our home galaxy's central black hole. more