https://www.eso.org/public/news/Top News from ESOenWed, 22 Dec 2021 17:00:00 +0100https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2120/Rogue planets are elusive cosmic objects that have masses comparable to those of the planets in our Solar System but do not orbit a star, instead roaming freely on their own. Not many were known until now, but a team of astronomers, using data from several European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescopes and other facilities, have just discovered at least 70 new rogue planets in our galaxy. This is the largest group of rogue planets ever discovered, an important step towards understanding the origins and features of these mysterious galactic nomads.Wed, 22 Dec 2021 17:00:00 +0100https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2120/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2119/The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESO’s VLTI) has obtained the deepest and sharpest images to date of the region around the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy. The new images zoom in 20 times more than what was possible before the VLTI and have helped astronomers find a never-before-seen star close to the black hole. By tracking the orbits of stars at the centre of our Milky Way, the team has made the most precise measurement yet of the black hole’s mass.Tue, 14 Dec 2021 16:00:00 +0100https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2119/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2118/The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) has captured an image of a planet orbiting b Centauri, a two-star system that can be seen with the naked eye. This is the hottest and most massive planet-hosting star system found to date, and the planet was spotted orbiting it at 100 times the distance Jupiter orbits the Sun. Some astronomers believed planets could not exist around stars this massive and this hot — until now.Wed, 08 Dec 2021 17:00:00 +0100https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2118/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2117/Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), astronomers have revealed the closest pair of supermassive black holes to Earth ever observed. The two objects also have a much smaller separation than any other previously spotted pair of supermassive black holes and will eventually merge into one giant black hole.Tue, 30 Nov 2021 14:00:00 +0100https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2117/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2116/Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), astronomers have discovered a small black hole outside the Milky Way by looking at how it influences the motion of a star in its close vicinity. This is the first time this detection method has been used to reveal the presence of a black hole outside of our galaxy. The method could be key to unveiling hidden black holes in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, and to help shed light on how these mysterious objects form and evolve.Thu, 11 Nov 2021 13:00:00 +0100https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2116/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2115/A new discovery is shedding light on how fluorine — an element found in our bones and teeth as fluoride — is forged in the Universe. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, a team of astronomers have detected this element in a galaxy that is so far away its light has taken over 12 billion years to reach us. This is the first time fluorine has been spotted in such a distant star-forming galaxy.Thu, 04 Nov 2021 17:00:00 +0100https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2115/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2114/Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, astronomers have imaged 42 of the largest objects in the asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter. Never before had such a large group of asteroids been imaged so sharply. The observations reveal a wide range of peculiar shapes, from spherical to dog-bone, and are helping astronomers trace the origins of the asteroids in our Solar System.Tue, 12 Oct 2021 14:00:00 +0200https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2114/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2113/Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), a team of astronomers have obtained the sharpest and most detailed images yet of the asteroid Kleopatra. The observations have allowed the team to constrain the 3D shape and mass of this peculiar asteroid, which resembles a dog bone, to a higher accuracy than ever before. Their research provides clues as to how this asteroid and the two moons that orbit it formed.Thu, 09 Sep 2021 14:00:00 +0200https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2113/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2112/A team of astronomers have used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile to shed new light on planets around a nearby star, L 98-59, that resemble those in the inner Solar System. Amongst the findings are a planet with half the mass of Venus — the lightest exoplanet ever to be measured using the radial velocity technique — an ocean world, and a possible planet in the habitable zone.Thu, 05 Aug 2021 14:00:00 +0200https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2112/https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2111/Using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, astronomers have unambiguously detected the presence of a disc around a planet outside our Solar System for the first time. The observations will shed new light on how moons and planets form in young stellar systems.Thu, 22 Jul 2021 14:00:00 +0200https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2111/