European Southern Observatory
The European Southern Observatory (ESO, officially called the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere), is a research group for astronomy, made up of fourteen countries from Europe. Made in 1962 to give state-of-the-art facilities and a view the Southern Sky to European astronomers, it is well known for using some of the largest and most advanced telescopes in the world, such as the New Technology Telescope (NTT), the telescope that helped create active optics technology, and the VLT (Very Large Telescope), made of four 8-meter class telescopes and four 1.8-m Auxiliary Telescopes.
| European Southern Observatory | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1962 |
| Type | research organization for astronomy |
| Membership | 14 member countries |
| Website | www.eso.org |
Member countries
| Country | Accession |
|---|---|
 Belgium
|
1962 |
 Germany
|
1962 |
 France
|
1962 |
 Netherlands
|
1962 |
 Sweden
|
1962 |
 Denmark
|
1967 |
 Switzerland
|
1981 |
 Italy
|
24 May 1982 |
 Portugal
|
27 June 2000 |
 United Kingdom
|
8 July 2002 |
 Finland
|
1 July 2004 |
 Spain
|
1 July 2006 |
 Czech Republic
|
1 January 2007 |
 Austria
|
1 July 2008 |
 Poland
|
28 October 2014 |
 Ireland
|
28 September 2018 |
European Southern Observatory Media
European Southern Observatory (ESO) logo
Countries participating in the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Member states
Directors general of ESO (from left to right): Lodewijk Woltjer, Harry van der Laan, Catherine Cesarsky, Tim de Zeeuw and Xavier Barcons
La Silla cluster of telescopes
Dome of the Danish 1.54-metre telescope that has been in operation at La Silla Observatory since 1979
Artist's impression of ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre
ESO's 50th-anniversary event (Munich Residenz in Germany, 11 October 2012)
José Manuel Barroso visits the ESO in January 2013.
Tim de Zeeuw talks on ESO and its 50th anniversary.
Timelapses of ESO's VLT, ALMA and La Silla site
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