Photo: ESO’s Very Large Telescope’s Sphere instrument obtain the sharpest images of a double asteroid as it flew by Earth on 25 May. The left-hand image shows SPHERE observations of Asteroid 1999 KW4, artist impression right. Image-ESO VLT observes a passing double asteroid hurtling by Earth at 44,000 MPH The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) […]
This spectacular image — the second instalment in ESO’s R Aquarii Week — shows intimate details of the dramatic stellar duo making up the binary star R Aquarii. Though most binary stars are bound in a graceful waltz by gravity, the relationship between the stars of R Aquarii is far less serene. Despite its diminutive size, the smaller of […]
Three teams of astronomers have made use of SPHERE, an advanced exoplanet-hunting instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at ESO’s Paranal Observatory, in order to shed light on the enigmatic evolution of fledgling planetary systems. The explosion in the number of known exoplanets in recent years has made the study of them one […]