Astronomers Discover First-Ever Three-Lobed Asteroid
High-resolution images from ESO’s Very Large Telescope and the Large Binocular Telescope reveal that the E-type asteroid (44)…
Astronomers Directly Image Betelgeuse’s Long-Suspected Stellar Companion
After a century of speculation, astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have captured the clearest evidence yet…
Astronomers find strongest evidence yet that Betelgeuse has a companion
Press Release “The conclusion of a century-long quest” 28 July 2026 At long last, astronomers have firm evidence…
Puzzling Near-Earth Asteroid Turns Out to Be Comet with Weak Tail
The near-Earth object (875163) 1998 SH2, which is currently classified as an asteroid, has revealed a hidden identity: it’s…
Astronomers Probe Chemistry of Giant Exoplanet Beta Pictoris b
Using the upgraded GRAVITY+ instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), astronomers have measured the ratio of…
Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Likely Originated in Outskirts of Ancient Planetary System
Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have measured carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in 3I/ATLAS, the third…
“Beyond the limit”: one million satellites and mirrors in space pose grave threat to the night sky
Press Release 1 July 2026 A new European Southern Observatory (ESO) study has found that current proposals to…
Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Formed Up To 12 Billion Years Ago, New Observations Suggest
The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS carries a chemical fingerprint unlike anything in our Solar System, and it may have…
Astronomers Detect Clearest Signs Yet of Magnetic Fields on Extrasolar Planets
By tracking fierce winds racing through the atmospheres of seven ultra-hot Jupiters, astronomers have uncovered the strongest evidence…
Two Protoplanets Emerge from Dusty Disk around Nearby Young Star
Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and VLT Interferometer (VLTI) in Chile, astronomers have directly observed two gas…
VLT Zooms in on Nearby Triangulum Galaxy
A new close-up of the Triangulum galaxy, captured with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), traces the tangled gas…
VLT Discovers Third Gas Cloud near Milky Way’s Central Black Hole
The newly-identified gas cloud, dubbed G2t, follows nearly the same orbit as two known clouds, suggesting they were…