Annual Report 2013
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ESO European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere Annual Report 2013 ESO European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere Annual Report 2013 presented to the Council by the Director General Prof. Tim de Zeeuw The European Southern Observatory ESO, the European Southern Observa- tory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe. It is ESO/J. GirardESO/J. supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil1, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Several other countries have expressed an interest in membership. Created in 1962, ESO carries out an ambitious programme focussed on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities, enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astro- nomical research. ESO operates three world-class observ- The VLT uses a powerful laser to create a guide star ing sites in the Atacama Desert region in the night sky. of Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. ESO’s first site is at La Silla, sited flagship facility of European astronomy. magnitude 30 have been obtained in a 2400 metres above sea level on a moun- Paranal is situated about 130 kilometres one-hour exposure. This corresponds tain 600 kilo metres north of Santiago south of Antofagasta in Chile, 12 kilo- to seeing objects that are four billion de Chile. It is equipped with several opti- metres inland from the Pacific coast in times fainter than those seen with the cal telescopes with mirror diameters of one of the driest areas in the world. naked eye. up to 3.6 metres. Scientific operations began in 1999 and have resulted in many extremely suc- One of the most exciting features of the The 3.58-metre New Technology Tele- cessful research programmes. VLT is the option to use it as a giant scope (NTT) broke new ground for tele- optical interferometer (VLT Interferometer scope engineering and design and was The VLT is a most unusual telescope, or VLTI). This is done by combining the the first in the world to have a computer- based on the latest technology. It is not light from two or more of the 8.2-metre controlled main mirror, a tech nology just one, but an array of four telescopes, telescopes and or from the four 1.8-metre developed at ESO and now applied to each with a main mirror of 8.2 metres movable Auxiliary Telescopes. In this most of the world’s current large tele- in diameter. With one such telescope, interferometric mode, the telescope has scopes. While La Silla remains at the images of celestial objects as faint as vision as sharp as that of a tele scope the forefront of astronomy, and is still the fourth most scientifically productive in ground-based astronomy (after Paranal, NRAO and the Keck Observa tory), the Paranal site, with the Very Large Tele- scope array (VLT), the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA), the world’s largest survey telescope, and the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light, and sited at 2600 metres above sea level, is the (josefrancisco.org) Salgado Francisco ESO/José ESO’s La Silla Observatory under a perfect sky. 1 Brazil, having signed an Accession Agreement in December 2010, will officially become the 15th Member State of ESO on completion of the requi- site ratification process. 2 ESO Annual Report 2013 This pano rama shows 28 of the antennas that make up the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array. size of the separation between the The next step beyond the VLT is to build advanced instruments. ESO’s offices in most distant mirrors. For the VLTI, this the European Extremely Large Telescope Chile are located in Vitacura, Santiago. is 200 metres. (E-ELT) with a primary mirror 39 metres in They host the local adminis tration and diameter. The E-ELT will be the “world’s support groups, and are home to ESO Each year, about 1800 proposals are the biggest eye on the sky” — the largest Chile astronomers when they are not at submitted for the use of ESO telescopes, optical/near-infrared telescope in the the observatories. This site also contains requesting between three and five times world. The E-ELT will address many of the ALMA Santiago Central Office. ESO more nights than are available. ESO is the the most pressing unsolved questions in Vitacura has become an active node for most productive ground-based observa- astronomy. It may, eventually, revolution- training new generations of researchers, tory in the world, whose operation yields ise our perception of the Universe, much acting as a bridge between scientists in many peer-reviewed publications: in 2013 as Galileo’s telescope did 400 years ago. Europe and Chile. alone, 840 refereed papers based on The start of operations is expected at the ESO data were published. beginning of next decade. The regular Member State contribu- tions to ESO in 2013 were approximately The Atacama Large Millimeter/submilli- The ESO Headquarters are located in 130 million euros and ESO employs meter Array (ALMA), the largest ground- Garching, near Munich, Germany. This is around 680 staff members. based astronomy project in existence, the scientific, technical and adminis trative is a revolutionary facility for world astron- centre of ESO, where technical develop- omy. ALMA comprises an array of 66 ment programmes are carried out to pro- Artist’s impression of the European Extremely Large 12- and 7-metre diameter antennas vide the observatories with the most Telescope in its enclosure on Cerro Armazones. observing at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths. ALMA started scientific observations in 2011 and was inaugu- rated in 2013. It is located on the high alti- tude Llano de Chajnantor, at 5000 metres Calçada ESO/L. above sea level — one of the highest astronomical observatories in the world. The ALMA project is a partnership between Europe, East Asia and North America, in cooperation with the Repub- lic of Chile. ESO is the European partner in ALMA. The Chajnantor site is also home to the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) a 12-metre millimetre and submillimetre tele scope, operated by ESO on behalf of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astron- omy, the Onsala Space Observa tory and ESO itself. ESO Annual Report 2013 3 Contents The European Southern Observatory 2 Foreword 6 Introduction 7 Science 10 Research Highlights 11 Offices for Science 20 Allocation of Telescope Time 24 Publication Digest 27 Operations 30 La Silla Paranal Observatory 31 Data Management and Operations Division 38 European ALMA Support Centre 42 Programmes 44 Instrumentation for the La Silla Paranal Observatory 45 ALMA 52 European Extremely Large Telescope 60 Engineering 62 Administration 72 Finance and Budget 74 Human Resources 78 List of Staff 82 Organigram 86 Director General Support 88 Committees 96 Council 97 Finance Committee 99 Scientific Technical Committee 100 Observing Programmes Committee 102 Users Committee 104 Outreach 108 Calendar of Events 114 Glossary of Acronyms 118 ESO Annual Report 2013 5 Foreword It is tempting to open this short foreword hiatus in science observations to facilitate ESO has evolved into a very powerful by highlighting a major positive develop- array commissioning, difficulties in get- organisation with an outstanding but very ment. There is possibly none as impor- ting the power production and distribu- challenging programme of infrastructure tant as this one: ESO’s operating tele- tion system into a normal operational to build and operate. In fact it can be scopes at La Silla, Paranal and APEX on state, and a temporary cessation of activ- argued that the span of ESO’s activities is Chajnantor have continued to deliver ities at the ALMA site during negotiations very much at the limit of the capabilities outstanding world-class science. The with the local staff. This fortunately ended of the available budget and of its most very efficient model that ESO has adopted with the signature of a new collective valuable, but not excessively numerous to operate its observatories, together contract. ALMA will no doubt face other staff complement. But there are other with its highly skilled and dedicated staff, challenges on its way to becoming a major future items of astronomical infra- have been instrumental in reaching this fully operational astronomical observa- structure in the portfolio of the govern- primary goal of ESO’s remit. Keeping tory. But these potential problems appear ments of ESO Member States. These a healthy instrumentation programme for insignificant when confronted with the governments declare in the preamble of ESO’s facilities, in partnership with insti- absolutely astonishing science that ALMA ESO’s Convention that they are “Desirous tutes from the Member States, is also a delivers. With virtually every single ALMA of […] promoting and organising coopera- fundamental ingredient in maintaining the observation becoming a breakthrough, tion in astronomical research”, which competitiveness of La Silla– Paranal into submillimetre radio astronomy is truly is interpreted as ESO being mandated to future decades. entering a new era. foster cooperation in astronomy. Council has started to reflect on whether ESO In a modest but charming ceremony Council was glad to see significant should take a more proactive role in ena- on 9 November, ESO and the Republic progress towards the ratification of bling these facilities, beyond building and of Chile celebrated 50 years of working Brazil’s Accession Agreement. The file operating its own telescope suite. Our together to foster astronomy. This entered the Brazilian Parliament early sister European international organisa- pro vided a unique opportunity to look this year and passed with a unanimous tions in space science (ESA) and particle back and realise how much both Chilean positive vote the first two commissions of physics (CERN) have already adopted and European astronomy has evolved the Brazilian Congress.