ESO European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere Annual Report 2016 ESO European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere Annual Report 2016 Presented to the Council by the Director General Tim de Zeeuw The European Southern Observatory P. Horálek/ESO P. ESO, the European Southern Observa tory, of­Chile:­La Silla,­­Paranal­and­­Chajnantor.­ The four Unit Telescopes (UTs) of the Very Large is the foremost intergovernmental astron- La Silla,­located­2400­metres­above­sea­ Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. omy organisation in Europe. It is sup- level and 600 kilometres north of Santiago ported by 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, de­Chile,­was­ESO’s­first­site.­It­is­ ­Pacific­coast­in­one­of­the­driest­areas­in­ Brazil 1, the Czech Republic, Denmark, equipped with several optical telescopes the­world.­Scientific­operations­began­in­ France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the with mirror diameters of up to 3.6 metres. 1999 and have resulted in many extreme- Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, ly successful research programmes. Sweden, Switzerland and the United The 3.5-metre New Technology Tele- Kingdom. Several other countries have scope (NTT) broke new ground in the The VLT is a most unusual telescope expressed an interest in membership. 1980s­and­was­the­first­in­the­world­ and arguably the world’s most advanced to have a computer-controlled main mir- optical instrument. It is not just one tele- Created in 1962, ESO carries out an ror, a technology developed at ESO and scope, but an array of four, each with a ambitious programme focused on the now applied to most of the world’s cur- main mirror 8.2 metres in diameter. With design, construction and operation rent­large­telescopes.­La Silla­remains­ one such telescope, images of celestial of powerful ground-based observing at the forefront of astronomy, and is the objects as faint as magnitude 30 have facilities enabling astronomers to make second­most­scientifically­productive­ been obtained in a one-hour exposure. important­­scientific­discoveries.­ESO­ observatory in ground-based astronomy This corresponds to seeing objects that also plays a leading role in promoting (after ­­Paranal). The Paranal site is located are four billion times fainter than those and organising cooperation in astro- 2600 metres above sea level and is home seen with the naked eye. nomical research. to the Very Large Telescope (VLT), the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for One of the most exciting features of the ESO operates three world-class observ- Astronomy (VISTA), the world’s largest VLT is the option to use it as a giant opti- ing sites in the Atacama Desert region survey telescope, and the VLT Survey cal interferometer (the VLT Interferometer Telescope (VST), the largest telescope or VLTI). This is done by combining the designed exclusively to survey the skies 1 Brazil has already signed an Accession Agreement in visible light. Paranal is situated about The­telescopes­of­the­ALMA­array­spread­across­the­ and­will­officially­become­the­16th­Member­State­ 130 kilometres south of Antofagasta Chajnantor plateau in Chile. APEX can be seen in the of­ESO­on­completion­of­the­requisite­ratification­ in Chile, 12 kilometres inland from the distance (far right). process. S. Otarola/ESO S. 2 ESO Annual Report 2016 ) twanight.org ESO/B. Tafreshi ( Night­time­at­La Silla. lengths. It is located on the high- altitude Armazones and most major contracts Chajnantor plateau, 5000 metres above have been signed. The start of ELT oper- light from two or more of the 8.2-metre sea level — one of the highest astronomi- ations­is­expected­around­2024. telescopes or two or more of the four cal­observatories­in­the­world.­The­ALMA­ 1.8-metre movable Auxiliary Telescopes project is a partnership between ESO, The ESO Headquarters are located in (ATs). In this interferometric mode, the East Asia and North America, in coopera- ­Garching,­near­Munich,­Germany.­This­is­ telescope’s vision is as sharp as that of tion with the Republic of Chile. the­scientific,­technical­and­administrative­ a tele scope the size of the separation centre of ESO where technical develop- between the most distant mirrors. For The Chajnantor site is also home to the ment programmes are carried out to pro- the VLTI, this is 200 metres. Atacama­Pathfinder­Experiment­(APEX)­ vide the observatories with the most ad­­ a 12-metre diameter millimetre and sub- vanced­instruments.­ESO’s­offices­in­Chile­ Each year, about 1900 proposals are millimetre telescope, operated by ESO are located in Vitacura, Santiago. They submitted for the use of ESO telescopes, on­behalf­of­the­Max­Planck­Institute­for­ host the local administration and support requesting between three and six times Radio Astronomy, the Onsala Space groups, and are home to ESO/Chile astron- as many nights as are available. ESO is Observatory and ESO itself. omers when they are not at the observa- the most productive ground-based tories.­This­site­also­contains­the­ALMA­ observatory in the world whose operation The next step beyond the VLT is the con- Santiago­Central­Office.­ESO­Vitacura­is­ yields many peer-reviewed publications: struction of the Extremely Large Telescope an active node for training new genera- in­2016­alone,­940­refereed­papers­based­ (ELT)­with­a­primary­mirror­39 metres­in­ tions of researchers, acting as a bridge on ESO data were published. diameter. The ELT will be “the world’s big- between scientists in Europe and Chile. gest eye on the sky” — the largest opti- The­Atacama­Large­Millimeter/submil­ cal/near-infrared telescope in the world. The­total­regular­Member­State­contribu- limeter­Array­(ALMA),­the­largest­ground­ When complete it will address many of tions to ESO in 2016 were approximately based astronomy project in existence, is the most pressing unsolved questions in 159 million euros and ESO employs a revolutionary facility for world astronomy. astronomy and may, eventually, revolution- around 660 staff. ALMA­comprises­an­array­of­66­antennas­ ise our perception of the Universe, much of 12 and 7 metres in diameter observing as­Galileo’s­telescope­did­400­years­ago.­ Artist’s rendering of the Extremely Large Telescope at millimetre and submillimetre wave- Construction work is ongoing on Cerro on top of Cerro Armazones. ESO/L. Calçada ESO/L. ESO Annual Report 2016 3 Contents Foreword­by­the­President­of­Council ­ 6 Introduction by the Director General 7 Science 10 Research Highlights 11 Offices­for­Science­ 20 Allocation­of­Telescope­Time­ 24 Publication Digest 27 Operations 32 La Silla­­­Paranal­Observatory­ 33 Data­Management­and­Operations­ 42 ALMA­and­the­ESO­ALMA­Support­Centre­ 46 Programmes­ 54 Instrumentation­for­the­La Silla­­­Paranal­Observatory­ 55 Technology Development 62 The­Extremely­Large­Telescope­ 64 Engineering 70 Administration 80 Finance and Budget 82 List of Staff 90 Organigram­ 94 Director General Support 96 Committees­ 104 Council 105 Finance Committee 106 Scientific­Technical­Committee­ 107 Observing Programmes Committee 109 Users Committee 111 Outreach 112 Calendar of Events 118 Glossary of Acronyms 122 Foreword by the President of Council In­2004,­Council­agreed­a­strategy­for­ improve sensitivity and reliability while location for the southern hemisphere ESO that has guided decisions and invest- enabling new modes, have maintained elements of the Cherenkov Telescope ments over the last decade and more. the competitiveness of existing instru- Array (CTA), agreement has been reached The key elements of the strategy can be ments, such as the VLT Imager and for ESO to operate and participate in the summarised as follows: Spectrometer for mid-InfraRed (VISIR) CTA project. ESO is thus developing into – Retention of astronomical leadership and, in the near future, the upgraded a truly multi-messenger observatory. and excellence into the era of extremely CRyogenic InfraRed Echelle Spectrome- The outreach and public education activi- large telescopes by carefully balancing ter (CRIRES+). Other instruments are ties have also grown substantially, with investment; in the pipeline, focusing the two largest the construction of the ESO Supernova –­­Completion­of­ALMA­and­efficient­ telescopes­on­La Silla­on­exoplanet­and­ Planetarium & Visitor Centre at Garching exploitation­of­its­superb­scientific­ transient source science, and providing promising­to­raise­ESO’s­profile­even­ capabilities; them with another decade of front-line higher in the future. – Ensuring that operational support of use.­Meanwhile­the­Enhanced­Resolution­ the VLT remains effective, with regular Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS), a capa- I am delighted to note the major achieve- upgrades and new instrumentation to ble adaptive optics instrument that will ments in all of the key areas of ESO’s maintain competitiveness; exploit the AOF and deliver enhanced programme in 2016. The development – Exploitation of the unique capabilities imaging and spectroscopic performance, of new facilities and capabilities, together of the VLT Interferometer; is under development. There is no doubt with upgrades of existing infrastructure – Construction of an extremely large tele- that ESO continues to provide the world’s and instruments in a balanced programme, scope on a competitive time scale most comprehensive and advanced suite is maintaining ESO’s pre-eminence in through radical strategic planning and of astronomical facilities at optical and ground-based astronomy. The excellent by seeking additional funds for fast infrared