Although the asteroid did not pose a serious threat, it was used as an important training exercise for the future
Introducing 4MOST: The next generation survey telescope
4MOST will study thousands of spectra at once in the southern hemisphere and aims to be operational in 2022
A new super-Earth has been detected just six light years away
One of the largest observing campaigns ever has uncovered compelling evidence of exoplanet around closest single star to Sun
Astronomers spot a distant galactic fountain
The continuous outflow and inflow of molecular gas in the galaxy cluster Abell 2597 has never been seen before
Black hole’s flaring hot spots prove decade-old theory
The recent detection of flares circling the heavy-weight objects has revealed how they grow and consume matter
Can I see the Magellanic Clouds from the Northern Hemisphere?
Is it possible to catch the Southern Hemisphere’s Magellanic Clouds at the furthest northern latitude?
Astronomers unearth a cosmic titan from the early Universe
Hyperion, the largest galaxy proto-supercluster, has a mass more than one million billion times the Sun
Astronomers observe the diffuse glow of the Universe
The Lyman-alpha emission from dim clouds of hydrogen in space has offered a new and interesting view of the Universe
Why can’t we continually see Venus?
It’s our next door neighbour, so why can’t we see it every night?
Very Large Telescope uses new optics to gather strikingly sharp images
ESO commemorate the newly installed adaptive optics on the Very Large Telescope by imaging celestial objects in remarkable detail
Astronomers capture a vibrant array of celestial colours
During a test of the HAWK-I camera, the Very Large Telescope captured this amazing image of a young generation of stars blossoming with colour
A planet being born has been directly imaged for the first time ever
This young planet is shaping its host primordial disk and its atmosphere appears to be cloudy
Scientists successfully test Einstein’s general relativity outside the Milky Way
By comparing the mass of ESO 325-G004 with the curvature of space around it, the astronomers found that gravity on these astronomical length-scales behaves as predicted by general relativity
Protoplanetary discs finally seen in unrivalled detail
Courtesy of a Very Large Telescope instrument, there has now been an influx of fantastic images unmasking the dusty discs that surround young stars
New image release: Baby stars boom into view
This amazing spectacle helps astronomers understand how stellar youngsters affect their gaseous and dusty environments
Twin super-Earths discovered 111 light years away
While measuring the physical characteristics of K2-18b, a neighbouring planet was discovered in the process
Astronomers discover Earth-sized planet just 11 light years away
The newly-discovered exoplanet shows promising signs for habitability
Astronomers discover belt of dust surrounding nearest star
Cold dust has been found to surround our neighbouring star, Proxima Centauri – a feature that resembles our Solar System’s Kuiper Belt
Giant telescope array captures ageing star blowing smoky bubble
Astronomers have used ALMA to capture a strikingly beautiful view of a delicate bubble of expelled material around the exotic red star U Antliae
Titanium discovered in exoplanet’s atmosphere
The discovery of metallic oxides in the planet’s atmosphere has changed how we’ll examine alien worlds in the future