Construction of European Southern Observatory

The European Southern Observatory, or ESO, is an intergovernmental organisation for astronomy supported by a group of European countries and a few partners elsewhere. It was established in 1962 by several European states to give astronomers access to the clear skies of the southern hemisphere, which could not be fully observed from Europe. Its main observatories are located in the Atacama Desert in Chile, at sites such as La Silla and Paranal, where the Very Large Telescope operates. ESO is also building the Extremely Large Telescope on Cerro Armazones. Its instruments have contributed to major discoveries, including studies of black holes at the centre of the Milky Way and of planets around other stars.

Open on the timeline