The Latest Breaking News from the European Southern Observatory

New photo of the Milky Way 'window to understand how stars are formed'

The European Southern Observatory has published a spectacular photo of the central molecular zone of the Milky Way.

Euronews · Feb 25

Lasers beam 'artificial stars' above Chile | Space photo of the day for Feb. 17, 2026

Pew pew pew.

Space · Feb 17

Searching for newborn stars with CAFFEINE | Space photo of the day for Jan. 22, 2026

The Core And Filament Formation/Evolution In Natal Environments (CAFFEINE) survey is an "astronomer's best friend," according to the European Southern Observatory.

Space · Jan 22

Scientists find 'strongest sign to date' of possible life on a distant planet

The research, led by scientists at the University of Cambridge, detected evidence of compounds in the exoplanet's atmosphere that on Earth are only produced by living organisms.

Euronews · Apr 17, 2025

Space photo of the day: Brilliant comet shines at sunset over observatory in Chile

The stunning comet C/2024 G3 lights up the sunset sky over Chile's Very Large Telescope in this spectacular photo.

Space · Mar 17, 2025

Cosmic 'koi fish' swims through starry sea in stunning telescope photo

The Gum 3 nebula, which resembles a swimming koi fish, is captured in a stunning new photo from the European Southern Observatory's VLT Survey Telescope.

Space · Jun 13, 2024

This 1.5-Billion-Pixel Image Captures the Running Chicken Nebula in an Angle Most Fowl

A new image from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Survey Telescope, or VST, captures it in all its avian-like glory.

Inverse · Dec 21, 2023

The Milky Way lights up the 'Valley of the moon' in magical new night sky photo

The European Southern Observatory shared a mesmerizing new photo of the Milky Way shining above Valle de la Luna, meaning "Valley of the Moon," in Chile's Atacama Desert.

Space · Nov 30, 2023

See the world's largest telescope dwarfed by the Full Hunter's Moon (photo)

The steel skeleton of the world's largest visible- and infrared-light telescope is illuminated by the rising full moon in a gorgeous new photo from the European Southern Observatory.

Space · Nov 2, 2023

Traces of the universe’s first stars discovered by researchers

‘These findings bring us one step closer to understanding the nature of the first stars that formed after the Big Bang,’ the European Southern Observatory says of the University of Florence study

Evening Standard · May 3, 2023