Sneak preview of Survey Telescope treasure trove

VST images the Lagoon Nebula

2014-01-22

(Press-News.org) Contact information: Richard Hook
rhook@eso.org
49-151-153-73591
ESO
Sneak preview of Survey Telescope treasure trove VST images the Lagoon Nebula

The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile has captured this richly detailed new image of the Lagoon Nebula. This giant cloud of gas and dust is creating intensely bright young stars, and is home to young stellar clusters. This image is a tiny part of just one of eleven public surveys of the sky now in progress using ESO telescopes. Together these are providing a vast legacy of publicly available data for the global astronomical community.

The Lagoon Nebula is an intriguing object located around 5000 light-years from us in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer). Also known as Messier 8, it is a giant cloud 100 light-years across, where new stars are forming within its plumes of gas and dust [1]. This new 17 000-pixel-wide image is from the VLT Survey Telescope (VST)(http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/surveytelescopes/vst/), one of two dedicated survey telescopes at ESO's Paranal Observatory in northern Chile. A zoomable version (http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1403a/zoomable/) of the image allows the viewers to explore the many nooks and crannies of this fascinating object.

The VST was not pointed at the Lagoon deliberately, it simply was included as part of a huge imaging survey called VPHAS+ (http://www.vphasplus.org/) that covered a much larger region of the Milky Way. VPHAS+ is just one of three imaging surveys using visible light with the VST. These are complemented by six infrared surveys with the VISTA survey telescope (http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/surveytelescopes/vista/).

The surveys are addressing many important questions in modern astronomy. These include the nature of dark energy, searching for brilliant quasars in the early Universe, probing the structure of the Milky Way and looking for unusual and hidden objects, studying the neighbouring Magellanic Clouds in great detail, and many other topics. History shows that surveys often find things that are unexpected and these surprises are crucial for the progress of astronomical research.

As well as the nine imaging surveys with VISTA and the VST there are also two additional surveys that are in progress using other ESO telescopes. One, the Gaia-ESO Survey (http://www.gaia-eso.eu/) , is using the Very Large Telescope at Paranal to map the properties of more than 100 000 stars in the Milky Way, and another (PESSTO - http://www.pessto.org/) is following up on transient objects such as supernovae using the New Technology Telescope at La Silla [2].

Some of these surveys began back in 2010, and some much more recently, but data from all of them are now being made public and are accessible to astronomers around the world through ESO's archive (http://archive.eso.org/) [3].

Although they are still in progress, the surveys are already allowing astronomers to make many discoveries. Just a few of these new results include new star clusters found in the VVV survey (eso1128 - http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1128/, eso1141 - http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1141/), the best map yet of the central parts of our Milky Way (eso1242 - http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1242/, eso1339 - http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1339/), a very deep view of the infrared sky (eso1213 - http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1213/) and, very recently, some of the most distant quasars discovered so far (from the VISTA VIKING - http://www.astro-wise.org/projects/VIKING/ survey).

The ESO Public Surveys will continue for many years, and their astronomical legacy value will stretch many decades into the future.

Notes

[1] ESO has produced several stunning views of this object before -- most notably a huge 370-megapixel image as part of the GigaGalaxy Zoom project (eso0936 - http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0936/) -- and has also provided a completely different view from the VISTA - http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/surveytelescopes/vista.html (the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) VVV survey (http://mwm.astro.puc.cl/mw/) , which explored the Lagoon's mysteries in the infrared (eso1101 - http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1101/).

[2] More information about all eleven surveys are available here (http://www.eso.org/sci/observing/PublicSurveys/sciencePublicSurveys.html) and a comprehensive description of their current status and results is given in a dedicated section of the latest ESO Messenger (http://www.eso.org/sci/publications/messenger/archive/no.154-dec13/messenger-no154.pdf).

[3] An overview of the data releases (http://www.eso.org/sci/observing/phase3/data_releases.html) from the eleven ESO public survey projects is also available.

INFORMATION:

More information

ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It is supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused 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 astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the world's largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning the 39-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Links

* Photos of VISTA - http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/search/?adv=&subject_name=Visible%20and%20Infrared%20Survey%20Telescope%20for%20Astronomy

Contacts

Richard Hook
ESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6655
Cell: +49 151 1537 3591
Email: rhook@eso.org

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Stanford researchers reveal more about how our brains control our arms

2014-01-22

Stanford researchers reveal more about how our brains control our arms Recording the neural activity of monkeys as they plan to reach, or just react, will help engineers design better brain controlled prosthetic limbs. Ready, set, go. Sometimes that's how ...

Carsey Institute: 39 percent of unemployed Americans are seeking work for 6+ months

2014-01-22

Carsey Institute: 39 percent of unemployed Americans are seeking work for 6+ months New UNH research looks at long-term unemployment in wake of the recession DURHAM, N.H. – Thirty-nine percent of unemployed Americans are experiencing long-term unemployment ...

Long-term follow-up shows need for new chemotherapy strategies for rectal cancer

2014-01-22

Long-term follow-up shows need for new chemotherapy strategies for rectal cancer Results of EORTC trial 22921 at 10.4 years median follow-up Appearing in Lancet Oncology, long term results of EORTC trial 22921 with 10.4 years median follow-up show ...

Deepwater Horizon: Identifying harmful elements of persisting oil

2014-01-22

Deepwater Horizon: Identifying harmful elements of persisting oil On 20 April 2010, a floating oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico called Deepwater Horizon suddenly exploded, leading to the largest accidental marine oil disaster in the world. ...

Asthma: DMP is largely consistent with guidelines

2014-01-22

Asthma: DMP is largely consistent with guidelines Current guidelines are more detailed regarding some aspects of treatment On 22 January 2014 the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) published the ...

Men forget most

2014-01-22

Men forget most Gender differences in memory If your husband is absent-minded, forgets your wedding anniversary or the name of your new neighbor, don't worry. You are not the only one with a forgetful man in the house. Even researchers ...

Regenstrief, IU study: Half of hospitalized adults over 65 need surrogate decision-makers

2014-01-22

Regenstrief, IU study: Half of hospitalized adults over 65 need surrogate decision-makers INDIANAPOLIS -- Nearly half of hospitalized American adults age 65 and older require decision-making assistance from family members or other surrogates because the patient is ...

Virginia Tech-led pest-control plan saves up to $309 million for Indian farmers, consumers

2014-01-22

Virginia Tech-led pest-control plan saves up to $309 million for Indian farmers, consumers Benefits of natural pest-control measures may total $1 billion over 5 years Virginia Tech researchers who first discovered a devastating pest in India and devised a natural way to ...

Number of cancer stem cells might not predict outcome in HPV-related oral cancers

2014-01-22

Number of cancer stem cells might not predict outcome in HPV-related oral cancers COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research ...

Who's to blame for obesity? Policymakers, the food industry, or individuals?

2014-01-22

Who's to blame for obesity? Policymakers, the food industry, or individuals? URBANA, Ill. – Fast food restaurants take a lot of heat for the rise in obesity in the United States, but is it really ...