Announcements

22 December 2020: While the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre remains closed due to the ongoing pandemic, our staff has developed a series of online and virtual content to allow us to keep in virtual contact with our visitors — videos on popular astronomical themes, live virtual tours of our exhibition and online planetarium short clips. On our Facebook pages in English and German, you can discover a series of messages under the hashtag #ThematicWeek, taking our visitors on a week-by-week tour of our exhibition, the Living Universe. For this series, our staff developed several short videos, which can now be watched on our YouTube channel as well. Designed with both a young and adult audience in mind, the short films explain concepts such as astronomical scales, the formation of star systems and the properties of planets in our Solar System. We have recently tested live virtual tours of our exhibition as ...

18 December 2020: During this time of enforced closure, we would like to get to know our visitors better, to help us understand their experiences of the ESO Supernova and to help us to continue to improve our offers. As such, we would be very grateful if you could take 5 minutes of your time to complete this short survey. Any information you provide in this form will only be used internally for evaluation and improvement purposes. By better understanding who our fans and visitors are, what they do when they visit us, we can ensure we are always providing the best experiences at the ESO Supernova. As 2020 draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support and for your patience and understanding during this challenging year. We wish you and your loved ones a relaxing and enjoyable festive season and look ...

9 October 2020: Following the feedback from our weekend visitors, who have commented that the current opening hours don’t allow them enough time to easily explore our interactive exhibition, we are pleased to announce that we have been able to modify our weekend opening hours, whilst still ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone. From 31 October, on Saturdays and Sundays, the ESO Supernova will no longer close for one hour and our visitors can stay in the building from 12:00 until 17:00, uninterrupted. We will still be offering 2 planetarium shows per day and, with the change to the opening hours, are happy to be able to provide our visitors with more time to enjoy our exhibition before or after a show. Opening hours Wednesdays to Fridays remain unchanged, namely we are open from 09:00-12:30 and from 13:30-17:00. All other COVID-19 measures remain the same, and we encourage people to book ...

30 September 2020: The 2021 edition of one of our most popular products, the ESO Calendar, is now available and can be purchased from the online ESOshop and in the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre. The calendar’s cover features a spectacular starscape around the relatively unknown central object, Gum 15, a nebula in which stars are being born. The image also features one of the closest supernova remnants to Earth, which exploded between 11 000 and 12 300 years ago and is located 800 light-years away from our cosmic home. For the month of March, the bright band of the Milky Way arcs above the ALMA antennas on the Chajnantor plateau. One of the closest stellar nurseries to Earth, the Orion Nebula, is the chosen image for July and the massive 3-tonne blank for the Extremely Large Telescope’s (ELT) secondary mirror is the star of September. Finally, in December the viewer will ...

21 July 2020: ESO and the Centre for Astrophysics of the University of Porto (CAUP) are delighted to announce that Finnish student Meri Teeriaho is the winner of the summer AstroCamp 2020 prize offered by ESO. The camp received about 50 applications from 12 countries, most of these applications being from ESO member states. The ESO-supported summer AstroCamp is an academic programme devoted to astronomy and physics, organised by the Centre for Astrophysics of the University of Porto (CAUP). The camp will take place from 9 to 23 August 2020. This year, the camp is organised under special circumstances due to the global context. A total of sixteen students will participate in the camp, with those living abroad participating remotely and those living in Portugal attending the camp in person, at the Centre for Environmental Education and Interpretation of the Corno de Bico Protected Landscape, under special safety conditions agreed with the local ...

24 April 2020: On 28 April 2020, we celebrate two years since the ESO Supernova opened its doors to the public. Our anniversary comes at a time when the centre is closed due to the current global context, but we would still like to mark the event by organising an online drawing competition. Our visitors are what makes the ESO Supernova shine and, in a time when we cannot welcome you here, we would love to discover what memories you have from your experiences with us. We invite you to colour in! If you wish to switch roles and be the ones presenting the ESO Supernova to us, then sign up for the competition! To participate, Like and Follow our Facebook Page, then download this .pdf file, print it and colour the outline of our building and also draw your impressions from your visit in the empty space. Next, post a photo of ...

31 March 2020: Applications for the ESO-supported Summer AstroCamp 2020 will open on 1 April 2020. AstroCamp is an academic programme in the field of astronomy and physics, organised by the Centre for Astrophysics of the University of Porto (CAUP), that aims to stimulate curiosity and critical thinking. The camp takes place from 9 to 23 August 2020 in a tranquil setting, away from the stresses of urban centres. The programme is intended for secondary school students from 42 different countries, including all ESO member countries, as well as Canada and the United States, in one of their final three years of education before university. The public presentation about AstroCamp 2020 took place on 22 February. The presentation video is available here. Students of all backgrounds will come together and take two courses consisting of daily lessons, assignments, and a final exam. Some further highlights include: Observing the dark night skies with the ...

4 February 2020: The latest issue of the free magazine Science in School is now available online and in printed form. This European journal for science teachers offers up-to-date information on cutting-edge science, teaching materials, science education projects, interviews with inspiring scientists and teachers, reviews of books, and many other useful resources for science teachers. It aims to promote science teaching by encouraging communication between teachers, scientists and others involved in European science education. Highlights of this issue include: an article summarising the methods planet hunters use to search for planets beyond the Sun; an exploration of several theories of how life has emerged; and a presentation of the World’s fastest camera for soft X-rays in the News from EIROs section. Teaching activities include: an exciting experiment, not just for hobby detectives, in which latent fingerprints are made visible; an activity to grow plants as they would in outer space or on distant ...

16 January 2020: On Friday 21 February 2020, at 19:00, you are invited to the public talk Black Holes - The Darkest Secret of Gravity. Why does time stop at black holes? What happens to matter that falls into a black hole? Where are cosmic black holes and what are their characteristics? Find out the answers from Andreas Müller, astrophysicist and editor-in-chief of "Sterne und Weltraum". To attend the event, you should book your ticket online. Black holes are among the most enigmatic objects in the Universe. There are different types of black holes: 2019 was the year in which the first image of a supermassive black hole was published. We are more familiar with stellar black holes, created when a massive star collapses at the end of its life. A black hole combines so much mass in so little space, that even light can not escape it. Recently astronomers and gravitational wave ...

17 December 2019: On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, The Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) is organising its annual free event "Women in Astronomy" on 11 February 2020 at 19:00 at the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre. This year, the event will feature a presentation from Prof. Dr. Eva Grebel, Director of the Astronomical Computing Institute, Centre for Astronomy, University of Heidelberg on the topic of Galactic Archeology. The public talk will be delivered in the German language only. Before and after the lecture, the astronomy exhibition at the ESO Supernova will also be open to visitors, offering you the opportunity to talk to female scientists who are researching various topics in the field of astronomy. If you would like to attend, tickets are free, but you need to book a seat in advance at this link. The lecture will reveal various ways ...

11 November 2019: On 29 November 2019, Ark Noir returns to the ESO Supernova with a live concert. After a successful session in April 2019, the band is ready for another performance in the immersive environment of the planetarium. The 360-degree tilted dome will be a gateway to the Universe, during a journey like no other, on electronically-inspired beats and instrumental improvisation. Drawing inspiration from Jazz, Hip-Hop, Dub, Beatmusic and Techno, the band creates a fresh and undogmatic sound, their signature. Performing for you will be: Sax & EWI – Moritz StahlKeyboards – Sam HyltonGuitare – Tilman BrandlE-Bass – Robin JermerDrums – Marco Dufner Opening act: Delusional Circuits (Niklas Bühler) and Polygonia, two musicians who never stop exploring new possibilities within sound while developing their own creations. They use various methods to synthesise cosmic atmospheric landscapes, which take you on a vivid trip through a world of emotional depths. During the concerts, there ...

4 November 2019: On Sunday 8 December at 19.00 and 21.00, the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre invites you to come on a unique audiovisual journey through the real and virtual Universe with two performances of the concert Fragmented Future by tonelabs. Musicians Ali and Max, alias tonelabs, live in Munich and produce music which is not just a sequence of sounds, but also an attitude to life. Combining animations and videos from around the world, Fragmented Future is a musical journey that invites you to discover new dimensions. Just like candies in a candy box, each track has its own unique atmosphere, colour and mood, inviting you to experience the Universe from a new and fresh perspective. Tickets for the hour-long audiovisual show cost 20 euros. To reserve your seat and learn more about the concerts, follow this link. The ESO Supernova is hosting a range of shows, exhibitions and alternative ...

4 November 2019: The latest issue of the free magazine Science in School is now available online and in printed form. This European journal for science teachers offers up-to-date information on cutting-edge science, teaching materials and projects in science education, interviews with inspiring scientists and teachers and many other useful resources for science teachers. It aims to promote science teaching by encouraging communication between teachers, scientists and others involved in European science education. Highlights of this issue include: an article answering the question of whether plants suffer from jet lag; a look behind the scenes at one of Europe’s largest laboratories to explore the different roles that make life-changing research happen; and an overview of ESA’s space science challenges for the new school year in the News from EIROs section. Teaching activities include: a visually exciting experiment to work out the empirical formula of a chemical compound; an activity to test the effectiveness ...

2 October 2019: It seems that many of us forget to look up at the stars and see their beauty, especially those of us living in cities. Stellar Night by Stan Dart will take you on a musical journey through the Universe, combining chillout and ambient styles, soundtrack and (sometimes) dance elements. The goal? To remind you that nature is still the best artist we know. The concert takes place on 26 October inside the ESO Supernova planetarium. Only 218 tickets are available. Born in the year that NASA first landed on the Moon, Stan got involved in music as a teenager through creating mixtapes of his favourite music. As a child of the 80s, the music of this decade was formative for Stan. Songs by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Propaganda, Depeche Mode, ELO and Queen accompanied him throughout these years. During this time, Stan developed a love of soundtracks and electronic music. ...

23 August 2019: Have you ever wondered how astronomers do their research and what they investigate? What does an average day look like for an engineer, and what does it take to operate the best telescopes in the world? If you are curious to know what drew our staff to these fascinating professions then join us for Researchers’ Night at the ESO Supernova. Astronomers and engineers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) have teamed up with colleagues from the neighbouring Max Planck institutes across the Garching research campus to engage with visitors stepping through our doorway on the evening of 27 September 2019. The doors of the ESO Supernova will open at 17:30. Visitors can book a place in the planetarium to attend the German talks session from 18:00 to 19:30, or reserve a seat for the English talks session, from 20:00 to 21:30. Tickets for each of the planetarium sessions cost 5 ...

2 August 2019: The latest issue of the free magazine Science in School is now available online and in printed form. This European journal for science teachers offers up-to-date information on cutting-edge science, teaching materials and projects in science education, interviews with inspiring scientists and teachers and many other useful resources for science teachers. It aims to promote science teaching by encouraging communication between teachers, scientists and others involved in European science education. Celebrating the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, this issue includes an insight into the women scientists who contributed to the table of chemical elements, in addition to a retrospect on how the periodic table could have looked like. In the News from EIROs section, readers are invited to follow astronaut Luca Parmitano on his expedition to the ISS. Teaching activities include: experiments to understand some of the key principles of space science; a quiz about the ...

3 July 2019: On 20 July 1969, commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle on the Moon. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface, saying the famous words “One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind”. Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. In 2019, the world celebrates 50 years since the success of the Apollo 11 mission, and the ESO Supernova has prepared a series of activities to mark the occasion. Our staff have designed a special live planetarium show titled 1969 – The Eagle has landed that will run on this day only. Join us on a historical journey following the path of the Apollo 11 astronauts. Lean back and watch the starry sky from Tranquility Base where the Lunar Module “Eagle” landed. Hear about the pros and cons of doing astronomy from the surface of ...

10 June 2019: The ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre will be celebrating Asteroid Day on 30 June 2019, and invites you to join in with the activities. This year marks the 5th anniversary of Asteroid Day, which seeks to raise global awareness about asteroids and to support the resources necessary for further asteroid exploration. The ESO Supernova will be hosting special activities on this theme. Throughout the day, in the seminar room on the 4th floor, you will be able to watch movies and listen to short talks about asteroids, their origins and what they can teach us about the Solar System, as well as the discoveries being made by ongoing asteroid research. The exact programme for the seminar rooms can be found here. No reservation is needed for the seminar room activities but seats are limited. In the foyer area of the seminar rooms, you will also find lots more information ...

29 May 2019: Today, students from the Oskar von Miller Technical College, Meran, Italy visited the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre, bringing the total number of student visitors since the centre's inauguration to over 10 000. To mark this milestone, each student was given a gift as a memento of their visit, and the accompanying teacher received the ESO publication "The Jewel on the Mountaintop" for the school’s library. The ESO Supernova reached this milestone after just over one year of sharing astronomy and space with the public through its engaging education programme, exhibitions, public talks, and planetarium shows. Over the last 13 months, school groups from 11 different countries, among them eight ESO member states, joined the education programme. The centre places a particular emphasis on education and encourages visits from school classes, for which special activities and workshops can be arranged. Teacher training sessions at the ESO Supernova are also ...

8 May 2019: On Sunday 30 June the ESO Supernova will celebrate international Asteroid Day. On this day, we are delighted to introduce the latest planetarium show in our programme: The Amazing Adventures of Rosetta and Philae. The famous space probe Rosetta and her lander Philae will tell the story of their decade-long mission to the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The audience will travel with them through the Solar System, encountering asteroids and neighbouring planets, and learning how missions like Rosetta can teach us more about objects in space. Launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2004, Rosetta and Philae were designed to study a comet by getting closer than ever before. They accomplished this mission when, in 2014, Philae landed on Chury, sending home the first images ever taken from the surface of a comet. Now, in this adaptation of ESA’s popular cartoons about the distinguished explorers, viewers have the opportunity to experience ...