Astronomers using ESO instruments have discovered a remarkable extrasolar planetary system that has some striking similarities to our own Solar System. At least five planets are orbiting the Sun-like star HD 10180, and the regular pattern of their orbits is similar to that observed for our neighbouring planets. One of the new extrasolar worlds could be only 1.4 times the mass of the Earth, making it the least massive exoplanet ever found.

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The Sun sets behind Cerro Paranal in the Chilean Atacama desert. While astronomers get ready to observe with ESO's Very Large Telescope, Nature prepares for her own grand display. As night falls over the desert, the southern sky reveals its nocturnal beauty, leaving the spectator in silent amazement. Some people, however, don?t just stare at the spectacle. With great skill, they record these unique moments for everyone to see - they are the photographers of the night.

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For the first time, astronomers have been able to directly follow the motion of an exoplanet as it moves to the other side of its host star. The planet has the smallest orbit so far of all directly imaged exoplanets, lying as close to its host star as Saturn is to the Sun. Scientists believe that it may have formed in a similar way to the giant planets in the Solar System. This discovery proves that gas giant planets can form within discs in only a few million years, a short time in cosmic terms.

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High on the Chajnantor plateau in the Chilean Andes, the first antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array, or ALMA for short, move in unison.

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On 26 April 2010, the ESO Council selected Cerro Armazones as the site for the planned 42-metre European Extremely Large Telescope. Cerro Armazones is an isolated mountain at 3060 metres altitude in the central part of Chile's Atacama Desert, some 130 kilometres south of the town of Antofagasta and about 20 kilometres away from Cerro Paranal, home of ESO?s Very Large Telescope.

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Every night, all year round, the ESO Very Large Telescope, or VLT, opens its four giant eyes to scrutinise the beautiful southern skies. Each eye is a huge mirror, 8.2 metres in diameter, that gathers the light of the night sky, and reflects it into optical systems that form ultra-sharp images of the Universe. But keeping the VLT´s eyes clear requires each mirror to be cleaned and recoated occasionally, a delicate and complex procedure.

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The Orion Nebula reveals many of its hidden secrets in a dramatic image taken by ESO?s new VISTA survey telescope. VISTA ? the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy ? is the latest addition to ESO?s Paranal Observatory. It is the largest survey telescope in the world and is dedicated to mapping the sky at infrared wavelengths. The telescope?s huge field of view can show the full splendour of the Orion Nebula and VISTA?s infrared vision also allows it to peer deeply into dusty regions that are normally hidden and expose the curious behaviour of the very active young stars buried there.

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In principle, the larger a telescope?s mirror, the finer the details it can see.

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VISTA (the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) is a new telescope that has just started work at ESO?s Paranal Observatory in Chile and has made its first release of pictures. VISTA is a survey telescope working at infrared wavelengths and is the world?s largest survey telescope. Its large mirror, wide field of view and very sensitive detectors will reveal a completely new view of the southern sky. Spectacular pictures of the Flame Nebula, the Centre of the Milky Way and the Fornax Galaxy Cluster show that it is working very well.

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On 19 October 2009, at an international exoplanet conference, the team who built the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, better known as HARPS, the spectrograph for ESO?s 3.6-metre telescope, reports on the incredible discovery of more than 30 new exoplanets, cementing HARPS?s position as the world?s foremost exoplanet hunter.

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In the framework of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, ESO has launched a new project aimed at connecting the sky as seen by the unaided eye with that seen by hobby and professional astronomers. The project, called GigaGalaxy Zoom, reveals three amazing, ultra-high-resolution images of the night sky that online stargazers can zoom in on and explore in an incredible level of detail.

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ESO has just released a stunning new image of a field of stars towards the constellation of Carina. This striking view is ablaze with a flurry of stars of all colours and brightnesses, some of which glow against a backdrop of gas and dust clouds.

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At observatories worldwide most of the glory goes to the astronomers who provide us with new vistas of the heavens, but this is only possible thanks to the many experienced technicians and engineers who accomplish amazing work behind the scenes. They work against the clock to ensure that the telescopes function optimally to deliver outstanding results. But what does an engineer at ESO?s Very Large Telescope actually do?

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Is it possible to visit all major observatories in the world, covering every continent, in the space of just 24 hours? ESO made a trip "Around the World in 80 Telescopes" during a live 24-hour webcast. Let's go behind the scenes to find out how it was done.

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Well-known exoplanet researcher Michel Mayor announced on 21 April 2009 the discovery of the lightest exoplanet found so far. The planet, ?e?, in the famous system Gliese 581, is only about twice the mass of our Earth. The team also refined the orbit of the planet Gliese 581 d, first discovered in 2007, placing it well within the habitable zone, where liquid water oceans could exist. These amazing discoveries are the outcome of more than four years of observations using the most successful low-mass-exoplanet hunter in the world, the HARPS spectrograph attached to the 3.6-metre ESO telescope at La Silla, Chile.

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ESO's La Silla Observatory, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, became the largest astronomical observatory of its time. It led Europe to the frontline of astronomical research, and is still one of the most scientifically productive in ground-based astronomy.

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Have you ever wondered what it must be like to be an astronomer? In this fourth episode of the ESOcast, Dr. J takes us behind the scenes at ESO?s Very Large Telescope in Chile to show us what a day in the life of an ESO staff astronomer is like.

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In this third episode of the ESOcast Dr. J takes us to the site of ALMA, the Atacama Millimeter / submillimeter Array in the Atacama region in Chile. ALMA is an observatory under construction 5000 metres above sea-level, on the plateau of Chajnantor ? high enough to be literally breathtaking.

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In this second episode of the ESOcast Dr. J takes us to the centre of the Milky Way to talk about a supermassive black hole there located. We will hear from two scientists involved in an unprecedented 16-year long study, which used several of ESO?s flagship telescopes to produce the most detailed view ever of the surroundings of the monster lurking at our Galaxy?s heart. How were the hidden secrets of this tumultuous region unravelled? Watch this ESOcast and find out.

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ESO's Paranal Observatory has just been used as the key location for Quantum of Solace, the latest film in one of the most successful movie franchises ? that of renowned secret agent 007. See why ESO played a pivotal role in this movie!

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