Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

The European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental organization for astronomy, created in 1962 by Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden and The Netherlands, and today has 13 member states. Headquarters are located in Garching near Munich. ESO's mission is to enable scientific discoveries by constructing and operating powerful observational facilities that are beyond the capabilities of individual member states, and to organize collaborations in astronomy. ESO operates medium-sized optical telescopes on Cerro La Silla, the Very Large Telescope and Interferometer on Cerro Paranal, widely considered to be the most advanced optical/infrared observatory in the world, and the sub-millimeter observatory APEX on Llano Chajnantor, all located in Northern Chile. ESO represents Europe in a partnership with North America and East Asia that is constructing the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array, to be completed in 2013. ESO is designing an Extremely Large Telescope with a 42m primary mirror and adaptive optics built-in, to be constructed in the next decade. The talk will summarize the current program, include some scientific highlights, and will outline the plan for the coming decade.