14 DAY TRIAL // The European Southern Observatory (ESO), the most important intergovernmental astronomy organization in the entire world, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Founded by five European countries on October 5, 1962, it has since grown in size and scope to its present-day level.
Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden were the first countries to establish the organization, during the ESO Convention, in Paris. The official name of their collaborative effort is the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere.
“ESO’s 50th anniversary comes in the middle of the most exciting period for European and international ground-based astronomy. ESO has come a long way since it was established in 1962. Fifty years later, ESO is now a leader in the astronomical research community as the most productive astronomical observatory in the world,” ESO director general Tim de Zeeuw says.
ESO is currently operating the La Silla and Paranal Observatories, home to the New Technology Telescope and the Very Large Telescope, respectively. It is also contributing to building the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and will soon start construction on the 40-meter European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).