European Southern Observatory 50th Anniversary Celebration - Astronomy Documentary

European Southern Observatory 50th Anniversary Celebration - Astronomy Documentary - Astronomy: Secrets of the Universe Revealed Segment 1: [11:05] Going South Leading up to ESO's 50th anniversary in October 2012, we are releasing eight special ESOcasts, each a chapter from the movie Europe to the Stars -- ESO's First 50 Years of Exploring the Southern Sky. The birth of ESO, and in particular why astronomers from European countries decided to explore the southern sky by placing an astronomical observatory in Chile. Segment 2: [9:28] Looking Up In it we look at how, over the past fifty years, ESO has helped to unravel some of the mysteries of the Universe in which we live. Astronomers were in need of more powerful tools to observe the sky and ESO provided them. A new generation of revolutionary ground-based telescopes has offered astronomers a front-row seat to study the wonders of the Universe. From the relative proximity of the planets in our Solar System to very distant galaxies, some of which are seen soon after the Universe was born, almost fourteen billion years ago, ESO's telescopes and advanced instrumentation are allowing astronomers to peer deeper into space than ever before. Segment 3: [9:22] Seeing Sharp In this episode we discover the state-of-the-art technology behind the VLT telescope, which has provided astronomers with an unequalled view of the Universe. To obtain the sharpest images of the sky, the VLT has to cope with two major effects that distort the images of celestial objects. The first one is mirror deformations due to their large sizes. This problem is corrected using a computer-controlled support system — active optics — that ensures that the mirrors keep their desired shapes under all circumstances. The second effect is produced by Earth's atmosphere, which makes stars appear blurry, even with the largest telescopes. Adaptive optics is a real-time correction of the distortions produced by the atmosphere using computer-controlled mirrors that deform hundreds of times per second to counteract the atmospheric effects. As one demonstration of its power the VLT's sensitive infrared cameras, helped by adaptive optics, have been able to peer through the massive dust clouds that block our view to Milky Way's core. The images, taken over many years, have allowed astronomers to actually watch stars orbiting around the monstrous black hole that lies in the center of our galaxy. It was even possible to detect energetic flares from gas clouds falling into the black hole. Segment 4: [8:09] Changing Views Since its birth, fifty years ago, ESO has helped to improve our knowledge of the Universe by means of successive generations of powerful optical ground-based telescopes. But there are other ways to collect the light from distant objects. In this episode, we discover how ESO has helped astronomers to explore the Universe at longer wavelengths, such as the infrared and radio regimes. Segment 5: Reaching Out [9:02] ESO's Member States enable the best possible astronomical science at the world's largest observatories. ESO also works closely with industry, universities and research institutes around the world in developing state-of-the-art technologies. Furthermore, through engagement with the public, ESO provides countless ways to participate in the discovery of the cosmos, inviting everyone to join this exciting adventure. Segment 6: Catching Light [10:56] Today's astronomy is not only about taking breathtaking images. Astronomers are always after as much information as possible so they need to dissect the starlight into its component colours to study its composition. Spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools in astronomy and ESO's telescopes also have some of the world's most powerful spectrographs, such as the powerful X-shooter at the Very Large Telescope. Spectroscopy can study the atmospheres of exoplanets orbiting distant stars or newborn galaxies at the edge of observable Universe. Segment 7: Finding Life [8:52] Segment 8: Building Big [8:57] Thuimbnail: Credit: ESO. http://eso.org/public/images/eso1322a/ The Very Large Telescope Snaps a Stellar Nursery and Celebrates Fifteen Years of Operations ESO images and videos, along with the texts of press releases, announcements, pictures of the week and captions, are released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/] and may on a non-exclusive basis be reproduced without fee provided they are clearly and visibly credited [http://eso.org/public/outreach/copyright/]. A Mother's Day presentation. Astronomy Videos - Support Educational Content Online Don't forget to Like and Subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVWjjeporFxhxEVD7JMyoQA