ESPRESSO instrument tagged posts

A team of astronomers has found the strongest evidence yet that some planets outside our solar system may be magnetic. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) and the GeminiNorth telescope, the researchers measured wind speeds on seven very hot, Jupiter-like exoplanets.

The observations reveal that the winds on these planets are most likely governed by magnetic fields, providing the first robust measurement of magnetism on planets outside the solar system.

“This breakthrough opens a completely new window on exoplanet research...

The ESPRESSO instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile has used the combined light of all four of the 8.2-meter Unit Telescopes for the first time. Combining light from the Unit Telescopes in this way makes the VLT the largest optical telescope in existence in terms of collecting area. This picture shows in highly simplified form how the light collected by all four VLT Unit Telescopes is combined in the ESPRESSO instrument, located under the VLT platform. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

The ESPRESSO instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile has used the combined light of all four of the 8.2-meter Unit Telescopes for the first time. Combining light from the Unit Telescopes in this way makes the VLT the largest optical telescope in existence in terms of collecting area...