European Southern Observatory
ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe. Created in 1962, ESO provides state-of-the-art research facilities to astronomers and astrophysicists and is supported by Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Several other countries have expressed an interest in membership.Astronomy is often described as the oldest science and there can be no doubt that a view towards the majestic Milky Way band of stars - as it stretches across the sky on a clear night - must have been an awe-inspiring sight to people of all ages and cultures.
ESO is the pre-eminent intergovernmental science and technology organisation in astronomy. It carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities for astronomy to enable important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research.ESO is also the focal point for Europe’s participation in the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an intercontinental collaboration with North America, East Asia and Chile. ALMA will start scientific observations in 2011, and promises to be as transformational for science as the Hubble Space Telescope.
For more information, please visit http://eso.info