Xavier Barcons, director general de ESO, Luis Chavarría, representante de ESO en Chile y Andreas Kaufer, director de operaciones de ESO, fueron los encargados de recibir al ministro de Ciencia, Tecnología, Conocimiento e Innovación de Chile, Flavio Salazar.

Xavier Barcons, director general de ESO, Luis Chavarría, representante de ESO en Chile y Andreas Kaufer, director de operaciones de ESO, fueron los encargados de recibir al ministro de Ciencia, Tecnología, Conocimiento e Innovación de Chile, Flavio Salazar.

The photovoltaic power plant Paranal-Armazones supplies electricity to ESO's Paranal Observatory and the ESO's ELT construction site at Cerro Armazones during the day. This solar power plant is the highest generation capacity in Chile dedicated to astronomy. On July 12, the plant was inaugurated with local authorities, and staff of ESO and the Saesa Group. From left to right: Marco Antonio Mancilla, executive secretary (S) of the National Energy Commission; Roberto Tamai, director of ESO’s ELT Program; Dafne Pino, Energy Seremi of Antofagasta; Francisco Alliende, general manager of Grupo Saesa; Maisa Rojas, Minister of the Environment; and Gustavo Riveros, Environment Seremi of Antofagasta.

ESO recibió a cuatro embajadores de la UE en Chile en el Observatorio Paranal. De izquierda a derecha: Carlos Sousa Amaro, embajador de Portugal; Carmen Gonsalves, embajadora de Holanda; Andreas Kaufer, director del Observatorio Paranal de ESO; Florice Mocanu, embajadora de Rumania y Eija Rotinen, embajadora de Finlandia.

The speakers of the ESO press conference showing the first image of Sagittarius A*, our Milky Way's black hole, taken by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration. From left to right: Sara Issaoun, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and Radboud University; ESO Director General, Xavier Barcons; Christian Fromm, Würzburg University; Huib van Langevelde, Director of the Event Horizon Telescope Project; Mariafelicia de Laurentis, University of Naples “Federico II” and the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN); Thomas Krichbaum, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy; and José L. Gómez, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC). 

Bárbara Ferreira, the Media Manager at the European Southern Observatory (ESO), moderates questions at the press conference held at ESO by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration.

Panellists at the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) press conference. From right to left: Christian Fromm, Würzburg University; José L. Gómez, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía; and Mariafelicia de Laurentis, University of Naples “Federico II” and the National Institute for Nuclear Physics.

Some of the panelists from the Event Horizon Telescope press conference. From left to right: Thomas Krichbaum, Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy; Sara Issaoun, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and Radboud University; and speaking at the podium is José L. Gómez, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía. 

José L. Gómez, from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, speaks at the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) press conference, explaining the science behind the first image of the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole. 

Christian Fromm, from Würzburg University, one of the panelists at the EHT press conference, explains the science behind the first image of the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole. 

Mariafelicia de Laurentis, University of Naples “Federico II” and the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), one of the panelists at the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) press conference, explains the science behind the first image of the Milky Way's central black hole.

Anton Zensus, Director at the Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy and the EHT Collaboration Board Founding Chair, speaks at the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) press conference at the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

This photo depicts the attendees of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) press conference. Visible on the top left is the first image of the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*. Directly below the image sit the EHT panelists, and speaking at the podium is Anton Zensus, Director at the Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn and the EHT Collaboration Board Founding Chair. 

Sara Issaoun, from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and Radboud University, explains the similarities and differences between two images of black holes at the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) press conference. On the left is M87*, the first ever image of a black hole published by the EHT collaboration in 2019, and on the right is Sgr A*, the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, published by the collaboration in 2022.

Thomas Krichbaum, Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration member from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, explains the science involved in taking the first ever image of Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. 

Three of the expert panel speakers at the press conference announcing the first image of Sagittarius A*, our Milky Way's black hole, taken by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration. From left to right: José L. Gómez, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC); Mariafelicia de Laurentis, University of Naples “Federico II” and the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN); and Christian Fromm, Würzburg University. 

Xavier Barcons, ESO Director General, opens the ESO press conference presenting the first image of the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*. The press conference was held at ESO's headquarters on 12 May 2022 and featured the first image of Sagittarius A* taken by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration.

ESO Director General, Xavier Barcons, addresses the audience at the ESO press conference presenting the first image of the Milky Way's black hole, Sagittarius A*. From left to right: panellist Thomas Krichbaum, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy; panellist Sara Issaoun, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and Radboud University; and Xavier Barcons, ESO Director General. 

Huib van Langevelde, Project Director of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), presents the first image of our Milky Way's black hole, Sagittarius A*, at a press conference held at ESO's headquarters in Garching.

Director of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Project Huib van Langevelde presents the first image of the black hole at the centre of our Milky Way, Sagittarius A*. The image was presented at a press conference at ESO's Garching headquarters on 12 May 2022. 

Huib van Langevelde, Director of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Project, presents the first image of the Milky Way's black hole, Sagittarius A*, to an audience at ESO's Eridanus Auditorium in Garching, Germany. The EHT Collaboration presented this groundbreaking image in multiple press conferences around the world on 12 May 2022.

An audience of journalists and scientists at ESO's Garching headquarters watch as Sara Issaoun from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and Radboud University explains the science behind the first image of the Milky Way's black hole, Sagittarius A*. Issaoun is a member of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, the team who obtained this remarkable image. 

Sara Issaoun, member of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and Radboud University, addresses the audience at the press conference announcing the first image of Sagittarius A* at the ESO Headquarters in Garching, Germany, on 12 May 2022.

Thomas Krichbaum, Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration member from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, explains very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI). VLBI was the technique used to create an Earth-sized telescope capable of imaging Sagittarius A*, our Milky Way's black hole.