The European Southern Observatory ESO

The European Southern Observatory
La Silla Observatory, Atacama Desert, Chile
This photograph was taken by José Francisco Salgado, an ESO Photo Ambassador.

The European Southern Observatory is located at an altitude of 2400 metres, far from light pollution and usually above the clouds that often plague my observatory (aka 'my backyard').

Apart from undertaking cutting edge astronomy, ESO makes data files, captured by cameras attached to mighty telescopes, freely available to amateurs who register their interest.

I have downloaded data files from ESO and through the application of a number of freeware software packages have created some detailed images of astronomical showpieces.  The quality of data available from these huge scopes located under pristine skies and captured by state of the art megapixel CCD cameras, comprehensively exceeds what I can achieve with my astro-kit from my 'Suffolk Backyard'.   Not only is the data better, but scopes located at La Silla can capture objects that are only visible in the Southern Hemisphere and therefore unattainable from UK based observatories.

Thank you ESO for this outreach data sharing service!

Part of the Orion Molecular Cloud
my image based on ESO data

The Trapezium star cluster at the heart of the Orion Molecular Cloud
my image based on ESO data

The Trapezium is a relatively young cluster that has formed directly out of the parent nebula.  The five brightest stars are on the order of 15-30 solar masses in size. They are within a diameter of 1.5 light-years of each other and are responsible for much of the illumination of the surrounding nebula. The Trapezium may be a sub-component of the larger Orion Nebula Cluster, a grouping of about 2,000 stars within a diameter of 20 light-years.  There is some thought that an intermediate mass (over 100 times larger than our Sun) black hole lurks within the Trapezium Cluster.

Credits: European Southern Observatory and Wikipedia