Abstract of the talk by Tim de Zeeuw, "ESO: Present and Future"
ESO: Present and Future
Prof. Dr. Tim de Zeeuw
ESO director general
The European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental organization for
astronomy, created in 1962 by Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden and
The Netherlands, and today has 14 member states. Headquarters are located in
Garching near Munich. ESO's mission is to enable scientific discoveries by
constructing and operating powerful observational facilities that are beyond
the capabilities of individual member states, and to organize collaborations in
astronomy. ESO operates medium-sized optical telescopes on Cerro La Silla, the
Very Large Telescope and Interferometer on Cerro Paranal, widely considered to
be the most advanced optical/infrared observatory in the world, and the
sub-millimeter observatory APEX on Llano Chajnantor, all located in Northern
Chile. ESO represents Europe in a partnership with North America and East Asia
that is constructing the transformational Atacama Large
Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array, to be completed in 2013. ESO is designing an
Extremely Large Telescope with a 42m primary mirror and adaptive optics
built-in, to be constructed in the next decade. The talk will summarize the
current program, include scientific highlights, and will outline plans for the
coming decade.
Tim de Zeeuw received his PhD degree from Leiden University. He worked at the
Institute for Advanced Study and Caltech before returning to Leiden as
professor of astronomy. His research focuses on the formation, structure and
dynamics of galaxies. He directed the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy
and Leiden Observatory, and served on oversight committees for AURA, ESA, ESO
and NASA. He led the recent development of the European Science Vision for
Astronomy. He holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Lyon and
Chicago and is currently Director General of ESO.
Here are some impressions of the lecture by Prof. Tim de Zeeuw.
Click on the images for the full resolution version!
The speaker in conversation with the audience before his talk:
Before the talk:
Prof. Christoffel Waelkens introduces the speaker:
Prof. de Zeeuw during his talk:
Not the view from space, but from the rows in the back:
Prof. de Zeeuw pointing out possible sites for the E-ELT:
A view on the audience at the end of the talk. This time there were enough
seats in the auditorium (Promotiehal has 400 seats)!:
Question and answer session at the end of the fascinating talk:
Cardinal Mercier listened very attentively to the talk in Dutch:
Photos taken by Stefan Uttenthaler
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