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The Messenger
No. 150 – December 2012
   E   S   O   5   0   t   h  a  n  n   i  v  e  r  s  a  r  y  c  e   l  e   b  r  a   t   i  o  n  s   A   l   l  o  c  a   t   i  o  n  o   f  o   b  s  e  r  v   i  n  g  p  r  o  g  r  a  m  m  e  s   L  a   S   i   l   l  a  –   Q   U   E   S   T   S  u  r  v  e  y
        b
    P   i  c   t  o  r   i  s  a  n   d   R   S   P  u  p  p   i  s
 
2
The Messenger 150
– December 2012
trated book by Govert Schilling and LarsChristensen (
Europe to the Stars
), manyadditional images on the ESO website,exhibitions and competitions, one of thelatter with, as a prize, the opportunityto observe at Paranal, and a gala eventfor representatives of the Member Statesand key contributors to ESO’s develop-ment, past and present (see the reporton p. 7, with copies of the speeches). Inthis special issue, four former Directors
General also contribute their reectionson the signicance of the 50th anniver
-
sary: Lodewijk Woltjer (1975–1987),Harry van der Laan (1988–1992), RiccardoGiacconi (1993–1999) and CatherineCesarsky (1999–2007).
 The need for good internal communica-tion over so many sites, together with theneed to ensure that the community inthe Member States remains well informedabout ESO, is as valid a mission as itwas in 1974, and maybe more so. Whilemany new channels of informationexchange are now used routinely,
TheMessenger 
continues to have an impor-tant role. The layout and the content haveevolved over the years and the fraction
of scientic and technical articles has
increased, somewhat at the expense of the more informal and sometimes anec-dotal contributions in the early issues,no doubt caused by the increased sizeand complexity of the Organisation. I amconvinced that
The Messenger 
will con-tinue to have an important role, and Istrongly recommend this special editionto your attention.
Tim de Zeeuw
11
ESOIn May 1974, Adriaan Blaauw launched
The Messenger 
. He stated the goalexplicitly: “
To promote the participationof ESO staff in what goes on in theOrganisation, especially at places of duty other than our own. Moreover,
 TheMessenger
 may serve to give the world outside some impression of what hap- pens inside ESO.
” Today
The Messenger 
 is known the world over, and has reacheda major milestone with the publication
of the current issue, number 150. It has
certainly achieved its goal: the entirecollection gives a very interesting insideview of the development of ESO overmuch of its history (see also the article byClaus Madsen on p. 74).Coincidentally, this milestone occurs in
the year of the 50th anniversary of ESO’sfounding. On 5 October 1962, following
many years of discussion and preparation,a group of astronomers from Belgium,France, Germany, the Netherlands andSweden signed an international conven-tion that created ESO. The aim of theOrganisation was to build a large tele-scope in the southern hemisphere and tofoster collaboration in astronomy. This ledto the construction of the La Silla Obser-
vatory in Chile with rst light on the 3.6-metre telescope obtained in 1976. The
early issues of 
The Messenger 
record thelast steps leading to this achievement.In the years since,
The Messenger 
hasfaithfully chronicled how ESO’s pro-gramme expanded tremendously beyondthe vision of the founding fathers. Thebuild-up of La Silla was followed by theconstruction of the Paranal Observatory,hosting the Very Large Telescope (VLT),the VLT Interferometer and the surveytelescopes VISTA and VST. The Atacama
Pathnder Experiment (APEX) partner
-ship operating a 12-metre submillimetreantenna on Chajnantor was a precursorto the intercontinental partnership thatis constructing the world’s largest radiotelescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array (ALMA), on the samesite and with initial operations alreadystarted. The next giant step is the immi-nent launch of the construction of the39.3-metre diameter European ExtremelyLarge Telescope on Cerro Armazoneswith a projected start of operations inabout ten years’ time. Meanwhile, thenumber of Member States has increasedto 14, with Brazil poised to join as the
rst from outside Europe as soon as the Accession Agreement is ratied.
ESO’s mission is to design, construct andoperate powerful ground-based observ-ing facilities which enable astronomers
to make important scientic discoveries
and to play a leading role in promotingand organising cooperation in astronomi-cal research. The achievement of thesegoals would not have been possible with-out the dedication and engagement of many individuals over the years, in par-ticular the motivated and highly skilledESO staff members carrying out in-housescience, engineering and support activi-ties, matched by effort in technical and
scientic institutes and in industry in the
Member States, all of it strongly sup-ported by the governments of the MemberStates and of that of Chile which hoststhe Observatories.Fifty years is a good anniversary at whichto take stock — to look back with prideon what has been achieved, to contem-plate some of the detail on how it allcame to pass, and to learn from the pastwhile forging ahead into the future. Theanniversary has been celebrated in a
variety of ways — including a scienticworkshop (ESO@50, see the reporton p. 64), a book by Claus Madsen (
The Jewel on the Mountaintop
) coveringnearly all of ESO’s history, a richly illus-
ESO 50th Anniversary
 A Milestone for
The Messenger 
in ESO’s50th Anniversary Year
 Artist’s impression of the E-ELT on Armazones.
   E   S   O   /   L .   C  a   l  ç  a   d  a
 
3
The Messenger 150
– December 2012
Lodewijk Woltjer
 The celebration of 50 years of ESO recalls
early discussions about the purpose
of ESO. Was this only to construct a 3.6-
metre telescope to explore the south-ern Milky Way, or was ESO part of theEuropean revival in science and technol-ogy and, more generally, an attempt torestore its independence? When I cameto ESO the latter aspect would graduallyassume a dominant importance. Threelines of evolution of ESO were startedat that time, and it is interesting to seethat, during the last decade, this long-term ambition has more or less beencompleted. The three lines involved thetransformation of ESO from a limitedassociation of the six founding countriesinto a pan-West-European organisation,the expansion of the wavelength regioncovered by ESO and the developmentof a strong European centre for astronomi-cal science and technology.With the accession of Italy and Switzer-land thirty years ago, the representative-ness of ESO in the European contextwas much improved and the successfulincorporation of these countries madepossible the subsequent further growthof the organisation to fourteen members.Since the ESO budget is based on netnational income (NNI), this growth also
implied a strengthening of the nancial
capacity to undertake more challengingprojects. The recent agreement withBrazil further adds to the weight of theorganisation. Of course, ESO becomesless European, but the cultural closenessbetween Latin America and Europedoes not make this a very importantissue. Moreover, relations with Chile havedeveloped very favourably; although theChilean contribution consisted mainlyof sites, Chilean scientists rapidly became
de facto
members of the broader ESOcommunity. The agreement between Sweden,Germany and ESO made it possible
twenty-ve years ago for ESO to become
part of the millimetre/submillimetre com-munity that studies the cold Universe. This thread became more fully developedwith the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) project. The third thread in ESO’s evolution beganwith some instrumentation projects. This activity became more extensive withthe development of the New Technology Telescope, begun after the accessionof Italy and Switzerland. The subsequent
 VLT approval in 1987 sealed ESO’sentry into the eld of major telescope
technology, which has now allowed it toplan for the 39-metre telescope. In addi-tion, the new instrumentation projectsfor the VLT interferometer and for the Unit Telescopes of the VLT have made ESOthe envy of the world and increased itsscience productivity by factors unimagi-nable three decades ago. The model of shared instrumentation developmentbetween ESO and its Member States,as planned in the original VLT proposal,has been a full success for both. Thetechnological capabilities of the institutes
are innitely superior to those of only
thirty years ago.ESO has demonstrated that Europeancooperation works. The sum of itsmember countries is much larger than asimple addition would suggest. ButESO’s long-term future depends not onlyon factual successes. As in the past,a common ideology will remain neces-sary. Undoubtedly the current economicproblems will pass after a shorter orlonger time. Far more serious is the risk of the loss of the European ideals sovisible in different places. In this respectit is essential that ESO take care notto lose Member States due to temporaryeconomic problems. ESO activities,including the vital Fellowship programme,should continue to unite the young sci-entists of the continent towards a com-mon future.
Reections from Past Directors General
Three Threads through Time
La Silla Observatory at twilight.
   E   S   O   /   H .   H .   H  e  y  e  r
ESO 50th Anniversary
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