Seasons Greetings 2025 from The European Southern Observatory

Seasons Greetings 2025 from The European Southern Observatory

This festive-looking image features the words 'Season's Greetings from the European Southern Observatory' in the foreground. Above that is the ESO logo, and to the left is a golden Christmas tree. In the background, multiple telescope domes can be seen surrounded by golden snowflakes, creating a warm Christmas atmosphere.

This drone photograph shows the European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in late 2025, during its construction.

Credit: G. Vecchia/ESO | Release Date: Dec. 1, 2025

Credit: L. Sbordone/ESO | Release Date: Dec. 8, 2025

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) wishes you happy holidays and a great start for the year 2026! This festive-looking first image features the words 'Season's Greetings from the European Southern Observatory' in the foreground. Above that is the ESO logo, and to the left is a golden Christmas tree. In the background, multiple telescope domes can be seen surrounded by golden snowflakes, creating a warm Christmas atmosphere.

The second image is a drone photograph showing ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope in late 2025, during its construction.

The third photograph captures the mesmerising colors of an evening sky. The sky's gradient fades from blue at the top to white, then orange and pink at the bottom. A mountain range is visible at the bottom of the image with all but one of the mountains already in darkness. The last illuminated one is on the right, with a metallic structure on top. In the middle of the mountain range, a triangular shadow can be seen. A silver full moon high in the sky on the left underlines the timelessness of the image.

This a view of the seemingly endless expanses of the Chilean Atacama Desert. The silver full Moon shines bright in the beautiful gradient evening sky. Below it, to the right, the giant dome of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) glows with the golden sunset light.

The ELT is perched atop Cerro Armazones at an altitude of 3046 meters (nearly 10,000 feet). The dome might look small in the image, but the full 30-minute walk via the set of stairs from the entrance of the dome to its top, indicates its gigantic size: 80 meters high and 93 meters wide. Weighing about 6,100 tonnes, the dome is designed to protect the telescope and its mirrors, including the 39-m wide primary mirror—the biggest eye on the sky. 

To the left of Cerro Armazones the last sunbeams of the evening cast a dark triangular shadow: Cerro Paranal, home to ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), from where this picture was taken by Luca Sbordone, ESO staff astronomer. It is no wonder that this site hosts so many professional telescopes, as it boasts the darkest skies on Earth. Chile is home to all of ESO’s observatories, thanks to a long-lasting partnership that goes back more than 60 years—may it be as timeless and inspiring as this view. 

Further information on the ELT: https://elt.eso.org

Credit: European Southern Observatory
Release Date: Dec. 9, 2025

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