The Horshead Nebula | SSO Callisto Telescope

The Horshead Nebula | SSO Callisto Telescope

This first light image from the Callisto Telescope at the SPECULOOS Southern Observatory (SSO) shows the famous Horsehead Nebula. First light for a newly commissioned telescope is a tremendously exciting time, and usually well-known astronomical objects such as this are captured to celebrate a new telescope's commencing operations.

The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 422 parsecs or 1,375 light-years from Earth.

The SSO is installed at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in the vast Atacama Desert, Chile, and consists of four 1-meter planet-hunting telescopes. The project’s telescopes are named after Jupiter’s Galilean moons, and are neighbors of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) and VISTA. 

SPECULOOS will focus on detecting Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby ultra-cool stars and brown dwarfs.

Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars (SPECULOOS)

Credit: SPECULOOS Team/E. Jehin/European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Release Date: December 5, 2018

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