50 years of ESO – what Europa can achieve when cooperate

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) celebrates fifty years since the signing of its founding convention. Over the last half century ESO has become the world’s most productive ground-based astronomical observatory. The signing of the ESO Convention on October, 5, 1962 and the foundation of ESO was the culmination of the dream of leading astronomers from five European countries — Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. They had decided to join forces with the primary goal of building a large telescope that would give them access to the magnificent and rich southern sky. Operating three unique and world-class observing sites in Chile (La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor) ESO has become a leader in the astronomical research community. To celebrate the 50^th anniversary, ESO and its partners (including the Czech Republic) are organising many events and public initiatives during 2012.