Poland to Join the European Southern Observatory

“We’re very excited to have our membership of ESO on the horizon,” said Minister Kolarska-Bobińska. “This will open up many future opportunities for us, and drive Polish industry, science and technology forward. This will be the beginning of a fantastic partnership for European astronomy and will also strengthen our links with Chile, with whom we are already cooperating intensively, for instance, in the mining industry — another field where Chile's natural conditions are outstanding.”

The connection between ESO and Poland extends beyond their respective astronomical communities. For example, the most recent ESO Industry Day was hosted in Warsaw in January 2013. This event gave ESO the chance to inform Polish industry about ESO's current facilities and its future plans, including the construction of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).

“We are looking forward to having Poland as a member of our organisation,” said ESO’s Director General, Tim de Zeeuw. “Poland will bring a strong astronomical community, which will strengthen the expertise across the ESO Member States, for example in the time-series astronomy. Poland will gain access to some of the best telescopes and observatories in the world, including the Very Large Telescope on Paranal, ALMA at Chajnantor and, in the coming decade, also the European Extremely Large Telescope on Armazones which will be a tremendous step forward. Poland can now be part of the E-ELT construction effort.”

Poland, the homeland of Nicolaus Copernicus, the astronomer who proposed that the Sun and not the Earth is at the centre of the Solar System, has a rich tradition in astronomy extending to the present. “Polish astronomers have contributed greatly to astronomical research in recent years, and with our accession to ESO this will only continue to grow,” said Minister Kolarska-Bobińska.