Since March 2018, ApiCam-3 acquires all-sky images from Paranal. They are now available in the Science Archive.

ApiCam-3 has a science-grade 4k x 4k KAF-16803 CCD mounted behind a Canon 12 -mm focal length fish-eye lens providing a 180deg diameter field-of-view, resulting in a 160 arcsec pixel. The instrument is equipped with a filter wheel (although currently the observation sequence uses only a clear "luminance" filter), and is mounted on a tracking station ensuring that the stars are not trailed. The filter sequence and exposure time sequences are likely to evolve over time. Apicam-3 is installed on the roof of the VLTI building on the Paranal platform; it is part of the outreach instrument which also provides deep colour JPG images, to be used in the ESO Supernova and other planetariums, and are available on the ESO webcam page. ApiCam-3 was built by Apical Technologies.

ApiCam-3 is not meant as a replacement of the existing MASCOT all-sky camera (which is scheduled for an upgrade), and is not "operation-critical", meaning its availability is not guaranteed. Nevertheless, we are planning to use its data to test and develop various sky characterization tools. These data could also be useful to spot bright transients.

The data can be retrieved from the usual interface, selecting APICAM as the instrument in the "Other" category.

This data release contains the science data products from all science observations done using the VIMOS instrument in imaging mode, from the beginning of regular operations (April 2003) until August 2015. The remaining data will be added in the next future.

The EREBOS project is carried out under the ESO LP 196.D-0214, PI Veronika Schaffenroth, and studies the interaction of low-mass stellar and sub-stellar companions with low-mass stars. Several post-common envelope eclipsing binaries, with a hot sub-dwarf primary and a cool low mass companion, were selected using the photometric results of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) and observed with FORS2 in long-slit mode.

The detection of the gravitational wave source GW 170817 by the LIGO-VIRGO observatory network, as well as the gamma-ray burst GRB 170817A, on 17 August 2017 has resulted in one of the largest Target of Opportunity campaigns at ESO (www.eso.org/public/news/eso1733/).

With this additional catalogue release (DR3.2) from the ESO/VST Photometric H-alpha Survey of the Southern Galactic Plane and Bulge (VPHAS+), data from six more months of observations are added to the previously released catalogue. Aperture marched band measurements are derived from all the calibrated images of sufficient quality that have been acquired till 30 September 2015 under ESO Programme 177.D-3023(B,C,D,E, F, G, H). The current catalogue release covers about 1200 square degrees that correspond to over half of the VPHAS+ footprint targeting the Southern Galactic Plane.

The ESO Large Program 'Dissecting GAs Stripping Phenomena in galaxies' (http://web.oapd.inaf.it/gasp/, PI: B.Poggianti) is now releasing deep MUSE 3D cubes observed in wide field mode and natural seeing plus ancillary products from all the observations taken during the first three semesters of the program (P96, P97 and P98).