November 2012

Artistic impression of the dwarf planet Makemake surface (Image ESO/L. Calçada/Nick Risinger)

0

A number of ESO’s telescopes at La Silla and Paranal, Chile, were used to observe the dwarf planet Makemake. Mainly, these are the Very Large Telescope (VLT), New Technology Telescope (NTT) and TRAPPIST (transiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) telescopes. The data obtained with other smaller telescopes in South America such as the one in Cerro Armazones, the place where the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) will be built, were combined with the main ones to obtain the maximum amount of information.

Doctor Who - The Visitation

2

“The Visitation” is an adventure of the nineteenth season of “Doctor Who” classic series which aired in 1982 featuring the Fifth Doctor, Adric, Tegan and Nyssa. It follows “Kinda” and it’s a four parts adventure written by Eric Saward and directed by Peter Moffatt.

A moment of the ESA Ministerial Council 2012 held in Naples (Photo ESA–S. Corvaja)

1

Yesterday in Naples the 2012 edition of the ESA Ministerial Council held on 20 and 21 November was concluded. It was successful, with a commitment from the ministers of the countries that are part of ESA and the one who represented Canada to develop the Agency’s programs in the coming years. In recent days, Poland’s accession to ESA was announce raising the number of members to 20.

The WITCH aka Harwell Dekatron computer under restoration

0

The world’s oldest still working digital computer, the Wolverhampton Instrument for Teaching Computing from Harwell (WITCH), also known as the Harwell Dekatron Computer or simply as the Harwell Computer, was put into operation again after a three-year restoration at The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) in England.