ann14021 — Announcement

Media Advisory: Press Conference in Brazil to Announce Discovery in Outer Solar System

An international team of astronomers, led by Felipe Braga-Ribas (Observatório Nacional/MCTI, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), has used telescopes at seven locations in South America, including the 1.54-metre Danish and TRAPPIST telescopes at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, to make a surprise discovery in the outer Solar System.

This unexpected result raises several unanswered questions and is expected to provoke much debate. A press conference will be held in Brazil to present the new results and allow opportunities for questions.

Note that all information regarding these findings is under strict embargo until 19:00 CET (15:00 BRT) on Wednesday 26 March 2014.

When: The conference will be held on 26 March 2014 at 14:30 local time (BRT) and will take place in Portuguese with a summary in English.

Who: The conference presenters are:

Felipe Braga-Ribas, Observatório Nacional/MCTI, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Bruno Sicardy, LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Paris, France

Prof. Roberto Martins, Observatório Nacional/MCTI, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Prof. Julio Camargo, Observatório Nacional/MCTI, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Where: The event takes place in Observatório Nacional, Auditório do Grupo de Pesquisas em Astronomia (GPA), in the GPA/LINEA Building in Rua General José Cristino, 77, Bairro de São Cristovão, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 20921-400, Brazil.

How: To participate in the conference and receive additional material, bona fide members of the media must get accredited by sending an email to Dr. Gustavo Rojas (ESON Brazil) at eson-brazil@eso.org. Members of the media may also request the feed URL from the contacts below. Questions can be sent by email to eson-brazil@eso.org in Portuguese or English. A limited number of journalists can participate via GoToMeeting online (please request access from eson-brazil@eso.org).

Contacts

Gustavo Rojas

ESON Brazil, Universidade Federal de São Carlos

São Carlos, Brazil

Tel.: +55 1633519795

Cell.: +55 16991554847

Email: eson-brazil@eso.org

Richard Hook

ESO, Public Information Officer

Garching bei München, Germany

Tel: +49 89 3200 6655

Cell: +49 151 1537 3591

Email: rhook@eso.org