ESO, the European Southern Observatory, will host two press events
during the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (JENAM 2009)
that takes place at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. The two
events are scheduled for the morning of Tuesday 21 April 2009.

At 11:00 BST/12:00 CEST, a press conference will highlight a major and
truly unique discovery in the field of exoplanets, made possible with
ESO telescopes.

From 11:30 BST/12:30 CEST until 13:30 BST/14:30 CEST, a special
writer’s workshop will be dedicated to the future 42-meter European
Extremely Large Telescope, which will become “The World’s Biggest Eye
on the Sky”. Science writers will be updated by the key players on the
status of this amazing project, which has gained wide support in the
scientific community, and whose go-ahead for construction is expected
in 2010.

The panelists are:
* Tim de Zeeuw, ESO Director General
* Roberto Gilmozzi, ESO, E-ELT Principal Investigator
* Mark Casali, ESO, Head of the Instrumentation Division
* Isobel Hook, University of Oxford, UK

A buffet lunch will be offered.

Media registration for JENAM 2009 is free of charge — any bona fide
media delegates can pre-register online using the form at
http://www.jenam2009.eu/default.asp?langid=0&contentid=1400
(advance registration is not essential but encouraged).

Contacts:
Dr. Henri Boffin
ESO
Tel: +49 89 3200 6222
E-mail: hboffin@eso.org

Dr. Robert Massey
Press and Policy Officer
Royal Astronomical Society
Tel: +44 (0)20 7734 3307 / 4582
Mob: +44 (0)794 124 8035
E-mail: rm@ras.org.uk