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-meter Danish (http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish154) and TRAPPIST (http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/trappist) telescopes at ESO’s La Silla Observatory (http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla) 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:
*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 (https://maps.google.de/maps?q=MCT+Observat%C3%B3rio+Nacional&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&channel=sb&fb=1&gl=de&hq=Observat%C3%B3rio+Nacional&cid=54794498596514837&t=m&z=16&iwloc=A) 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 (http://www.gotomeeting.com/online/start) online (please request access from eson-brazil@eso.org).

Contacts:
Gustavo Rojas
ESON Brazil, Universidade Federal de São Carlos
São Carlos, Brazil
+55 1633519795, cell: +55 16991554847
eson-brazil@eso.org

Richard Hook
ESO, Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
+49 89 3200 6655, cell: +49 151 1537 3591
rhook@eso.org