ESO DOI Service

• Brinchmann, Jarle [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
• Barcons, Xavier [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
• Lyubenova, Mariya [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
• Leibundgut, Bruno [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]
• Callanan, Paul [School of Physics, University College Cork, Ireland]
• Krauss, Sara [European Southern Observatory (ESO)]

The Expanding Horizons process will help ESO define its next major undertaking after the Extremely Large Telescope. It is an open and inclusive process, in which the whole ESO community is invited to participate. The goal of Expanding Horizons is to trigger dialogue about the key scientific challenges that will face astronomy, and disruptive technologies required to address them, in the 2040s. This process is divided into four stages: (a) searching for transformational scientific questions, (b) the call for concepts for facilities to address these questions, (c) the assessment of the submitted proposals, and (d) a final decision by the ESO Council. Programmatic work will only start after this decision has been adopted, including study and early design phases and resourcing of the newly created Programme. The design, construction and operation of the new facility, or of the significantly upgraded existing facility, will be owned by ESO, either alone or in partnership with other organisations.