 in retrospect I didn't catch, but also some I did that made it more interesting.Another unusual year has passed, although with a very positive balance for ESO and its community. Despite all difficulties associated with the pandemic, a lot was achieved. The observatories remained open for most or all of the year, with a focus on maximising the delivery of scientific data. Work on the ELT continued at a very good pace, new instruments are at various stages of development, CTA is taking shape, and a variety of scientific activities keep the link between ESO and its community as strong as ever. The special effort that we are all making through these difficult times is warmly appreciated by ESO’s governing bodies, whose unfailing support is a clear tribute to the impact that the ESO community has on worldwide astronomical research.
The La Silla Paranal observatory remained open all year. For the best part of 2021 all telescopes and modes remained operational, although we had to temporarily reduce the staff complement at the observatories for safety reasons. Around 70 to 80% of the observations in a normal year were delivered, and whenever choices had to be made, they followed the priorities set by the Observing Programmes Committee. For the first time, a regular call for proposals (P107) had to be cancelled to cope with the carryover from P105. Still some programmes selected through the Special Call could be allocated. Thanks to the projects and infrastructure developed during the last years, designated Visitor Mode (dVM) could be regularly used both in Paranal and in La Silla enabling astronomers to join the ESO colleagues in real time during their observing runs. Just to be clear, we would like to see colleagues from the community in Paranal again for Visitor Mode observing runs, but dVM offers now further flexibility.
The commissioning of CRIRES+ on the VLT, using the Garching Remote Access Facility with the support from the few colleagues available in Paranal, was initially envisaged as an experiment and it turned to be a big success, with CRIRES+ now offered to the community. The same happened to IRLOS+, now in regular operation. Thanks to the improvement of the pandemic conditions in Chile, during the last months of 2021 some long overdue technical interventions (including mirror coatings) could be performed. In the last weeks, colleagues from ESO and the ERIS consortium could travel to Paranal to prepare the installation of the instrument in the VLT. The installation is foreseen to start soon in 2022, provided no further restrictions are necessary. In fact, the LPO is now only one step away from full operations. It was personally heart-warming to see colleagues both in La Silla and Paranal during the last weeks, close to normal times, but carefully respecting safety measures at the sites.
ALMA managed to restart observations in March following the Return to Operations plan. As with the La Silla Paranal Observatory, observations continued throughout the year in between basic to baseline mode, with a focus to start Cycle 8 in October. Cycle 7 data were delivered to close to 70%. Of very high importance for the ESO community is the plan to offer a dual time observing channel between ALMA and other facilities (including VLT/I, JWST and Jansky VLA) most likely as of Cycle 10. This will avoid double jeopardy in getting proposals approved in two observatories where competition is fierce. This channel will allow the ESO community to better exploit the broad range of facilities that ESO can offer in various bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.
As for the future, much progress with the construction of the ELT continued. The Armazones construction site reopened in May, and it ramped up slowly due to the closure of Chilean borders until October. Armazones is now a very busy construction site, with work boiling all over the place, and lots of elements of the dome and auxiliary building arrived from European industry ready for installation. The ELT is about to get 3D with the erection of the walls on top of which the dome boogies (already waiting on site) will be placed. Manufacturing of other components in Europe has also progressed at full throttle, admittedly with lots of technical challenges. In June it was publicly announced that First Scientific Light (i.e., start of Science Verification with the telescope and one of the instruments) is now projected for late 2027. ESO’s ELT remains the biggest and most powerful of all the Extremely Large Telescopes, the only fully funded one, and the one that will most likely see the sky first. Lots opportunities ahead for our community.
CTA continued its preparatory activities, with a new configuration called Alpha now adopted. While it will be not as powerful as the baseline configuration, it will still deliver a very powerful high-energy gamma-ray observatory meeting almost all the scientific requirements.
Community engagement activities continued during 2021, with gems like the Hypatia Colloquia (to be continued in 2022), cosmic duologues, virtual conferences and workshops. It was heart-warming to see former ESO fellows taking up important positions in institutes and Universities, while new highly-talented people came to join us.
In closing I would like to end this message with my biggest thanks to all of you for the support to ESO and with my wishes to all of you for a better 2022.There are several steps that each woman should take before she even tries to become pregnant. A visit to a gynecologist (or qualified internist) should occur at least three months before a couple is ready to conceive. During this visit, a full physical examination should be done.
With more information being made available on-line, and support groups helping to increase awareness of infertility, patients have a seemingly limitless amount of information now available to them. One direct result of the ongoing information revolution is that patients today are becoming more knowledgeable and empowered than ever before.
Infertility is the inability to conceive after a year of unprotected intercourse in women under 35, or after six months in women over 35, or the inability to carry a pregnancy to term. Couples who have known barriers to fertility, such as endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, male factor infertility, irregular cycles, etc., do not need to sit out the traditional waiting period to seek expert care for infertility.With the new year underway, we are excited to gear up for the 2017 Collaborative and Classy Awards, a one-of-a-kind three-day learning event in June showcasing the most innovative organizations in the social sector.
In 2016, we redesigned the nomination process and the organization profile in order to give the judges the most thorough and accurate representation of the Classy Awards Finalists.
Beyond the judging criteria, we believe that organizations leading the sector and affecting change tend to share similar traits. This infographic describes what Classy believes are the common characteristics that set innovative organizations apart.
Meet and collaborate with an elite group of innovative programs recognized as Classy Award Winners. This prestigious opportunity identifies drivers of dramatic social change and affords organizations the incredible opportunity to come together and unite as thought leaders from across the globe.Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD), the fifth-largest US steelmaker, is scheduled to release second-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Monday, July 18, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 39 cents per share on revenue of $2.01 billion. In the year ago quarter, the company reported earnings of 22 cents per share on revenue of $1.63 billion.
Steel Dynamics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells steel products in the United States. It operates in three segments: Steel Operations, Metals Recycling and Ferrous Resources Operations, and Steel Fabrication Operations.
In the preceding first quarter, the Fort Wayne, Indiana-based company's net income was $106 million, or 46 cents per share, compared to $65 million, or 29 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue increased to $2.0 billion from $1.6 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 41 cents per share on revenue of $1.81 billion.
Last month, the company announced that it expects second quarter earnings to be in the range of $0.35 to $0.40 per share. In addition, the company increased its quarterly cash dividend by 33% to 10 cents per common share, payable payable on or about April 14, 2011, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 31, 2011. The hedging loss is expected at about $3 million or $0.03 per share.
Steel Dynamics' metals recycling operations were impacted by an estimated 15 percent quarterly reduction in ferrous margins and an estimated 25 percent reduction in nonferrous margins. As well, the cost of acquiring unprocessed scrap material more than outpaced any price increases. The company also was impacted by weaker incoming orders for flat-rolled steel in April. The slump in residential and non-residential construction markets resulted in unexpected weakness in incoming orders for structural steel.
Steel demand and production have improved nicely in the past year due to increased government support and more balanced demand. The rebound in demand has been largely attributed to stronger auto and non-residential construction sectors as well as surging steel demand from China and India. According to the Steel Index, Iron-ore prices more than doubled in the past two years largely due to emerging market demand.
The company, known as a low-cost producer, is attempting to free itself from some outside raw materials suppliers by creating its own pig-iron replacement. Steel Dynamics has built the Mesabi Nugget plant at Minnesota in cooperation with Kobe Steel Ltd. of Japan