Free Astronomy Magazine September-October 2023

42 ASTRO PUBLISHING ESO and SKAO sign cooperation agreement by ESO − Bárbara Ferreira E SO and the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) have signed a cooperation agree- ment, covering areas such as strat- egy and governance, communica- tions, international relations, scien- tific coordination and sustainabil- ity, diversity and inclusion. It was signed at ESO’s Headquarters in Garching, Germany, by SKAO Direc- tor General Phil Diamond and ESO Director General Xavier Barcons. SKAO is an intergovernmental or- ganisation that aims to build and operate cutting-edge radio tele- scopes to transform our under- standing of the Universe. There is, therefore, considerable overlap be- tween the interests of SKAO and ESO, whose mission is to design, build and operate advanced ground-based observatories and to foster international collaboration for astronomy. In fact, ESO and SKAO have had close-cooperation links since the establishment of SKAO, with scientists, engineers and administrators of both organi- sations collaborating on a regular basis. For example, ESO and SKAO have worked together to raise awareness about the need to pro- tect the dark and quiet skies and have also organised joint work- shops, including one about survey- S KAO Director General Phil Diamond and ESO Director General Xavier Barcons signed a cooperation agreement between the two organisations on 24 July 2023 at ESO’s Head-quarters in Garching, Germany. [ESO]