Humoristic cartoon from Puck on the establishment of diplomatic relations between Greece and Persia. In 499 BC, the Persian Achaemenid Empire tried unsuccessfully to conquer various ancient Greek city-states. Finally in 449 BC a de facto peace was concluded and the Greco-Persian Wars effectively ended, but the two sides refused to have any relations. In 1902, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah of Persia and George I of Greece agreed to de jure recognition and after 2393 years established diplomatic relations.
In mid-August 2010 ESO Photo Ambassador Yuri Beletsky snapped this amazing photo at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. A group of astronomers were observing the centre of the Milky Way using the laser guide star facility at Yepun, one of the four Unit Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope (VLT). (POTD)
