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| INTEGRAL discovers gamma rays originating from black hole jets |
| Can the powerful jets originating from the vicinity of black holes emit gamma rays? ESA's INTEGRAL observatory has shown that they can. An extensive study of Cygnus X-1, a binary system that hosts a black hole, has revealed polarized gamma-ray emission from this source, and shown that this high-energy emission originates from the jets that were originally detected in the radio band. This first discovery of polarized gamma rays from the vicinity of a black hole opens a new observational window on these enigmatic objects. The results of this study are published online today in Science Express. |
| Date: 24 Mar 2011 |
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| Arachnophobes beware: Hubble snaps close-up of the Tarantula [heic1105] |
| The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced an outstanding image of part of the famous Tarantula Nebula, a vast star-forming cloud of gas and dust in our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. In this picture, we see a close-up of the Tarantula's central region, glowing brightly with ionised gases and young stars. |
| Date: 15 Mar 2011 |
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| ESA remembers the night of the comet |
| Twenty-five years ago, ESA made its mark in deep space. A small spacecraft swept to within 600 km of Halley's comet. The Giotto probe was nearly destroyed by the encounter but what it saw changed our picture of comets forever. |
| Date: 11 Mar 2011 |
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| First release of calibrated LYRA data from PROBA-2 |
| The first calibrated measurements of solar irradiance made by the LYRA instrument on ESA's second PROBA (PRoject for On-Board Autonomy) satellite are now available to the scientific community. Future access to near-real-time data from both of the primary instruments on PROBA-2, SWAP and LYRA, is expected to provide new opportunities to study solar activity and space weather. |
| Date: 10 Mar 2011 |
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| An old galaxy cluster discovered in the young Universe |
| Astronomers working with data from several observatories, including ESA's XMM-Newton, have discovered the most distant, mature galaxy cluster yet. The cluster is seen as it was when the Universe was only about a quarter of its current age. In contrast to other structures observed in the young Universe, this object is already in its prime, as is evident from its diffuse X-ray emission and evolved population of galaxies. This shows that fully-grown galaxy clusters were already in place this early in cosmic history. |
| Date: 09 Mar 2011 |
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| INTEGRAL Announcement of Opportunity (AO-9) |
| Proposals are solicited for observations with INTEGRAL in response to the Ninth Announcement of Opportunity, AO-9, issued 7 March 2011. This AO covers the period January 2012 to December 2012 and is open to all proposers. |
| Date: 07 Mar 2011 |
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| Call for Letters of Interest to participate in the preparatory activities for the Gaia archive access |
NOTE - The deadline for submissions has passed
Dear Colleagues,
ESA hereby invites groups in Member States, wishing to participate in the preparatory activities for the Gaia archive access working group, to submit a Letter of Interest to ESA outlining their area of expertise and potential contribution. |
| Date: 01 Mar 2011 |
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