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| ISO Data Archive Software Upgraded to Version 6.0 |
| In the afternoon of the 24th of July 2003, a new version (v6.0) of the ISO Data Archive (IDA) software was installed. This upgrades the functionality associated with, and visibility of, the Highly Processed Data Products - data reduced systematically 'by hand', and allows for continuous ingestion of ISO catalogues and atlases from the community. |
| Date: 25 Jul 2003 |
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| PR 46-2003: Golden legacy for Infrared Space Observatory |
| Scientists are celebrating the thousandth scientific publication from ESA's Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). ISO is fast becoming one of the world's most productive space missions, even though its operational life ended in 1998. |
| Date: 23 Jul 2003 |
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| Looking for life of any shape or form |
| On 25 April 25 1953, James D. Watson and Francis H. Crick published an historic paper in Nature that would change the fate of modern science. They proposed that DNA, the molecule of complex life forms, had the shape of a double helix. Today, scientists from all areas are working together to answer the ultimate question: can life (in any shape or form) exist anywhere else in the Universe? |
| Date: 01 May 2003 |
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| Space infrared astronomy comes of age |
| It is 20 years ago this year that Europe, in collaboration with the United States, launched the first infrared observatory into space. Its infrared powers revealed a secret universe that, to this day, continues to fascinate. The more astronomers look, the better the picture gets... |
| Date: 16 Apr 2003 |
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| Ghosts found in space |
| For Halloween this year, watch out for some real ghosts cruising through space, destined never to 'cross over' to the other side. These ghosts are scientific satellites that have reached the end of their mission and experts have turned off all their instruments. Other satellites cross over into the Earth's atmosphere to be burned up on reentry, but these satellites will float on silently through the eerie darkness of space forever. |
| Date: 28 Oct 2002 |
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| New study reveals twice as many asteroids as previously believed |
| Asteroids in our Solar System may be more numerous than previously thought, according to the first systematic search for these objects performed in the infrared, with ESA's Infrared Space Observatory, ISO. The ISO Deep Asteroid Search indicates that there are between 1.1 million and 1.9 million 'space rocks' larger than 1 kilometre in diameter in the so-called 'main asteroid belt', about twice as many as previously believed. However, astronomers think it is premature to revise current assessments of the risk of the Earth being hit by an asteroid. |
| Date: 05 Apr 2002 |
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| When did liquid water fill the planets? Maybe not as early as was thought... |
| Planet-like bodies with liquid water formed very early in the history of the Solar System, or so scientists
used to think. That scenario may now be due for revision after a finding with ESA's Infrared Space
Observatory, ISO.
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| Date: 17 Jan 2002 |
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| Is it a star? Is it a planet? ISO may have discovered the true nature of brown dwarfs |
| Nature enjoys teasing us. Stars are stars and planets are planets, you may think. In reality it is not as clear-cut as that with the discovery of more and more objects that are neither star nor planet. An Italian team, using observations by ESA's Infrared Space Observatory, ISO, has obtained the first detailed evidence that these ambiguous star-planet 'missing links' form in the same manner as stars, tipping the balance in favour of a stellar origin. |
| Date: 14 Nov 2001 |
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| A game reserve for brown-dwarf hunters - ISO finds 30 'failed stars' in nearby stellar nursery |
| The impressive rho Ophiuchi cloud is one of the heavenly meeting points for astronomers in search of young stars. Located 540 light-years away in the constellation of Ophiucus, in the celestial equator, this dusty region is the nest of more than one hundred newborn stars. But ESA's Infrared Space Observatory, ISO, has also found a surprise hidden in the dust: 30 brown dwarfs, elusive and ambiguous objects considered to be 'failed stars' because they have too little mass to shine as stars. Relatively few of these brown dwarfs have been identified so far, so finding one is like winning a trophy. With this discovery ISO has turned the rho Ophiuchi region into a favourite game reserve for brown-dwarf hunters. |
| Date: 25 Oct 2001 |
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| Toxic compound in space signals starbirth |
| Centuries ago it was commonly believed that comets carried disease in their tails. Nowadays we know the only 'disease' you can get from a comet is a cold - if you stay out too long at night watching it! But these old beliefs were not completely wrong: comet tails do contain an extremely poisonous chemical compound - hydrogen cyanide. Now a team of Dutch and German astronomers using ESA's Infrared Space Observatory and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Hawaii have discovered that this poison can help them to understand the birth of massive stars - its presence is a sign that a massive baby star has begun to warm up.
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| Date: 10 Oct 2001 |
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| Cold comfort for newborn stars - ISO unmasks the icy veil around the Eagle's fiery heart |
| This is such an unusual view of the impressive M16 nebula, also known as 'The Eagle', that even the most devoted sky-lovers will be surprised. It shows exactly what in the best known pictures of this famous nebula remains invisible: huge amounts of the cold dust that enshrouds newborn stars. |
| Date: 07 Sep 2001 |
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| ISO proves astronomers have been fooled by an 'optical illusion' |
| Radio galaxies and quasars look different and have been traditionally classified as different objects. But for quite some time now, many astronomers have suspected that those differences are not real but are only apparent, a 'visual illusion' which arises because of our special observation point from the Earth. |
| Date: 22 May 2001 |
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| ISO provides first measurements of cold water in the Milky Way |
| The search for water in space goes on. Using ESA's Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), Spanish and Italian astronomers have for the first time measured the total amount of water in cold regions of our galaxy. This is especially interesting because these regions are the birthplace of stars like the Sun, and Solar Systems like our own. These new measurements show that water is more abundant than expected - in fact it is the third most abundant molecule in the regions which were studied. |
| Date: 11 Apr 2001 |
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| The other ISO legacy: a pioneering infrared space telescope passes on its expertise to its successors |
| Although a space telescope will, and should, be remembered mainly for its discoveries, its technology and the way it was operated also provide invaluable information for the future. Last week, scientists met to discuss and analyse in detail this other less obvious legacy left by ESA's Infrared Space Observatory, ISO, a pioneer in infrared space astronomy. Future missions will certainly learn from both the successes and the 'could-have-done-better' aspects, said the representatives from the next ESA, NASA and Japanese infrared space telescopes at a workshop in Spain. Thanks to ISO, there are now more than a hundred new well-understood infrared sources for calibration, including asteroids and planets.
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| Date: 20 Feb 2001 |
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| ISO detects benzene in space |
The first 'ringed molecule' found around stars
Life as we know it is based on the ability of the carbon atom to form ring-shaped molecules.
But rings of carbon are not exclusive to Earth, as experts in space chemistry now know. A
Spanish team of astronomers that observed with ESA's Infrared Space Observatory (ISO)
report this week the first detection in interstellar space of benzene, the ring molecule par excellence.
They think benzene is produced by stars at a specific stage of evolution, and that it is an essential
chemical step towards the synthesis of more complex organic molecules whose true nature is still
unclear -although their fingerprints are very conspicuous in the Universe. In industry, benzene is
obtained from petroleum and has many uses. |
| Date: 22 Jan 2001 |
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| ISO finds the 'missing ingredient' to make Jupiter-like planets |
| Astronomers have so far detected about 50 planets orbiting other stars. They are all giant, Jupiter-like planets, made mostly of gas, and their formation process is still unclear. ESA's Infrared Space Observatory, ISO, now sheds some light on this problem. Observing with ISO, a Dutch-US team of astronomers has detected a key ingredient for planet making in the faint disks of matter that surround three nearby stars: the gas molecular hydrogen. The discovery, published in the January 4th issue of Nature, is relevant because current theories about the formation of giant planets were built on the assumption that the gas was 'not' present in the kind of disks observed by ISO. These models will now have to be reviewed. They said, for instance, that Jupiter-like planets had to form in just a few million years, but the ISO result implies that the process can take up to 20 million years. |
| Date: 04 Jan 2001 |
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| ESA celebrates the discovery of infrared light |
| 200 astronomers gather in Toledo, Spain, to set the scientific agenda
for ESA's next infrared space telescope
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| Date: 06 Dec 2000 |
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| Astronomers explore the Internet in search of 'stored-up' discoveries |
| ESA's ISO Archive celebrates its 1000th user
Cyberspace is increasingly breaking the frontiers of space and time... in the most universal sense. The Internet provides astronomers with quick short cuts to the most distant places in the Universe. Simply by allowing free access through the web to the images and data gathered by powerful telescopes, light that has travelled many thousand million years is now at your fingertips. A rapidly growing number of researchers are currently using this new resource, and in the process making valuable 'stored-up' discoveries. ESA's ISO (Infrared Space Observatory) Archive - one of the youngest of these astronomical databases - has recently celebrated the registration of 'user number 1000', who happens to be a young Spanish astronomer. He is convinced that "web-accessible databases are completely changing the way we do astronomy".
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| Date: 25 Oct 2000 |
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| ISO detects a new molecule in interstellar space |
| ESA's infrared space telescope has once again detected
a new molecule in the 'chemistry labs' of the Universe,
the clouds of gas and dust in the space amid the stars.
The newly-detected molecule is the methyl radical
CH3, a so-called 'free-radical' whose existence in
the gas in space had been predicted by Nobel winner
Gerhard Herzberg, who died last year. ISO has already
made the first detections in space of at least ten new
molecules in the gas and solid-state phases. According to the authors --from Germany, the Netherlands and
Australia--, CH3 is one of the most important tracers
for the formation of complex carbon-based molecules. |
| Date: 10 Jul 2000 |
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| INFO 08-2000: ISO Shows What's in the Centre of our Galaxy |
The Milky Way's centre is the busy core of a metropolis, crowded with huge populations of stars
frantically dancing to the rhythm of gravitation. These stars are precious for astronomers: they hold many clues to unveil the past and future history of our galaxy. But the galactic centre has remained a fairly unexplored place so far, due to the thick dust covering it. |
| Date: 07 Jun 2000 |
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