ESA Science & Technology

Dark Matter Found in a Typical Cluster of Galaxies

Astronomer John S. Mulchaey, of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSCI) and fellow team members announced today the discovery of a huge concentration of mysterious "dark matter" with the ROSAT X-ray observatory satellite. ROSAT is an acronym for Roentgen Satellite, a joint project of Germany, NASA, and the U.K.)

Published: 4 January 1993

Protoplanetary Disks Around Newly Formed Stars

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered the strongest evidence yet that many stars form planetary systems.Dr. C. Robert O'Dell of Rice University, Houston, Texas and colleagues have used Hubble to discover extended disks of dust around 15 newly formed stars in the Orion Nebula, a starbirth region 1500 light-years away.

Published: 16 December 1992

Peering Far Back in Time to Uncover the Secrets of Galaxy Evolution

Looking far away and far back in time, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has found some suspected ancestors of today's galaxies. The Hubble pictures reveal that star-forming galaxies were far more prevalent in the clusters of the younger universe than in modern clusters of galaxies near us today.

Published: 1 December 1992

Hubble Space Telescope Discovers a Disk Fueling a Possible Black Hole

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have gotten their best look yet at the disk of material that surrounds and is being pulled into a suspected black hole. The disk is at the core of a galaxy in the Virgo Cluster 45 million light-years from Earth. Dr. Walter Jaffe of Leiden Observatory in The Netherlands said the disk is tipped about 60 degrees - enough to provide astronomers with a clear view of the galaxy's bright hub.

Published: 19 November 1992

Hubble Telescope Observes Most Distant Galaxy

Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope an international team of astronomers is uncovering intriguing new details about the most distant galaxy known, located more than ten billion light-years away.

Published: 13 November 1992

Using a Distant Gravitational Lens to Explore the Cosmos

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has photographed a striking mirror-image of a very distant galaxy. The observations might unlock the secrets of the dark matter mystery which has puzzled astronomers for decades.

Published: 8 October 1992

Compact Young Radio Galaxy

Observations with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have given a tantalizing glimpse of the time soon after galaxies formed, suggesting that these huge systems of stars formed over a wider span of time than once believed.

Published: 1 July 1992

Measuring Distances to Galaxies

Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST), an international team of astronomers has taken a major first step in redetermining the expansion rate of the universe. This rate, known as the Hubble Constant, is one of two critical numbers needed for making a precise determination of the size and age of the universe.

Published: 29 June 1992

Sky Survey Reveals Embryonic Galaxies

A serendipitous survey of the heavens with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is uncovering remote and unusual galaxies never before resolved by optical telescopes on Earth. HST reveals an unusual variety of shape and structure in these distant galaxies, which previously appeared as fuzzy blobs in ground-based sky surveys. These tantalizing early results may lead to a much clearer understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies.

Published: 24 June 1992

Dark 'x' Across Nucleus of M51

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has provided astronomers with what may be their first direct view of an immense ring of dust which fuels a massive black hole at the heart of the spiral galaxy M51, located 20 million light-years away. Surprisingly, they found that the ring is standing almost perpendicular to the relatively flat spiral galaxy, like a top spinning on its side with respect to the floor. Even more surprising is the discovery of a secondary ring or dust lane which is contrary to all expectations.

Published: 8 June 1992

Uncovering a Starburst Galaxy

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has revealed a new class of object in the universe - a grouping of gigantic star clusters produced by the collision of galaxies. Images of the core of the peculiar galaxy Arp 220 show that stars are produced at a furious rate from the dust and gas supplied by the interaction of two galaxies.

Published: 2 June 1992

Hubble Space Telescope Images the Dense Nucleus of Galaxy M32

Astronomers report that they have found new evidence that a black hole weighing 3 million times the mass of the Sun exists at the center of the nearby elliptical galaxy M32, based on images obtained with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The images show that the stars in M32 become extremely concentrated toward the nucleus. This central structure resembles the gravitational "signature" of a massive black hole. The presence of a black hole in an ordinary galaxy like M32 may mean that inactive black holes are common to the centers of galaxies. The new HST images show that M32 is an interesting "laboratory" for testing theories of the formation of massive black holes.

Published: 8 April 1992

Hubble Space Telescope Discovers Young Star Clusters in Giant Galaxy

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has provided intriguing new clues to cataclysmic events in the history of the peculiar galaxy NGC 1275, located approximately 200 million light-years from Earth.Astronomers have discovered about 50 bright objects at the center of the galaxy which appear to be young massive globular star clusters. This is a surprising discovery because most globular clusters are among the oldest objects in the universe; in fact, they are used as a bench mark for estimating the age of the universe.

Published: 16 January 1992

Hubble Space Telescope Probes the Compact Nucleus of Galaxy M87

Astronomers report today that they have found intriguing evidence that a black hole weighing over 2.6 billion times the mass of the Sun exists at the center of the giant elliptical galaxy M87, based upon images taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The images show that stars become strongly concentrated towards the center of M87, as if drawn into the center and held there by the gravitational field of a massive black hole.

Published: 16 January 1992

Probing the Chemistry of the Early Universe

Using a unique capability of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) astronomers announced today that they have detected the rare element boron in an ancient star. This element may be "fossil" evidence of energetic events which accompanied the birth of our Milky Way galaxy. An alternative possibility is that this rare element may be even older, dating from the birth of our universe. If so, then the HST findings may force some modification in theories of the Big Bang itself.

Published: 13 January 1992

Snapshots Probe the Early Universe

Drs. Bahcall, Dan Maoz, Donald Schneider, and Brian Yanny, all of the Institute for Astronomers are reporting surprising and interesting initial results from a survey of several hundred quasars now being carried out with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Using HST's extremely high resolution images, this "Snapshot Survey" program has sought to detect evidence on gravitational lensing at a level of detail not obtainable with ground-based telescopes.

Published: 13 January 1992

Hubble Space Telescope Finds Blue Straggler Stars in the Core of a Globular Cluster

High-resolution observations of the core of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, made with the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera (FOC) onboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST), provide new evidence that stars may collide and capture each other and gain a new "lease on life" in the process. The FOC observations reveal a surprisingly high concentration of a unique class of star called blue stragglers, which may evolve from "old age" back to a hotter and brighter "youth". These stars may also play a critical role in the dynamic evolution of the cluster's core.

Published: 24 July 1991

Hubble Space Telescope To Monitor Changes On Mars

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has begun a long-term program to monitor seasonal and interannual changes that occur on the surface and in the atmosphere of the planet Mars. This program will allow for a better understanding of the Martian climate and processes involved in surface changes, and may eventually allow scientists to characterize global weather patterns on Mars, which will be an important prerequisite for a manned expedition to the red planet.

Published: 18 May 1991

Hubble Space Telescope Resolves Eruption of a Massive Star

Observations of a massive, unstable star called Eta Carinae, made with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC) aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope HST, reveal surprising and complex new structure in a dusty nebula surrounding the star. New details include a jet of material flowing away from the star and a regularly spaced set of wave-like features. The results are being reported on May 17, 1991 at the Hubble Space Telescope Science Writer's Workshop in Baltimore Md.

Published: 17 May 1991

Hubble Space Telescope Establishes Accurate New Distance Measurement To Neighbouring Galaxy

Recent observations of the remnants of Supernova 1987A, conducted with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have provided an unexpected bonus - an accurate determination of the absolute distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located in the southern hemisphere.

Published: 16 January 1991

ESA Science & Technology - News Archive

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