ESA Science & Technology - News Archive
News archive
News archive
Using ESA's Herschel Space Observatory, a team of astronomers has found first evidence of a noble-gas based molecule in space. A compound of argon, the molecule was detected in the gaseous filaments of the Crab Nebula, one of the most famous supernova remnants in our Galaxy.
Published: 12 December 2013
Cosmologists have achieved a first detection of the long-sought B-modes in the polarised Cosmic Microwave Background. The result is based on the combination of data from the South Pole Telescope and ESA's Herschel Space Observatory. This detection is a milestone along the way to the possible discovery of gravitational waves produced in the very...
Published: 1 October 2013
A survey from Herschel has revealed that the reservoir of molecular gas in the Milky Way is hugely underestimated - almost by one third - when it is traced with traditional methods. The discovery not only indicates that there is more raw material for the formation of new stars in the Galaxy, but also that it extends farther than astronomers knew.
Published: 11 June 2013
Astronomers have found a rare encounter between two massive and gas-rich galaxies in a survey from Herschel. The event took place when the Universe was only about three billion years old and involved two galaxies forming stars with exceptional efficiency whilst in the process of merging. This galactic collision would go on to form a very massive...
Published: 22 May 2013
Observing the Galactic Centre with Herschel, astronomers have detected molecular gas at surprisingly high temperatures - up to 1000 K. The molecules are probably heated up by shocks as gas surges towards Sagittarius A*, the region harbouring the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way.
Published: 7 May 2013
The Herschel space observatory has exhausted its supply of liquid helium, after more than three years of observations and revelations about how galaxies, stars, and planets form and evolve. Ground-breaking discoveries are in store for years to come.
Published: 29 April 2013
Herschel has yielded proof that almost all the water in Jupiter's stratosphere was delivered by comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which impacted the planet in 1994. The new Herschel map shows more water in Jupiter's southern hemisphere, where the impacts occurred, than in the north.
Published: 23 April 2013
ESA's Herschel space observatory has discovered an extremely distant galaxy making stars more than 2000 times faster than our own Milky Way. Seen at a time when the Universe was less than a billion years old, its mere existence challenges our theories of galaxy evolution.
Published: 17 April 2013
ESA's Herschel space observatory has provided the first images of a dust belt - produced by colliding comets or asteroids - orbiting a subgiant star known to host a planetary system.
Published: 9 April 2013
In this new view of a vast star-forming cloud called W3, ESA's Herschel space observatory tells the story of how massive stars are born.
Published: 27 March 2013
For the first time, astronomers have detected far-infrared emission from jets in a black-hole binary system. Since this emission arises from the base of the jets, the observations are a crucial addition to the understanding of black-hole jets.
Published: 12 March 2013
ESA's Herschel space observatory is expected to exhaust its supply of liquid helium coolant in the coming weeks after spending more than three exciting years studying the cool Universe.
Published: 5 March 2013
ESA's Herschel space observatory has detected a cool layer in the atmosphere of Alpha Centauri A, the first time this has been seen in a star beyond our own Sun.
Published: 20 February 2013
The possible effects of supermassive black holes on star formation in their host galaxies pose a tricky puzzle. Galaxy surveys from Herschel are being used to try to understand this complex interaction.
Published: 13 February 2013
Astronomers using Herschel have found heavy molecular hydrogen in the protoplanetary disc around nearby star TW Hydrae. The observations enabled an estimate of the gaseous disc's mass, which is equivalent to 50 Jupiters.
Published: 30 January 2013
ESA's Herschel space observatory made new observations of asteroid Apophis as it approached Earth this weekend. The data shows the asteroid to be bigger than first estimated, and less reflective.
Published: 9 January 2013
The largest census of starburst galaxies, with almost 800 redshift measurements, has been assembled using data from Herschel and Keck. The survey confirms the important role of starbursts in the history of the Universe's star formation.
Published: 4 December 2012
Astronomers using Herschel have detected massive debris discs around two nearby stars hosting low-mass planets. The discovery suggests that debris discs may survive more easily in planetary systems without very massive planets.
Published: 27 November 2012
ESA's Herschel space observatory has discovered enough water vapour to fill Earth's oceans more than 2000 times over, in a gas and dust cloud that is on the verge of collapsing into a new Sun-like star.
Published: 9 October 2012
Pristine material that matches comets in our own Solar System have been found in a dust belt around the young star Beta Pictoris by ESA's Herschel space observatory.
Published: 3 October 2012
—
20 Items per Page