News archive

News archive

INFO 03-1997: European astronomers' successes with the Hubble Space Telescope
Excellent use of Hubble continues to provide astronomers in ESA's member states with a disproportionate share of the space telescope's observing time. ESA has a 15 per cent stake in the Hubble Space Telescope project, earned by providing the Faint Object Camera, the first two sets of solar power arrays, and some staff at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. Current European-led programmes account for about 22 per cent of the observing schedule. So what have Europe's astronomers been doing with Hubble?
Published: 11 February 1997
INFO 20-1996: Europe's space camera unmasks a cosmic gamma-ray machine
The European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera in the Hubble Space Telescope has identified a neutron star, the smallest and densest type of star that exists, lying approximately 3000 light-years away in the southern sky. It is 100 million times dimmer than faint stars seen by the unaided eye. Thus the Faint Object Camera lives up to its name by revealing objects in the Universe close to the limit of visibility.
Published: 28 November 1996
INFO 13-1996: HST observations determine the age of some of the oldest stars in our Galaxy
New observations with the Hubble Space Telescope have determined the age of the stars in the globular Cluster NGC 6752 with unprecedented accuracy. The age of the stars in globular clusters is significant because these stars are believed to have formed during the era of the formation of our galaxy, an event which probably occurred only 1 to 2 billion years after the birth of the Universe itself. An accurate age estimate for these cluster stars is thus regarded as an important means of gauging the age of the Universe.
Published: 28 May 1996
INFO 04-1996: European team gauges a gamma-ray star
Italian astrophysicists have pushed the Hubble Space Telescope to the limit of its powers in finding the distance of Geminga, a pointlike object 500 light-years from the Earth. It is the prototype of a novel kind of star, a radio-silent neutron star, which may be much more common in the Universe than previously supposed. Geminga is so weak in visible light that Hubble had to stare at the spot for more than an hour to register it adequately. The object is nevertheless one of the brightest sources of gamma-rays in the sky, and its output of this very energetic form of radiation can now be accurately gauged.
Published: 28 March 1996
PR 06-1995: Hubble Space Telescope, presentation of scientific results
After last year's successful repair mission, the Hubble Space Telescope has finally become the powerful observatory it was meant to be, delivering a constant flow of amazing scientific results.
Published: 13 February 1995
INFO 04-1995: A Year of Hubble Results
After a year the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope is looking further into space with unprecedented clarity than any other instrument and things are not quite as astronomers had expected.
Published: 6 February 1995
ESA PR 47-1994: Hubble finds one of smallest stars in the Universe
This picture taken by the European Space Agency's faint object camera on-board the Hubble Space Telescope resolves, for the first time, one of the smallest stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Called G1623b the diminutive star (right of center) is ten times less massive than the Sun, and 60 000 times fainter. (If it were as far away as the Sun it would only be eight times brighter than the Full Moon).
Published: 16 December 1994
PR 05-1994: Crew of HST servicing mission visits Europe
The Hubble Space telescope servicing mission in December (STS-61) was a great success and the fully refurbished orbiting telescope produced absolutely remarkable first results just two weeks ago. The 7-member crew who carried out the mission will soon be in Europe to share their experience with the Press, ESA space specialists and the European space community. Public conferences will also be held in Switzerland, the home country of ESA astronaut Claude Nicollier.
Published: 28 January 1994
PR 03-1994: Hubble Space Telescope can see clearly now
Just five weeks after the dramatic Hubble servicing mission, the first images from ESA's Faint Object Camera and NASA's Wide Field and Planetary Camera II have become available. The operation to correct the telescope optics was a total success, and the differences are striking. Also, the new solar panels supplied by ESA are performing very well.
Published: 13 January 1994
PR 53-1993: Endeavour returns from Hubble servicing
The first Hubble Space Telescope (*) servicing mission ended this morning with a nighttime landing at the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. The space shuttle Endeavour emerged from the Florida night sky and touched down at 05:26 UT
Published: 17 December 1993
PR 51-1993: Hubble refurbished and ready for release
The Hubble Space Telescope spread its wings this morning clearing the way for the release of the orbiting observatory. The telescope's twin European solar arrays slowly unfurled as shuttle Endeavour passed 593 kilometres above the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
Published: 9 December 1993
PR 50-1993: Hubble gets new ESA-supplied solar arrays
The Hubble Space Telescope was fitted with a new set of solar arrays after a 6.5-hour spacewalk by Tom Akers and Kathy Thornton. These unique power-generating wings, supplied by the European Space Agency, will power the telescope for at least the remainder of the decade.
Published: 6 December 1993
PR 49-1993: Hubble Space Telescope Servicing begins
The servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope(*) began today with an eight-hour spacewalk. One of the telescope's twin solar arrays was successfully rolled-up at the end of the day but the second array, which had one supporting beam that was bowed and twisted, failed to retract. The astronauts will jettison the troublesome right-hand wing and then proceed with replacement of the arrays as normal.
Published: 5 December 1993
PR 48-1993: Endeavour blasts-off on ambitious mission
The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off in a blaze of light this morning on the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission(*). The spectacular pre-dawn lift-off, visible for hundreds of miles, occurred at 09:27 UT. The launch was delayed from yesterday due to high crosswinds but the weather co-operated today and the shuttle lifted off on time into a clear, moon-lit sky.
Published: 2 December 1993
Hubble Space Telscope Deep-sky Survey Finds Interacting Galaxies in a Cluster
In one of the deepest celestial surveys yet made by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a small group of previously unknown, interacting galaxies estimated to be three billion light-years away.*Hubble caught the galaxies in an early stage of evolution, and so they offer new clues to developing a much clearer understanding of how galaxies have changed over time.
Published: 8 November 1993
Hubble Space Telescope Finds a Double Nucleus in the Andromeda Galaxy
A team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a "double nucleus" in the center of the neighboring spiral galaxy M31, located in the constellation Andromeda."Hubble shows that the M31 nucleus is much more complex than previously thought," says Dr. Tod R. Lauer of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Tuscon, Arizona.A nucleus is a dense clustering of stars at the very center of a galaxy.
Published: 20 July 1993
What Happens When Galaxies Collide? Hubble Space Telescope Finds New Surprises
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has discovered a new population of exceptionally bright and young star clusters at the heart of a head-on collision between two galaxies.The orbiting telescope also discovered a rotating, pinwheel-shaped disk at the center of the collision. In the Hubble photo, the disk resembles a full spiral galaxy, seen face on. Yet the disk is only ten thousand light-years across, about 1/20 the diameter of the whole galaxy.
Published: 25 May 1993
PR 05-1993: Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission Press Briefing
On Wednesday 10 March 1993 astronauts from ESA and NASA will be at British Aerospace Space Systems Limited, Filton, Bristol, UK, training on the replacement set of solar arrays which they are scheduled to fit to the Hubble Space Telescope at year end.
Published: 17 February 1993
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
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