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News archive

News archive

'Chained' star-formation in the Trifid nebula
The bright massive central star in the spectacular Trifid nebula iscreating a second generation of young stars, in a 'chain reaction' processthat is taking place in less than a hundred thousand years. The occurrenceof such a process had been theoretically postulated, but now for the firsttime, the European Space Agency's ISO infrared space telescope is seeing itin unprecedented detail.
Published: 21 October 1998
Benzene in Saturn and the origin of water in giant planets
The European Space Agency's ISO infrared telescope has detected for the first time the presence of the molecule benzene in Saturn's atmosphere, an unexpected result that poses now the new problem of having to explain how this molecule has been produced. This is one of the new findings presented today at the international meeting "The Universe as seen by ISO" that is being held this week in Paris and is attended by 400 astronomers.
Published: 20 October 1998
Organic matterial surrounding a star
A huge ring of organic matter surrounding a young star has been observed by the European Space Agency's ISO space telescope. This is a kind of structure never detected before. With this finding ISO shows again a clear example of how the stars and their environment work as nature's chemical factories: not only is water being produced there - as ISO demonstrated -, but complex organic molecules are also present; these molecules are, essentially, the basic building blocks of all living organisms.
Published: 15 October 1998
ISO detects first-known infrared-bright gravitational arcs
The European Space Agency's ISO space telescope has detected the first known infrared-bright gravitational arcs, which are the distorted and magnified images of very faraway objects. The gravitational arcs seen by ISO are revealing some of the farthest objects ever detected in the infrared, and scientists believe they may be distant young galaxies in collision. They number more than thirty, and their distance falls close to the place and time of the Big Bang.
Published: 15 October 1998
ISO unveils the hidden rings of Andromeda
The Andromeda galaxy, one of the closest and best-known companions of our own galaxy, has been hiding from the astronomers' eyes one of its secrets: although it has always been considered as a typical spiral galaxy, it has now been shown to be a spectacular ringed galaxy. This is one of the observations made by the European Space Agency's ISO infrared telescope, whose results are being presented at a meeting in Paris 20-23 October, attended by about 400 astronomers from all over the world.
Published: 15 October 1998
INFO 33-1998: The Universe as seen by ISO
The latest results from the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) are being presented at an International meeting in Paris, 20-23 October. Nearly 400 hundred infrared astronomers will attend the conference.
Published: 15 October 1998
INFO 24-1998: ISO sees the pattern in the cosmic wallpaper
The European Infrared Space Telescope (ISO) finds a new population of galaxies, the first objects known to contribute to the background glow of the universe. The discovery will help to solve the mystery of galaxy formation.
Published: 24 July 1998
INFO 17-1998: ESA switches ISO off
The European Space Agency's Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) was switched off on 16 May at 12:00 UT, thereby bringing to a close the highly-successful in-orbit operations of the ISO mission.
Published: 18 May 1998
INFO 12-1998: ISO finds a very steamy cloud in interstellar space
Although ISO observations finished on 8 April, new results continue to pour as astronomers process their ISO data. A team of American astronomers has discovered a large concentration of water vapour in a cloud of interstellar gas close to the Orion Nebula.
Published: 10 April 1998
INFO 11-1998: ISO completes its observations of the Universe by infrared light
ESA's Infrared Space Observatory, ISO, has ended its observational phase, long after the expiry date of the end of May 1997 foreseen in the specifications for the mission. Instead of the required 18 months, the astronomers have been able to use ISO for more than 28 months, and as a result have gathered a wealth of additional information about the Universe. Altogether ISO has made over 26 000 observations of cosmic objects.
Published: 9 April 1998
INFO 09-1998: New water and remote galaxies complete ISO's observations
Water vapour detected on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, and infrared galaxies identified atimmense distances are among the latest results from ESA's Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). At a press briefing in London on 7 April, ESA's director of science, Roger Bonnet, said "ISO is one of the most successful space observatories, and in the infrared it has had no rival." Its discoveries will change our views on the Universe.
Published: 7 April 1998
INFO 05-1998: European astronomers discover planet formation around dying star
Astronomers at the universities of Amsterdam, Louvain, Groningen and Utrecht have found proof that planets can form around old, dying stars. In the vicinity of the Red Rectangle, an old binary star in the Monoceros constellation, they have detected a ring of matter constituting the first stage of planet formation. Their results will be published in Nature on 26 February. It had previously been assumed that planets can form only round new-born stars.
Published: 26 February 1998
INFO 37-1997: ISO proves that intergalactic space is dusty
ESA's Infrared Space Observatory ISO has detected dust for the first time in apparently empty space between the galaxies. German and Finnish astronomers made the discovery in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices, where more than 500 galaxies swarm together in the Coma Cluster. The intergalactic dust is concentrated towards the centre of the cluster.
Published: 6 November 1997
INFO 25-1997: ISO Results Presented at International Astronomical Union
On 25 August, results from ESA's Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) are being presented to the world's astronomers, who have gathered in Kyoto, Japan for the XXIIIrd General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union. A full day is being used for a special session containing 18 separate presentations which illustrate the breadth of ISO's influence in astronomy, ranging from deep surveys and cosmology through extragalactic and galactic studies to our own solar system.
Published: 14 August 1997
PR 26-1997: Astronomers discover Fluoride Molecules in Interstellar Space
A team of astronomers from the United States and Germany has discovered trace amounts of hydrogen fluoride gas in the near vacuum of interstellar space, using the European Space Agency's Infrared Space Observatory satellite, ISO, which was launched in November 1995.
Published: 12 August 1997
INFO 21-1997: ISO celebrates its prolonged life with a video of Jupiter
The Infrared Space Observatory ISO ought to be running out of fuel by now, 20 months after its launch on 17 November 1995, yet the astronomers and controllers at Villafranca in Spain are busier than ever. Thanks to meticulous engineering and some good fortune, the satellite's working life has stretched from a specified minimum of 18 months to more than 28 months. ESA's unique space telescope for exploring the cool and cloudy Universe by infrared rays should, according to present calculations, remain operational until April 1998.
Published: 22 July 1997
INFO 12-1997: Europe's space telescope ISO finds water in distant places
Water is the medium of life, and ESA's cosmic water diviner continues to detect it in a wide variety of sources in the cosmos where it was previously unknown. Astronomers using ESA's Infrared Space Observatory, ISO, have found water vapour in dark clouds lying towards the centre of the Milky Way. They calculate that water is abundant in our Galaxy.
Published: 29 April 1997
INFO 10-1997: The gemstone connection: ISO links comets to stars and Earth's origin
Comets contain the remnants of the raw materials that built the Earth and the other planets of the Solar System. Emphatic confirmation of this long-standing belief of astronomers comes from the detection of the mineral olivine in Comet Hale-Bopp, by ESA's Infrared Space Observatory, ISO. The 28 March issue of the US journal Science carries a report on this result by a European and American team led by Jacques Crovisier of l'Observatoire de Paris-Meudon.
Published: 28 March 1997
INFO 08-1997: ISO's analysis of Comet Hale-Bopp
If you had infrared eyes, Comet Hale-Bopp would look quite different from the streaky visible object now examined by astronomers' telescopes and amateurs' binoculars all around the world, as the comet approaches its close encounter with the Sun. You would see not just the very fine dust thrown out by the comet, which makes its head and tail conspicuous to ordinary human eyes, but larger particles of dust. The colour or dominant wavelength of the infrared glow would tell you the temperature of the dust cloud. And infrared hues at other wavelengths would reveal the nature of the dust, and let you see what vapours emanate from the comet's nucleus as the Sun's rays warm its chilly surface.
Published: 14 March 1997
INFO 21-1996: Enthusiasm for Europe's space telescope ISO
A special issue of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, published in the latter part of November 1996, is devoted to early results from the European Space Agency's Infrared Space Observatory. Ninety-one scientific papers tell of unprecedented inspections of the cool universe and its hidden corners, as ISO and its four excellent instruments rewrite the astronomical textbooks.
Published: 28 November 1996
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