ESA Science & Technology - News Archive
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News archive
ESA's Planck satellite has found no new evidence for the puzzling cosmic anomalies that appeared in its temperature map of the Universe. The latest study does not rule out the potential relevance of the anomalies but they do mean astronomers must work even harder to understand the origin of these puzzling features.
Published: 6 June 2019
Scientists have used the tiny distortions imprinted on the cosmic microwave background by the gravity of matter throughout the Universe, recorded by ESA's Planck satellite, to uncover the connection between the luminosity of quasars – the bright cores of active galaxies – and the mass of the much larger 'halos' of dark matter in which they sit.
Published: 17 April 2019
The Planck consortium has made their final data release, including new processing of the cosmic microwave background temperature and polarisation data. This legacy dataset confirms the model of an 'almost perfect Universe', with some remaining oddities giving researchers some intriguing details to puzzle over.
Published: 17 July 2018
ESA's Planck satellite has revealed that the first stars in the Universe started forming later than previous observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background indicated. This new analysis also shows that these stars were the only sources needed to account for reionising atoms in the cosmos, having completed half of this process when the Universe...
Published: 31 August 2016
The Herschel and Planck project teams are this year's recipients of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space Systems Award.
Published: 2 September 2015
ESA's Planck mission has achieved a significant milestone. The 2015 data delivery to the Planck Legacy Archive, which hosts the mission products, is now complete. The new version of the archive comprises a full record of the data and results from the mission.
Published: 10 August 2015
ESA's Planck mission is the source for a new catalogue, eagerly awaited by the scientific community, and available online from today. The Second Planck Catalogue of Compact Sources uses data from the entire mission to identify tens of thousands of compact sources, as well as providing polarisation data for several hundred of them.
Published: 9 July 2015
By combining observations of the distant Universe made with ESA's Herschel and Planck space observatories, cosmologists have discovered what could be the precursors of the vast clusters of galaxies that we see today.
Published: 31 March 2015
Three scientific leaders of ESA's Planck mission have been awarded the 2015 EPS Edison Volta Prize for outstanding contributions to physics. The prize acknowledges the crucial roles of Nazzareno Mandolesi, Jean-Loup Puget and Jan Tauber in directing the development of the Planck payload and the analysis of its data.
Published: 30 March 2015
New maps from ESA's Planck satellite uncover the 'polarised' light from the early Universe across the entire sky, revealing that the first stars formed much later than previously thought.
Published: 5 February 2015
Despite earlier reports of a possible detection, a joint analysis of data from ESA's Planck satellite and the ground-based BICEP2 and Keck Array experiments has found no conclusive evidence of primordial gravitational waves.
Published: 30 January 2015
The Planck Collaboration will present the latest scientific results from ESA’s Planck satellite during a conference to be held from 1 to 5 December 2014 in Ferrara, Italy.
Published: 28 November 2014
Our Galaxy's magnetic field is revealed in a new image from ESA's Planck satellite. This image was compiled from the first all-sky observations of 'polarised' light emitted by interstellar dust in the Milky Way.
Published: 6 May 2014
ESA's Planck space telescope has been turned off after nearly 4.5 years soaking up the relic radiation from the Big Bang and studying the evolution of stars and galaxies throughout the Universe's history.
Published: 23 October 2013
From the tiniest fraction of a second after the Big Bang to the evolution of stars and galaxies over 13.8 billion years, ESA's Planck space telescope has provided new insight into the history of our Universe. Although science observations are now complete, the legacy of the Planck mission lives on.
Published: 18 October 2013
Cosmologists have used data from Planck to reveal the distribution of dark matter across 13 billion years of cosmic history, as seen projected on the sky. This image was created by analysing the gravitational lensing effect imprinted by cosmic structure on the Cosmic Microwave Background.
Published: 2 April 2013
Planck's first all-sky image of the Cosmic Microwave Background is the most precise picture of the early Universe so far. Whilst the data agree well with the standard model of cosmology, the great quality of this image highlights significant anomalies challenging the foundations of our current understanding of the Universe.
Published: 21 March 2013
Astronomers have discovered a 'bridge' of hot gas connecting the galaxy clusters Abell 399 and 401. At least part of this gas might derive from the warm-hot intergalactic medium - the elusive web of gaseous filaments pervading the Universe.
Published: 20 November 2012
An unambiguous detection of the Galactic Haze and the first all-sky map of carbon monoxide, two important sources of foreground in the microwave sky, are among the highlights presented by the Planck Collaboration this week.
Published: 13 February 2012
The High Frequency Instrument on ESA's Planck mission has completed its survey of the remnant light from the Big Bang. The sensor ran out of coolant on Saturday as expected, ending its ability to detect this faint energy.
Published: 16 January 2012
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