ESA Science & Technology - News Archive
News archive
News archive
By pushing the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to its limits astronomers have shattered the cosmic distance record by measuring the distance to the most remote galaxy ever seen in the Universe.
Published: 3 March 2016
Proposals are solicited for observations with INTEGRAL in response to the Fourteenth Announcement of Opportunity, AO-14, issued 29 February 2016. This AO covers the period January 2017 to December 2017. The deadline for submission of proposals is 8 April 2016, 14:00 CEST.
Published: 29 February 2016
JAXA's ASTRO-H satellite was launched earlier today on an H-IIA rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center, situated on a small island in the south of Japan. This space-borne observatory, developed in collaboration with institutions in Japan, the US, Canada and Europe, will probe the sky in the X-ray and soft gamma ray portions of the...
Published: 17 February 2016
For the first time astronomers were able to analyse the atmosphere of an exoplanet in the class known as super-Earths. Using data gathered with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and new analysis techniques, the exoplanet 55 Cancri e is revealed to have a dry atmosphere without any indications of water vapour.
Published: 16 February 2016
The placid appearance of NGC 4889 can fool the unsuspecting observer. But the elliptical galaxy, pictured in this new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, harbours a dark secret. At its heart lurks one of the most massive black holes ever discovered.
Published: 11 February 2016
Normally busy with observing high-energy black holes, supernovas and neutron stars, ESA's INTEGRAL space observatory recently had the chance to look back at our own planet's aurora.
Published: 26 January 2016
Single stars are often overlooked in favour of their larger cosmic cousins – but when they join forces, they create truly breathtaking scenes to rival even the most glowing of nebulae or swirling of galaxies.
Published: 21 January 2016
On 12 January 2016, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) presented their ASTRO-H satellite to the media at the Tanegashima Space Center, situated on a small island in the south of Japan. The satellite, developed with institutions in Japan, the US, Canada and Europe, is now ready to be mounted on an H-IIA rocket for launch in February.
Published: 14 January 2016
ESA's XMM-Newton has found a wind of high-speed gas streaming from the centre of a bright spiral galaxy like our own that may be reducing its ability to produce new stars.
Published: 14 January 2016
Euclid, ESA's dark Universe mission, has passed its preliminary design review, providing confidence that the spacecraft and its payload can be built. It's time to start 'cutting metal'.
Published: 17 December 2015
Perfectly timed for the release of "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens", the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged a cosmic double-bladed lightsabre. In the centre of the image, partially obscured by a dark Jedi-like cloak of dust, an adolescent star shoots twin jets out into space, demonstrating the fearsome forces of the Universe.
Published: 17 December 2015
The next great space observatory took a step closer this week when ESA signed the contract with Arianespace that will see the James Webb Space Telescope launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou in October 2018.
Published: 17 December 2015
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the image of the first-ever predicted supernova explosion. The reappearance of the Refsdal supernova was calculated from different models of the galaxy cluster whose immense gravity is warping the supernova's light.
Published: 16 December 2015
The first papers from the XXL survey, carried out with ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, are published in a special issue of Astronomy and Astrophysics today. This is the largest XMM-Newton survey of galaxy clusters ever undertaken and the first results reveal the enormous potential of this survey.
Published: 15 December 2015
Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope to study the atmospheres of ten hot, Jupiter-sized exoplanets in detail, the largest number of such planets ever studied.
Published: 14 December 2015
Scientists have developed a technique to use quasars – powerful sources driven by supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies – to study the Universe's history and composition. This approach promises to become an important tool to constrain the properties of our Universe.
Published: 3 December 2015
ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory has revealed three massive filaments of hot gas flowing towards a cluster of galaxies, uncovering a portion of the cosmic skeleton that pervades the entire Universe.
Published: 2 December 2015
From 16 to 20 November 2015, about two hundred members of the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) are meeting in Leiden, The Netherlands, to review the current status of preparations for future catalogue releases from ESA's billion star surveyor mission.
Published: 16 November 2015
Astronomers have used modern techniques to visualise data from ESA's Hipparcos space astrometry mission in three dimensions.
Published: 16 November 2015
Located 1.5 million km from the Earth, ESA's Gaia spacecraft is scanning the sky to conduct the most detailed census of stars in our Galaxy. However, on 6 November, it will be perfectly placed to witness a rare event that will involve objects much closer to home – a lunar transit across the Sun.
Published: 5 November 2015
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