A 500-day global observation campaign spearheaded more than three years ago by ESA’s galaxy-mapping powerhouse Gaia has provided unprecedented insights into the binary system of stars that caused an unusual brightening of an even more distant star. To source
Tag Archives | science
Building blocks of life spotted on Rosetta’s comet hint at composition of its birthplace
Observations from ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft are shedding light on the mysterious make-up of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, revealing a mix of compounds thought to be essential precursors to life – including salts of ammonium and a particular type of hydrocarbons. To source
The dynamic behaviour of a black hole corona
Image: These illustrations show the surroundings of a black hole feeding on ambient gas as mapped using ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory. As the material falls into the black hole, it spirals around to form a flattened disc, as shown here, heating up as it does so. At the very centre of the disc, close to […]
The Sun in 2019
Image: The changing activity of our Sun as seen by ESA’s Proba-2 satellite in 2019. The satellite is continuously monitoring the Sun – one image was selected to represent each day of the year in this montage of 365 Suns. The images were taken by the satellite’s SWAP camera, which works at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths to […]
Animated view of the Milky Way’s hot halo and its elements – artist’s impression
Image: This animated artist’s impression shows the Milky Way (the small galaxy depicted at the centre of the frame) and its halo (the extended gaseous region). It illustrates the halo in three different shades – emerald, yellow and green. These all mix together throughout the halo, and each represents gas of a different temperature. Dots […]
XMM-Newton discovers scorching gas in Milky Way’s halo
ESA’s XMM-Newton has discovered that gas lurking within the Milky Way’s halo reaches far hotter temperatures than previously thought and has a different chemical make-up than predicted, challenging our understanding of our galactic home. To source
Huygens landing spin mystery solved
Fifteen years ago today, ESA’s Huygens probe made history when it descended to the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan and became the first probe to successfully land on another world in the outer Solar System. However, during its descent, the probe began spinning the wrong way – and recent tests now reveal why. To source
Cheops seen by SAINT-EX telescope
Image: ESA’s Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, Cheops, is shown here as a long streak against a backdrop of stars as it orbits the Earth after its successful launch on 18 December 2019. The 6-minute long exposure was taken at 13:18 UTC on 11 January 2020 with the 1-m SAINT-EX robotic telescope , located at the National […]
Mars’ north polar ice cap in 3D
Image: This image shows shows part of the ice cap at Mars’ north pole in 3D when viewed using red-green or red-blue glasses. This anaglyph was derived from data obtained by the nadir and stereo channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA’s Mars Express during spacecraft orbit 3670. It covers a part […]
Stormy activity at Mars’ icy north pole
Image: This image shows part of the ice cap sitting at Mars’ north pole, complete with bright swathes of ice, dark troughs and depressions, and signs of strong winds and stormy activity. The landscape here is a rippled mix of colour. Dark red and ochre-hued troughs appear to cut through the icy white of the […]
Mars’ north pole in context
Image: This image shows shows the ice cap at Mars’ north pole. The area outlined by the bold white box indicates the area imaged by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera on 16 November 2006 during orbit 3670. To source
First sighting of hot gas sloshing in galaxy cluster
ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory has spied hot gas sloshing around within a galaxy cluster – a never-before-seen behaviour that may be driven by turbulent merger events. To source
X-ray and optical view of the Coma galaxy cluster
Image: This image shows the bright, nearby, and massive Coma galaxy cluster in X-ray and optical light, as seen by XMM-Newton ’s European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) . Using XMM-Newton to study Coma and another notably massive cluster, Perseus, astronomers spotted the first signs of gas sloshing around in […]