Week in images: 09-13 September 2024 Discover our week through the lens To source
Archive | ESA
Fly over Mercury with BepiColombo
Video: 00:01:15 See Mercury in a whole new light, through the ‘eyes’ of the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft, as it sped past Mercury during its latest encounter on 4 September 2024. During the flyby, BepiColombo’s three monitoring cameras (M-CAMs) captured detailed images of the planet’s cratered surface. Within these images, Mercury scientists identified various geological features […]
BepiColombo’s fourth Mercury flyby: the movie
Video: 00:01:25 Watch the closest flyby of a planet ever, as the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft sped past Mercury during its latest encounter on 4 September 2024. This flyby marked BepiColombo’s closest approach to Mercury yet, and for the first time, the spacecraft had a clear view of Mercury’s south pole. This timelapse is made up of 128 […]
Earth from Space: Adriatic bloom
Image: This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image captures algal bloom swirls in the north Adriatic Sea, along the coast of Italy. To source
Webb peers into the Extreme Outer Galaxy
Image: Digel Cloud 2S To source
Episode 2 – Below the surface
Video: 00:04:29 Watch the second episode of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission – Europe’s ambitious exploration journey to search for past and present signs of life on Mars. This episode starts with Rosalind searching for traces of life below the martian surface using a ground penetrating radar and a set of cameras. The rover […]
Weak gravitational lensing: how Euclid maps dark matter
Video: 00:04:11 ESA’s Euclid mission is surveying the sky to explore the composition and evolution of the dark Universe. But how can Euclid see the invisible? Watch this video to learn about the light-bending effect that enables scientists to trace how dark matter is distributed in the Universe. By making use of Euclid’s flagship simulation […]
Rosetta's legacy: how were you inspired?
From inspiring a love for the stars to making a life-changing career move, we want to know how ESA’s Rosetta mission has shaped your life. To source
The 2024 Global Methane Budget reveals alarming trends
The Global Methane Budget 2024 paints a troubling picture of the current state of global methane emissions. The new report reveals that human activities are now responsible for at least two-thirds of global methane emissions. This marks a significant increase in human-produced methane sources over the past two decades, with emissions rising by 20%, with […]
A smooth start to life in orbit for Sentinel-2C
Sentinel-2C has completed its important first few days in space, which saw teams on the ground working around the clock to ensure the spacecraft is ready to begin its mission. To source
Juice confirms that Earth is habitable
During its flyby of Earth on 20 August, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) found ingredients for life in Earth’s atmosphere. To source
Goodnight, Cluster: brilliant end to trailblazing mission
The first satellite in ESA’s Cluster quartet safely came back down to Earth last night in a world-first ‘targeted reentry’, marking a brilliant end to this remarkable mission. The spacecraft, dubbed ‘Salsa’ (Cluster 2), reentered Earth’s atmosphere at 20:47 CEST on 8 September 2024 over the South Pacific Ocean. In this region, any risk of […]
Cluster reentry explained: world's first targeted reentry
Video: 00:06:50 The first of four satellites that make up ESA’s Cluster mission is coming safely back down to Earth, marking a brilliant end to this remarkable mission. The satellite’s orbit was tweaked back in January to target a region as far as possible from populated regions. This ensures that any spacecraft parts that survive the […]