ESA News

April 18, 2024

Top Headlines

CHEOPS Detects a 'Rainbow' on an Exoplanet

Apr. 5, 2024 — The CHEOPS space telescope is providing new information on the mysterious exoplanet WASP-76b. This ultra-hot giant is characterized by an asymmetry between the amount of light observed on its eastern terminator -- the fictitious line that separates ...

NASA's Webb Probes an Extreme Starburst Galaxy

Apr. 3, 2024 — A team of astronomers has used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to survey the starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82). Located 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, this galaxy is relatively compact in size but hosts a frenzy of ...

'Cosmic Cannibals' Expel Jets Into Space at 40 Percent the Speed of Light

Mar. 27, 2024 — Astronomers have measured the speed of fast-moving jets in space, crucial to star formation and the distribution of elements needed for life. The jets of matter, expelled by stars deemed 'cosmic cannibals', were measured to travel at over one-third ...

Tiniest 'Starquake' Ever Detected

Mar. 26, 2024 — An orange dwarf star has yielded the tiniest 'starquakes' ever recorded, measured by an international team of ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:48pm EDT

Two of the Milky Way's Earliest Building Blocks Identified

Mar. 21, 2024 — Astronomers have identified what could be two of the Milky Way's earliest building blocks: Named 'Shakti' and 'Shiva', these appear to be the remnants of two galaxies that merged between 12 and 13 ...

Pioneering Muscle Monitoring in Space to Help Astronauts Stay Strong in Low-Gravity

Mar. 20, 2024 — Astronauts have been able to track their muscle health in spaceflight for the first time using a handheld device, revealing which muscles are most at ...

Simulated Microgravity Effects Cause Marked Changes in Gene Expression Rhythms in Humans, Study Finds

Mar. 19, 2024 — Simulated effects of microgravity, created by 60 days of constant bed rest, severely disrupts rhythmic gene expression in humans, according to a new ...

Do Astronauts Experience 'Space Headaches'?

Mar. 13, 2024 — Space travel and zero gravity can take a toll on the body. A new study has found that astronauts with no prior history of headaches may experience migraine and tension-type headaches during long-haul ...

Nasa’s Webb, Hubble Telescopes Affirm Universe’s Expansion Rate, Puzzle Persists

Mar. 11, 2024 — When you are trying to solve one of the biggest conundrums in cosmology, you should triple check your homework. The puzzle, called the 'Hubble ...

Astronomers Report Oscillation of Our Giant, Gaseous Neighbor

Feb. 20, 2024 — A few years ago, astronomers uncovered one of the Milky Way's greatest secrets: an enormous, wave-shaped chain of gaseous clouds in our sun's backyard, giving birth to clusters of stars along the ...

Staggering Structure in 19 Nearby Spiral Galaxies

Jan. 29, 2024 — The James Webb Space Telescope observed 19 nearby face-on spiral galaxies in near- and mid-infrared light as part of its contributions to the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS ...

Astronomers Detect Oldest Black Hole Ever Observed

Jan. 17, 2024 — Researchers have discovered the oldest black hole ever observed, dating from the dawn of the universe, and found that it is 'eating' its host galaxy to ...

NASA's Webb Discovers Dusty 'Cat's Tail' in Beta Pictoris System

Jan. 11, 2024 — Beta Pictoris, a young planetary system located just 63 light-years away, continues to intrigue scientists even after decades of in-depth study. It possesses the first dust disk imaged around another ...

Astronomers Make Rare Exoplanet Discovery, and a Giant Leap in Detecting Earth-Like Bodies

Jan. 11, 2024 — Astronomers have made the rare discovery of a small, cold exoplanet and its massive outer companion -- shedding light on the formation of planets ...

NASA Scientists Discover a Novel Galactic 'Fossil'

Jan. 12, 2024 — Researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have discovered X-ray activity that sheds light on the evolution of ...

Scientists Measure the Distance to Stars by Their Music

Dec. 15, 2023 — A team of astronomers has used asteroseismology, or the study of stellar oscillations, to accurately measure the distance of stars from the Earth. Their research examined thousands of stars and ...

Tiniest Free-Floating Brown Dwarf

Dec. 13, 2023 — Brown dwarfs are objects that straddle the dividing line between stars and planets. They form like stars, growing dense enough to collapse under their own gravity, but they never become dense and hot ...

James Webb Space Telescope Detects Water Vapor, Sulfur Dioxide and Sand Clouds in the Atmosphere of a Nearby Exoplanet

Nov. 15, 2023 — Astronomers have used recent observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of the nearby exoplanet WASP-107b. Peering deep into the fluffy atmosphere of WASP-107b they ...

Using Eclipses to Calculate the Transparency of Saturn's Rings

Nov. 14, 2023 — A student has measured the optical depth of Saturn's rings using a new method based on how much sunlight reached the Cassini spacecraft while it was in the shadow of the ...

Glow in the Visible Range Detected for the First Time in the Martian Night

Nov. 9, 2023 — Scientists have observed, for the first time in the visible range, a glow on the night side of the planet Mars. These new observations provide a better understanding of the dynamics of the upper ...

The Importance of the Earth's Atmosphere in Creating the Large Storms That Affect Satellite Communications

Oct. 30, 2023 — Large geomagnetic storms disrupt radio signals and GPS. Now, researchers have identified the previous underestimated role of the ionosphere, a region of Earth's upper atmosphere that contains a ...

Solar Farms in Space Are Possible

Oct. 24, 2023 — It's viable to produce low-cost, lightweight solar panels that can generate energy in space, according to new ...

Astrophysicists Scan the Galaxy for Signs of Life

Oct. 24, 2023 — Astrophysicists are scanning the Universe for 'technosignatures' emanating from distant planets that would provide support for the existence of intelligent, alien life. Researchers plan to ...

Source of Largest Ever Mars Quake Revealed

Oct. 17, 2023 — Scientists have announced the results of an unprecedented collaboration to search for the source of the largest ever seismic event recorded on Mars. The study rules out a meteorite impact, suggesting ...

Large Mound Structures on Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth May Have Common Origin

Oct. 3, 2023 — A new study posits that the large, approximately 5-kilometer-long mounds that dominate the appearance of the larger lobe of the pristine Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth are similar enough to suggest a ...

Carbon Source Found on Surface of Jupiter's Moon Europa

Sep. 22, 2023 — Astronomers using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have identified carbon dioxide in a specific region on the icy surface of ...

Study Hints at the Existence of the Closest Black Holes to Earth in the Hyades Star Cluster

Sep. 8, 2023 — A new article hints at the existence of several black holes in the Hyades cluster -- the closest open cluster to our solar system -- which would make them the closest black holes to Earth ever ...

Mysterious Neptune Dark Spot Detected from Earth for the First Time

Aug. 24, 2023 — Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have observed a large dark spot in Neptune's atmosphere, with an unexpected smaller bright spot adjacent to it. This is the first time a ...

Hubble Views a Galactic Monster

July 14, 2023 — The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a monster in the making in this observation of the exceptional galaxy cluster eMACS J1353.7+4329, which lies about eight billion light-years from ...

Robot Team on Lunar Exploration Tour

July 12, 2023 — Engineers are training legged robots for future lunar missions that will search for minerals and raw materials. To ensure that the robots can continue to work even if one of them malfunctions, the ...

Satellite Security Lags Decades Behind the State of the Art

July 11, 2023 — Researchers have tested the software of three satellites. And they found many standard security mechanisms ...

Einstein and Euler Put to the Test at the Edge of the Universe

June 22, 2023 — The cosmos is a unique laboratory for testing the laws of physics, in particular those of Euler and Einstein. Euler described the movements of celestial objects, while Einstein described the way in ...

Using Photosynthesis for Martian Occupation -- While Making Space Travel More Sustainable

June 9, 2023 — Researchers are working on sustainable technology to harvest solar power in space -- which could supplement life support systems on the Moon and ...

Elusive Planets Play 'Hide and Seek' With CHEOPS

June 8, 2023 — Astronomers have clearly identified the existence of four new exoplanets. The four mini-Neptunes are smaller and cooler, and more difficult to find than the so-called Hot Jupiter exoplanets which ...