Tag Archive for 'ESA'

This Hubble image shows the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Josh Barrington.

Hubble Spots Glowing Plumes in Tarantula Nebula

Jun 30, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a beautiful photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula, which is located in the Large Magellanic...

An artist’s impression of ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft. Image credit: ESA / ATG Medialab / DLR / FU Berlin / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Mars Express Orbiter’s Instrument Gets Major Software Upgrade

Jun 29, 2022 by News Staff

The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) instrument onboard ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft is receiving a major software...

This Hubble image shows NGC 6569, a globular cluster located in the constellation of Sagittarius. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Three filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Cohen.

Hubble Sees Sparkling Globular Cluster in Milky Way’s Bulge

Jun 27, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced a spectacularly detailed image of the Galactic bulge globular cluster NGC 6569. This Hubble image shows...

Color images of NGC 1309 both before and after SN 2012Z. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / McCully et al., doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac3bbd.

Hubble Finds Half-Exploded Star in NGC 1309

Jun 24, 2022 by News Staff

There are different types of supernova explosions. Type Ia supernovae, also known as thermonuclear supernovae, occur in binary star systems. To trigger...

BepiColombo captured this view of Mercury on June 23, 2023 as the spacecraft flew past the planet for its second of six gravity assist maneuvers at Mercury. This image was taken at 09:51:07 UTC by the Mercury Transfer Module’s Monitoring Camera 3, when the spacecraft was 1,406 km from the surface of Mercury. Closest approach of 200 km took place shortly before, at 09:44 UTC. In this view, north is up. While clearly a heavily cratered region, this image also highlights some of Mercury’s volcanic history. Mercury’s smooth plains were formed by volcanic eruptions of runny lavas that spread across the planet 3.7 billion years ago -- such as the plains visible between BepiColombo’s high-gain antenna and towards Mercury’s limb. The eruptions that formed these plains did not commonly build volcanoes that we are familiar with on Earth. The floor of the 125-km-wide Heaney crater (next to BepiColombo’s high-gain antenna in the centre of this image) is covered in smooth volcanic plains, and a small mound is illuminated. This is a rare example of a candidate volcano on Mercury, which will be an important target for BepiColombo’s high resolution imaging suite once in orbit. North of Heaney, past the high-gain antenna, is the 105-km-wide Amaral crater with a clearly defined rim and a central peak cluster. The region surrounding Amaral is pockmarked with so-called secondary craters caused by material ejected from Amaral during its formation re-impacting onto the surface nearby. This texture is common around fresh craters on Mercury. Image credit: ESA / BepiColombo / MTM.

BepiColombo Makes Its Second Gravity Assist Flyby of Mercury

Jun 24, 2022 by News Staff

BepiColombo, a joint endeavor between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), captured beautiful views of the...

Map of sulfur dioxide (a) band depth and (b) band area for all four Hubble visits. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Bjorn Jonsson / Becker et al., doi: 10.3847/PSJ/ac69eb.

Hubble Explores Surface of Europa in Mid-UV

Jun 22, 2022 by News Staff

The new mid-ultraviolet (UV) maps of Europa, created using data from the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) instrument aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble...

This Hubble image shows the massive galaxy cluster Abell 1351. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Several filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / H. Ebeling / L. Shatz.

Hubble Focuses on Lensing Galaxy Cluster Abell 1351

Jun 20, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of the massive and rich galaxy cluster Abell 1351. This Hubble image shows the massive...

This Hubble image shows a blue stellar system. Image credit: Michael Jones.

New Type of Stellar System Discovered

Jun 17, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers have spotted five blue stellar systems — which they say appear through a telescope as blue blobs and are about the size of dwarf galaxies...

This image shows part of the scarred and colorful landscape in Aonia Terra, Mars. The image comprises data gathered by Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on April 25, 2022. It was created using data from the nadir channel, the field of view aligned perpendicular to the surface of Mars, and the color channels of the HRSC. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.

Mars Express Sees ‘Colorful’ Landscape in Aonia Terra

Jun 15, 2022 by News Staff

A new image from ESA’s Mars Express orbiter shows part of Aonia Terra, an upland region in the southern highlands of Mars. This image shows part of the...

The interstellar dust map made with Gaia’s data release 3. Image credit: ESA / Gaia / DPAC.

ESA’s Gaia Mission Releases Its Third Full Dataset

Jun 14, 2022 by News Staff

Gaia’s data release 3 (DR3) contains new and improved details for almost 2 billion stars in our Milky Way Galaxy as well as for a subset of solar system...

The star-filled sky in this Hubble photo lies in the direction of the Galactic center. The light from stars is monitored to see if any change in their apparent brightness is caused by a foreground object drifting in front of them. The warping of space by the interloper would momentarily brighten the appearance of a background star, an effect called gravitational lensing. One such event, OB110462, is shown in the four close-up frames at the bottom. The arrow points to a star that momentarily brightened, as first captured by Hubble in August 2011. This was caused by a foreground black hole drifting in front of the star, along our line of sight. The star brightened and then subsequently faded back to its normal brightness as the black hole passed by. Because a black hole doesn’t emit or reflect light, it cannot be directly observed. But its unique thumbprint on the fabric of space can be measured through these so-called microlensing events. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / K. Sahu, STScI / J. DePasquale, STScI.

Hubble Detects Free-Floating Compact Object 5,000 Light-Years Away

Jun 13, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have for the first time discovered what may be an isolated stellar-mass black hole using the astrometric microlensing technique. They estimate...

This Hubble image shows the globular cluster Terzan 9, a relic of a generation of long-lived stars that formed in the early Galaxy. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Three filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Cohen.

Hubble Spots Ancient Star Cluster near Milky Way’s Center

Jun 13, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is one of the best ever views of Terzan 9, one of the most central globular clusters in our Milky...

A patch of sky imaged by the 3D-DASH survey. Image credit: Mowla et al., doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac71af.

Hubble Captures Spectacular Near-Infrared Image Showing Early Universe

Jun 7, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers from the 3D-Drift And SHift (3D-DASH) program have released the largest near-infrared image ever taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. A...

This Hubble image shows Ruprecht 106, a globular cluster some 69,100 light-years away in the constellation of Centaurus. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Two filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Dotter.

Hubble Snaps Brilliant Image of Ruprecht 106

Jun 6, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking new photo of the globular cluster Ruprecht 106. This Hubble image shows Ruprecht 106, a globular...

This image of the Carina Nebula reveals the dynamic cloud of interstellar matter and thinly spread gas and dust as never before; the massive stars in the interior of this cosmic bubble emit intense radiation that causes the surrounding gas to glow; by contrast, other regions of the nebula contain dark pillars of dust cloaking newborn stars. Image credit: ESO / J. Emerson / M. Irwin / J. Lewis.

Astronomers Discover 116,027 New Variable Stars

Jun 1, 2022 by News Staff

Using machine learning techniques and data from the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) and several other surveys, astronomers have identified...

This diagram shows three layers of aerosols in the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune. The height scale on the diagram represents the pressure above 10 bar. The deepest layer (Aerosol-1 layer) is thick and composed of a mixture of hydrogen sulfide ice and particles produced by the interaction of the planets’ atmospheres with sunlight. The key layer that affects the colors is the middle layer, which is a layer of haze particles (Aerosol-2 layer) that is thicker on Uranus than on Neptune. Irwin et al. suspect that, on both planets, methane ice condenses onto the particles in this layer, pulling the particles deeper into the atmosphere in a shower of methane snow. Because Neptune has a more active, turbulent atmosphere than Uranus does, the team believes Neptune’s atmosphere is more efficient at churning up methane particles into the haze layer and producing this snow. This removes more of the haze and keeps Neptune’s haze layer thinner than it is on Uranus, meaning the blue color of Neptune looks stronger. Above both of these layers is an extended layer of haze (Aerosol-3 layer) similar to the layer below it but more tenuous. On Neptune, large methane ice particles also form above this layer. Image credit: Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva / NASA / JPL-Caltech / B. Jónsson.

Haze Layers are Responsible for Different Blue Hues of Neptune and Uranus, Scientists Say

Jun 1, 2022 by News Staff

An international team of planetary researchers led by University of Oxford scientists has performed an analysis of visible/near-infrared observations of...

This Hubble image shows Arp 303, a galaxy pair located some 275 million light-years away in the constellation of Sextans. Image credit: NASA / ESA / K. Larson, STScI / J. Dalcanton, University of Washington / G. Kober, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Catholic University of America.

Hubble Looks at Pair of Star-Forming Spiral Galaxies

May 30, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a colorful image snapped by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the galaxy pair Arp 303. This Hubble image shows Arp 303, a galaxy...

This Hubble image shows NGC 7496, a barred spiral galaxy some 24 million light-years away in the constellation of Grus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Lee / PHANGS-HST Team / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Hubble Space Telescope Focuses on NGC 7496

May 30, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced an outstanding image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 7496. This Hubble image shows NGC 7496, a barred...

This Hubble image shows NGC 3631, a grand design spiral galaxy some 53 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley / D. Sand, University of Arizona / G. Kober, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Catholic University of America.

Hubble Spots Face-On Grand Design Spiral Galaxy

May 27, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of the spiral galaxy NGC 3631. This Hubble image shows NGC 3631, a grand design spiral...

This Hubble image shows NGC 3509, a spiral galaxy some 350 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / R. van der Marel, STScI / G. Kober, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Catholic University of America.

Hubble Space Telescope Observes NGC 3509

May 26, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking new photo of the spiral galaxy NGC 3509. This Hubble image shows NGC 3509, a spiral galaxy...

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