ESA's XMM-Newton uncovered a well-tuned periodic signal from a super-massive black hole at the center of a galaxy, ending a long quest for such an object. The discovery provides scientists with a clearer picture on black hole accretion processes and is an excellent tool to study active galactic nuclei.
ESA's Rosetta conducted a successful trajectory correction manoeuver using data obtained from ESA's first-ever optical tracking of an asteroid target,Steins. Images from the spacecraft's cameras were used to calculate the asteroid's location and optimize its trajectory for fly-by next month. This tiny change in speed will be enough to correct the spacecraft's fly-by distance by 250 km.
ESA spacecraft controllers got Rosetta to rise from hibernation to prepare for its encounter with asteroid (2867) Steins in September. ESA’s comet chaser will study the relatively rare asteroid as it flies by on its way to comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which it will meet in 2014. Rosetta will also fly by asteroid Lutetia in June 2010.
The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express obtained images of a region at the end of Mamers Valles, a long, winding valley. The focus is on a circular depression that contains a crater. The circular depression seen in the images is approximately 18 miles wide and 870 miles deep. It lies at the south-eastern end of Mamers Valles.
A new analysis of impact cratering data from Mars Express reveals that the Red Planet has undergone a series of global volcanic upheavals. These violent episodes spewed lava and water onto the surface, sculpting the landscape that ESA’s Mars Express looks down on today.
Here, an image of a Mars volcano.
Newly-released images of the lunar south-polar region obtained by ESA's SMART-1 are proving to be wonderful tools to zero-in on suitable study sites for potential future lunar exploration missions.
SMART-1's Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment has collected many images of the lunar south-polar region, seen here in mosaic, with unprecedented spatial resolution.
Ulysses, the mission to study the sun's poles and the influence of our star on surrounding space, is coming to a natural end. After more than 17 years in space – almost four times its expected lifetime – the mission is finally succumbing to its harsh environment and is likely to finish sometime in the next month or two. Ulysses is a joint mission between ESA and NASA. It was launched in 1990 from a space shuttle and was the first mission to study the environment of space above and below the poles of the sun.
Atlantis gets serviced by support vehicles and crew after its safe landing at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Atlantis completed delivery of the European Space Agencys (ESA) Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station.
The ESA's Columbus laboratory is moved from Atlantis onto the International Space Station. Astronauts added the lab to the station during an eight-hour spacewalk this week. Crewmembers hooked up power, fluid and data lines linking the new module to the station the next day. The addition of Columbus expanded the almost 10-year-old space station to eight rooms. It was attached directly to the Harmony compartment that arrived last fall.
ESA's Envisat captured this image of the lower Niger River system in the West African country of Nigeria, where the Niger River (left) and the Benue River merge. The Niger River – the longest and largest river in West Africa – is the third longest river in Africa, after the Nile and Congo. It originates in the highlands of southern Guinea and flows through Guinea, Mali, Niger, Benin and Nigeria.
ESA's Proba satellite spies the manmade islands located just off the coast of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Palm Jumeirah (left) is the smallest of three massive palm-shaped islands. The World is a collection of 300 islets built in the shape of a world map.
A false-color image of Terby crater on Mars, captured by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. The Terby crater region is of great scientific interest because sediments there reveal information on the role of water in the history of the planet.
Almost a year after visiting the south solar pole, ESA's Ulysses spacecraft reached the highest point of its orbit over the Sun’s northern polar cap. With this, Ulysses completed its third rapid south-to-north transit to date.
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