Rosetta flew through the bow shock before it had fully formed, offering a unique perspective on comets in the Solar System
Solar System
Solar System
Deep Space
A ghostly galaxy has been found just next door
The Gaia satellite has spotted an enormous ‘ghost’ galaxy lurking on the outskirts of the Milky Way
Deep Space
Can black holes make exotic materials?
Could black holes be a factory for unusual material at their hearts?
Space Exploration
Can astronauts land on a comet?
Sophie Allan at the National Space Centre looks at whether astronauts can land on the surface of comets – our Solar System’s travelling space snowballs
Astronomy
The event that changed the Milky Way
ESA’s Gaia found evidence in the night sky that points to the fact our galaxy did not form alone
News
Construction on new exoplanet hunter PLATO begins
The mission will not only seek new planets but will also investigate the properties of their host stars, and determine the planetary masses, sizes and ages with unprecedented accuracy
Space Exploration
Reflecting on the Rosetta mission
On the second anniversary of Rosetta’s conclusion, astronomers look back on what was learnt and what’s still to come
Solar System
How have Venus and Earth managed to keep their atmospheres?
Find out why only two of the inner planets have a shield from harmful space radiation
Deep Space
Distant exoplanet “weighed” by space observatories
Prolonged data collect by ESA’s Gaia and Hipparcos satellites revealed the mass of exoplanet Beta Pictoris b
Deep Space
Do we live in a multiverse?
Could the cosmos be part of many more universes?
Space Exploration
BepiColombo Update: The launch date has been selected for the Mercury mission
Europe’s first mission to Mercury will target the early morning of 19 October 2018 for launch, Arianespace and ESA have recently announced
Solar System
Liquid water ‘lake’ found on Mars
Radar data points to a pond buried under layers of ice and dust in the south polar region of the Red Planet
Astronomy
Planck releases final “legacy” data release
ESA’s Planck satellite has been studying the cosmic microwave background for over five years
Deep Space
Hubble and Gaia unite to understand cosmic expansion
Using the power and synergy of two space telescopes, astronomers have made the most precise measurement to date of the universe’s expansion rate.
Solar System
New release: ESA completes Rosetta spacecraft’s image archive
The last installment includes the iconic images of finding lander Philae and the orbiter’s final descent to Comet 67P’s surface
Deep Space
Scientists successfully test Einstein’s general relativity outside the Milky Way
By comparing the mass of ESO 325-G004 with the curvature of space around it, the astronomers found that gravity on these astronomical length-scales behaves as predicted by general relativity
Solar System
Pluto could be a ‘giant comet’
New research into the formation of Pluto explores the idea that the dwarf planet was originally formed from ancient comets
Solar System
Lunar surface holds the key for tool calibration
The Moon’s relatively static surface is the ideal calibration candidate for Earth-observing instruments
Solar System
Comet 67P could be younger than first thought
Computer simulations, combined with data from the Rosetta spacecraft, demonstrate that the comet could have been created after the formation of our Solar System
Deep Space
Zombie star feeds off its companion
ESA’s Integral space observatory spotted X-rays emitted from a unusual binary star system