New telescope at ESO’s La Silla joins effort to protect Earth from risky asteroids
Part of the world-wide effort to scan and identify near-Earth objects, the European Space Agency’s Test-Bed Telescope 2 (TBT2), a technology demonstrator hosted at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, has now started operating. Working alongside...
Zahájen příjem přihlášek na pozici nových astronautů ESA
ESA nyní přijímá přihlášky zájemců o pozici astronauta. Uvítáme kvalifikované uchazeče bez rozdílu pohlaví.
First interstellar comet may be the most pristine ever found
New observations with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) indicate that the rogue comet 2I/Borisov, which is only the second and most recently detected interstellar visitor to our Solar System, is one of the most...
Astronomers image magnetic fields at the edge of M87’s black hole
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, who produced the first ever image of a black hole, has today revealed a new view of the massive object at the centre of the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy: how it looks in polarised light. This is the...
Powerful stratospheric winds measured on Jupiter for the first time
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, a team of astronomers have directly measured winds in Jupiter’s middle atmosphere for the first time. By analysing the...
Most distant quasar with powerful radio jets discovered
With the help of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), astronomers have discovered and studied in detail the most distant source of radio emission known to date. The source is a “radio-loud” quasar — a bright object...
Week in images: 01 - 05 March 2021
Week in images: 01 - 05 March 2021 Discover our week through the lens
Visit ESA virtually with new Discover ESA platform
Do you want to visit all ESA establishments and see what we’re doing to explore space and protect our planet? Now you can, by taking virtual tours from your own homes, thanks to the Discover ESA interactive experience.
Earth from Space: Galápagos Islands
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the Galápagos Islands – a volcanic archipelago situated some 1000 km west of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean.
ExoMars goes for a spin
The full ExoMars 2022 mission comprising the carrier module, descent module, Kazachok surface platform and Rosalind Franklin rover have completed essential ‘spin tests’ in preparation for their journey to Mars Rosalind Franklin’s rover...
Monitoring methane emissions from gas pipelines
For the first time, scientists, using satellite data from the Copernicus Sentinel missions, are now able to detect individual methane plumes leaking from natural gas pipelines around the globe.
Space Care
Video: 00:01:50 Why does ESA send missions beyond our Earth? To explore unknown worlds, and better understand our place in the Universe. But that answer only gives part of the picture. The first thing people do when they first reach...
Media event: Second spaceflight for Samantha Cristoforetti
Video: 01:17:00 Watch the replay of the briefing to media representatives to learn more about the next spaceflight of ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.During the event, Samantha was joined by ESA Director General Josef...
We're launching more than ever
Image: Launch rates are dramatically increasing
Space in response to COVID-19
Do you have fresh ideas on how Earth observation data can contribute to monitoring the effects brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic? If so, ESA and the European Commission have launched a new series of monthly challenges asking for innovative...
Cristofoready
Image: Italian ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti poses in the Cupola module of the International Space Station with two 100-day patches to mark her 200th day in space. She is now set to return to her ‘home away from home’ for even more...
Giant iceberg breaks off Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica
Image: New Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar images show a giant iceberg breaking off from the northern section of Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf
Josef Aschbacher is new ESA Director General
As of today, 1 March 2021, ESA has a new Director General: Dr Josef Aschbacher, who has taken up duty at ESA Headquarters in Paris, France.