ATV-4 docking

ATV-4 docking

14-06-2013 11:01 AM CEST

Follow the ATV-4 docking to the International Space Station, 15 June from 14:50 CEST

Week In Images

Week In Images

14-06-2013 11:49 AM CEST

Our week through the lens:
10-14 June 2013

ATV ready to nose up to Station

ATV ready to nose up to Station

14-06-2013 10:17 AM CEST

ESA's fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, ATV Albert Einstein, is set to conduct an autonomous docking with the International Space Station on 15 June. The vessel will deliver scientific experiments, vital supplies and fuel to the astronauts.

ATV hip hop

ATV hip hop

12-06-2013 01:37 PM CEST

In celebration of ATV docking day, ESA has teamed up with hip hop group Ugly Duckling for a super space remix of Elevation.

A helping hand from above for The Gambia

A helping hand from above for The Gambia

14-06-2013 10:04 AM CEST

Satellites are being used to promote agriculture in one of the world's poorest countries.

Image of the week

Image of the week

14-06-2013 09:53 AM CEST

New Zealand's South Island is pictured in this Envisat image.

Proba-V tracking aircraft in flight from orbit

Proba-V tracking aircraft in flight from orbit

13-06-2013 10:14 AM CEST

ESA's Proba-V has become the first satellite to pick up aircraft tracking signals, allowing aircraft across the globe to be followed in flight from space.

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

13-06-2013 09:14 AM CEST

Join us Friday, 14 June, at 10:00 CEST for an 800 km-high tour with spectacular images from Earth-observing satellites

Handling ‘big data’ is no small feat

Handling 'big data' is no small feat

12-06-2013 04:39 PM CEST

Policy-makers and science and industry representatives are discussing how to make large amounts of Earth observation data accessible to a wider user community.

Bubbles and fluid flow in microgravity

Bubbles and fluid flow in microgravity

11-06-2013 01:50 PM CEST

A new study into the behaviour of bubbles has been published based on a student experiment conducted as part of ESA Education's Drop Your Thesis! Programme. The results will be useful for understanding any system that uses fluids in space – including life support.

Digital cinemas offer more via satellite

Digital cinemas offer more via satellite

11-06-2013 11:39 PM CEST

As cinema owners worldwide begin to embrace new digital technologies via satellite, audiences are being given more ways to enjoy an evening at the movies.

European Space Agency Flickr Update

Weightless weak equivalence principle

11-06-2013 02:24 PM CEST

During ten seconds of weightlessness Brynle Barrett from the Laboratory of Photonics, Numerical Sciences and Nanosciences at the University of Bordeaux monitors an experiment to test the 'weak equivalence principle' – or why a feather in a vacuum falls as fast as a hammer.

To confirm that objects in free-fall behave universally, even at a microscopic level, a team of scientists used lasers to cool atoms to around –273°C. On Earth, atoms fall away from laser beams because of gravity. "In microgravity, atoms stay in the beams for much longer, so we get better data," explains Brynle.

Parabolic flights are the only way to run such experiments on humans without leaving Earth's atmosphere. Over the course of multiple roller-coaster flights at up to 45°, researchers find out more about the effects of gravity on experiments and improve equipment destined for space.

Credits: ESA

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

11-06-2013 02:10 PM CEST

Bianca Hoersch and Stefano Bianchi join the Earth from Space video programme to discuss the Vega launch of Proba-V

Seatbelts off

Seatbelts off

11-06-2013 01:49 PM CEST

Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: Weightless science on parabolic flight.

Euclid to probe dark Universe with Astrium science module

Euclid to probe dark Universe with Astrium science module

11-06-2013 11:00 AM CEST

The module carrying the telescope and scientific instruments of ESA's Euclid 'dark Universe' mission is now being developed by Astrium in Toulouse, France.

Space droids calling

Space droids calling

10-06-2013 03:56 PM CEST

Secondary-school students can play the ultimate robot game: the annual Zero Robotics tournament turns the International Space Station into a playing field for European students to control minisatellites with self-developed software.

European Space Agency Flickr Update

Sicily, as seen from the ISS by Luca Parmitano

10-06-2013 03:25 PM CEST

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano has been settling into life onboard the ISS, but still finding the time to tweet some of the amazing sights he is seeing from the orbital outpost.

Most recently, Luca spotted the island of Sicily in the Mediterranean sea. In this image, North is to the right, with the tip of Italy's 'boot', Calabria, visible in the bottom right.

For much more from Luca during his stay on the ISS, be sure to follow @astro_luca on Twitter, and check out the dedicated Flickr photostream for his mission Volare.

Credits: ESA/NASA

M101

10-06-2013 02:02 PM CEST

The face-on spiral galaxy M101, or the Pinwheel Galaxy, is seen at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths in this image taken by ESA's XMM-Newton space telescope.

The picture is composed of images taken by XMM-Newton's optical telescope using different filters: red (200–400 nm), green (200–300 nm) and blue (175–275 nm).

Credits: ESA/XMM & R. Willatt

A very bright contortionist

10-06-2013 10:10 AM CEST

The contorted object captured by Hubble in this picture is IRAS 22491-1808, also known as the South America Galaxy. It is an ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) that emits a huge amount of light at infrared wavelengths.

The reason for this intense infrared emission lies in an episode of strong star formation activity, which was set off by a collision between two interacting galaxies. In this image the twisted shape hides a number of features.

In the central region, which is very complex and disturbed, scientists have been able to distinguish two nuclei, remains of the two different galaxies that are currently colliding to form a new one. IRAS 22491-1808 is amongst the most luminous of these types of galaxies, and is considered to be mid-way through its merging stage.

The centre of this appealing object also shows several intense star-forming knots which, as seen in the picture, actually outshine the nuclei in optical wavelengths. To pick out the two merging nuclei in IRAS 22491-1808, scientists have had to observe it in infrared wavelengths, where they are more distinct. Other traces of the galactic collision are the three very noticeable tails in the image — two linear and one circular.
The tail extending towards the bottom of the image from the main body exhibits a red clump of star formation at its base.

Credits: ESA/Hubble, NASA

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

10-06-2013 02:06 PM CEST

Join us Tuesday, 11 June, at 14:00 CEST as ESA's Bianca Hoersch and Stefano Bianchi discuss the Vega launch of Proba-V

Getting ready for ESA’s largest scientific event of the year

Getting ready for ESA's largest scientific event of the year

10-06-2013 11:17 AM CEST

Start planning your week in Edinburgh – the programme for September's Living Planet Symposium is now available online.

Galactic pinwheel

Galactic pinwheel

10-06-2013 09:06 AM CEST

Space science image of the week: The Pinwheel Galaxy, by ESA's XMM-Newton space telescope