ESA Space Science

ESA Space Science

@science.esa.int

Keeping you posted on space science activities from the European Space Agency. Web: http://www.esa.int/science Privacy Notice: esa.int/connectwithus #astronomy #space #science

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ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Tick tock ⏰ Bepi and Mio are waiting to hear from you! There are only a few days left to send them a #WelcomeToMercury message and get the chance to win a trip to ESA in Darmstadt, Germany, this December. Do not miss out 👇 esa.int/WelcomeToMercury 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Stars are brewing in this cosmic cauldron! ♨️ This star-forming region captured by Webb is located 161,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is filled with hot young stars, which are sculpting the hydrogen gas that surrounds them. Read more 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

On 9 December, two little explorers, Bepi and Mio, will part ways as they approach their final destination after a journey that started 8️⃣ years ago today 🥹 Send them a #WelcomeToMercury message to cheer them up at this bitter sweet moment. Enter our competition here👉 esa.int/WelcomeToMercury 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Bepi and Mio are almost at Mercury, and they would love to hear from you 💌 Send them a #WelcomeToMercury message for a chance to win a trip to ESA's mission control in Darmstadt, Germany, this December. Wish them well 👉 esa.int/WelcomeToMercury 🫶 🔭

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

On 9 December, BepiColombo officially arrives at Mercury and you can join us 🙌 Enter our #WelcomeToMercury competition and you could win a trip to ESA in Darmstadt, Germany, where we will receive the signal from Bepi and Mio separating. All details are here 👉 esa.int/WelcomeToMercury 🔭

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Bepi and Mio are eagerily checking their inbox waiting to hear from you! 📭 Send them a #WelcomeToMercury message and you could win a trip to ESA in Darmstadt, Germany, this December to experience BepiColombo arrive at Mercury. 💌 Submit your message here 👉esa.int/WelcomeToMercury 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science reposted

ESA Operations
@operations.esa.int

What can nine hours in Earth’s shadow teach #Juice about how to explore #Jupiter? A lot! 🌑 Teams got to: 🔋 Test the spacecraft’s batteries 🔬 Do science in the dark 📷 Exercise autonomous navigation All while Earth helped steer Juice towards Jupiter. Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup...

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ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Are we there yet? 😜 After eight years in space, Bepi and Mio can finally say: almost there! Send them a #WelcomeToMercury message and you could win a trip to ESA in Darmstadt, Germany, this December. Say hello 👇 esa.int/WelcomeToMercury 🔭

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

🗞️The latest edition of the ESA Science Newsletter is out! Learn about: 🔴 Plato's Guest Observer Programme: AO-1 selection announced 🔴 A survey of European data requirements after Roman's launch 🔴 A call for a Juice Planetary Scientist & more Access the edition 👉 cosmos.esa.int/web/scinews 🔭 ☄️

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Solar Orbiter tracks the origin of the Sun's mysterious magnetic switchbacks ☀️ Back in 2022, Solar Orbiter spotted a kink in the solar wind’s magnetic field known as a ‘switchback’ and confirmed it to be S-shaped: something scientists had predicted but not seen directly. 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Now, the spacecraft has added another piece to this puzzle by tracing a switchback back to its source at the Sun. The observations provided clues that suggest the two main competing theories for how a switchback forms might both be true 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭 🧪☀️

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Mars’s oddest cloud may be even odder than we thought 🤔 Every spring and summer in Mars’s southern hemisphere a spectacular cloud emerges: the Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud, the most visually striking cloud on the Red Planet. 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

A glowing stellar nursery 👶⭐ Webb’s infrared sensitivity has revealed the protostars & stars of NGC 7129, a stellar nursery that lies 3,300 light-years from Earth. In the centre, lies the massive star LkH(alpha) 234, which has carved into its cloudy surroundings 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Bepi and Mio are almost at Mercury, and they would love to hear from you 💌 Send them a #WelcomeToMercury message for a chance to win a trip to ESA's mission control in Darmstadt, Germany, this December. Wish them well 👉 esa.int/WelcomeToMercury 🫶 🔭

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Can planets emerge from the deaths of stars? 💀 Astronomers looking through Hubble data from 1999 have identified unusual amounts of niobium in the chemical signatures from a white dwarf. 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

This points towards the possibility that a gas giant may have formed from the material ejected from the star in its death throes. Read more 👉 https://esahubble.org/news/heic2613/ 🔭 🧪

esahubble.orgSuspected second-generation planet solves Hubble cold caseFor more than a quarter century, unidentified chemical signatures from a white dwarf star have laid dormant in the archive of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, until diligent sleuthing by a young astronomer revealed something extraordinary: high amounts of the element niobium, and other unusual chemical abundances, indicating a potential second-generation planet orbiting the white dwarf. While a handful of planets have been identified orbiting white dwarfs, this is the first candidate with the hallmarks of a planet that formed from material related to a star’s death, rather than its birth. The discovery proposes a fascinating new area of future research and highlights the intriguing concept that stars could have an extended second act hosting new planets long after the fuel of their primary “lifetime” runs out.
ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

A crash course on planet-shattering collisions, from Webb 🌏💥 A Mars-sized world called Theia once smashed into Earth, leading to the creation of our Moon. Now, Webb has examined a class of young stellar systems that show signs of similar upheavals 👉 esawebb.org/news/weic2618/ 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

On 9 December, two little explorers, Bepi and Mio, will part ways as they approach their final destination after an eight years-long journey 🥹 Join us in sending them a #WelcomeToMercury message to cheer them up at this bitter sweet moment. Enter our competition here 👉 esa.int/WelcomeToMercury 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science reposted

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

Happy New Mars Year! 🥳 At exactly 10:16 CEST/08:16 UTC on Earth, the Red Planet begins a new orbit around our Sun. Join us in celebrating martian year 39 🎉

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Ten years ago one daring spacecraft made a final descent 🥹 On 30 September 2016, the Rosetta mission concluded with a controlled impact onto Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, taking one last image. 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Inspector Smile is ready for science! 🫡 This is Smile’s first ultraviolet view showing an auroral substorm. With the ultraviolet camera now operational, Smile becomes the first spacecraft since 2008 to capture the full ring of northern lights around the north pole in ultraviolet light. 🔭 🧪 ☀️

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ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Smile's X-ray camera was also successfully switched on and has taken its first images. Though the camera itself is working very well, the teams are currently working on reducing some unwanted light that was detected, even if its amount will naturally reduce over the coming weeks.

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

The commissioning ended on 23 September, when the European-Chinese Smile mission was declared ready to start revealing how Earth responds to the wind of charged particles from the Sun. Read more about the instruments' status & the challenges the team faced here 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭 🧪 ☀️

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Inspector Smile is ready for science! 🫡 This is Smile’s first ultraviolet view showing an auroral substorm. With the ultraviolet camera now operational, Smile becomes the first spacecraft since 2008 to capture the full ring of northern lights around the north pole in ultraviolet light. 🔭 🧪 ☀️

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

The observations were taken during the busy in-space commissioning period. During this time, European and Chinese teams got Smile ready by deploying mechanisms, switching on units, checking communications, and fixing any issues that came up. 🔭 🧪 ☀️

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

A galactic house of mirrors 🌌🪞 Webb has captured this spectacular view of the galaxy cluster MACS J0454.1-0300. Its gravity is warping & multiplying the images of background galaxies, which appear like they have stepped into a house of mirrors! Read more 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

A successful Earth flyby improves Juice’s course to Jupiter Earlier today, Juice flew just 8640 km above the Indian Ocean and snapped these images with its onboard monitoring cameras. 1️⃣Africa, by Juice monitoring camera 2️⃣Madagascar, by Juice NavCam 3️⃣Moon, by Juice NavCam 🔭 🧪 #planetsci

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Juice used the gravity of our home planet to alter its route to Jupiter using very little fuel. The flyby deflected Juice by an angle of 20° compared to its pre-flyby path and increased its velocity by 3.5 km/s. 🔭 🧪

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

While the main goal was to alter Juice’s trajectory, the flyby also provided an opportunity to test out Juice’s science instruments on a real surface in space. Next stop? One last hello to Earth In January 2029. Read more here 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭 🧪

esa.intSuccessful Earth flyby improves Juice’s course to JupiterThe European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) skimmed the very outer edge of Earth’s atmosphere on 28 September, using the gravity of our home planet to alter its route to Jupiter usi...

ESA Space Science reposted

ESA Operations
@operations.esa.int

A small push for @esa.int & #JAXA #BepiColombo, a giant leap towards #Mercury! 🛰️➡️🌑 Without MTM, the Mercury Planetary Orbiter is preparing for orbit insertion. Yesterday's successful thruster burn tested the propulsion system & delivered a planned 11.4 m/s trajectory correction ✅ @science.esa.int

ESA Space Science
@science.esa.int

Want to join us as BepiColombo arrives at Mercury? You can! Submit a #WelcomeToMercury message for Bepi and Mio and stand a chance to win a trip to ESA in Darmstadt, Germany, in December of this year. Check the competition out here 👉 esa.int/WelcomeToMercury 🔭