Articles about 'ESA'

Galaxy NGC 1549, seen today and 13 billion years ago

‘Inside-out’ galaxy growth observed in the early universe

11 October 2024

Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe the ‘inside-out’ growth of a galaxy in the early universe, only 700 million years after the Big Bang.

Earliest detection of metal challenges what we know about the first galaxies

06 June 2024

Astronomers have detected carbon in a galaxy just 350 million years after the Big Bang, the earliest detection of any element in the universe other than hydrogen.

Infrared image showing JADES-GS-z14-0 galaxy

Earliest, most distant galaxy discovered with James Webb Space Telescope

30 May 2024

The two earliest and most distant galaxies yet confirmed, dating back to only 300 million years after the Big Bang, have been discovered using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team of astronomers today announced.

The GN-z11 galaxy, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope

Astronomers detect oldest black hole ever observed

17 January 2024

Researchers have discovered the oldest black hole ever observed, dating from the dawn of the universe, and found that it is ‘eating’ its host galaxy to death.

Latest Gaia data release reveals rare lenses, cluster cores and unforeseen science

10 October 2023

The European Space Agency’s Gaia mission has released a goldmine of knowledge about our galaxy and beyond. Among other findings, the star surveyor has surpassed its planned potential to reveal half a million new and faint stars in a massive cluster, identified over 380 possible cosmic lenses, and pinpointed the positions of more than 150,000 asteroids within the Solar System.

Illustration of NASA's Perseverance rover operating on the surface of Mars.

Scottish rocks to play a key role in Mars space mission

28 July 2023

Ancient rocks from the Isle of Rum in northwest Scotland are playing an important role in an international space mission to discover more about Mars.

Mission to map the dark Universe sets off on space journey

01 July 2023

A European mission to explore how gravity, dark energy and dark matter shaped the evolution of the Universe soared into space from Cape Canaveral on 1 July.

This infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was taken for the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, or JADES, programme.

Early universe crackled with bursts of star formation, Webb Telescope shows

06 June 2023

Among the most fundamental questions in astronomy is: How did the first stars and galaxies form? The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, is already providing new insights into this question.

One year and 272 billion measurements later, Gaia team celebrates first anniversary of observations

25 August 2015

A space mission to create the largest, most-accurate, three-dimensional map of the Milky Way is celebrating its first completed year of observations.