European Space Agency

A perfect cosmic circle captured by Webb shows a distant spiral galaxy twisted around a closer elliptical galaxy. This Einstein ring provides a glimpse into the warped nature of spacetime. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G.

Webb captures perfect Einstein ring that reveals hidden galaxy

A stunning new image from the James Webb Space Telescope reveals a cosmic illusion called an Einstein ring, where the light from a distant galaxy is distorted into a perfect circle by the gravity of a closer galaxy.
This illustration shows a reconstruction of what the Firefly Galaxy looked like about 600 million years after the Big Bang without the stretching and distortion caused by gravitational lensing. It is based on images and data from the web. Credit: ASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI), Lamiya Mowla (Wellesley College), Guillaume Desprez (Saint Mary's University)

Webb Telescope Discovers Milky Way's Ancient Twin Twinkling from Cosmic Dawn

The "Firefly" galaxy, discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope, existed just 600 million years after the Big Bang—with a mass similar to the young Milky Way. Gravitational lensing enabled a seamless observation
The European Space Agency's (ESA) groundbreaking Prova-3 mission has successfully begun its formation flight phase, with two satellites now maintaining a precise 150-metre separation in orbit. This precision will enable the creation of artificial solar eclipses, providing unprecedented views of the Sun's corona. Credit: ESA-P. Carril

The European Space Agency's Prova-3 probes have separated from each other to continue their historic mission

For the first time in history: Two probes will maintain a distance of 150 meters in orbit, creating artificial solar eclipses and enabling groundbreaking exploration of the solar corona
This all-sky view is a layering of the Gaia star map from its second data release in 2018 and the Planck dust map from 2014. Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA; ESA/Gaia/DPAC; ESA/Planck Collaboration

Euclid's 'Dark Universe' telescope reveals stunning 208-gigapixel window into the cosmos

Using gravitational insolation, the Euclid mission looks into the dark world, maps the distribution of dark matter and studies the expansion of the universe by observing billions of galaxies
The European Space Agency's (ESA) Gaia satellite reveals the Large Magellanic Cloud in spectacular detail, using radiation mapping instead of photography to show its bright, massive stars and prominent star-forming regions, such as Region 30 Degas. Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC.

The Large Magellanic Cloud: Star mapping changes our view of a nearby galaxy

The European Space Agency's Gaia satellite creates a precise radiation map of the Large Magellanic Cloud, showing the massive stars and prominent star-forming regions
A satellite returns to Israel, hot and glowing, with illuminated fragments of space in its vicinity.

Goodbye Cluster: A ground-breaking mission ends in a spectacular fireball over the South Pacific

After 24 years of research, the Salsa satellite (Cluster 2) burned up in a controlled entry into the atmosphere, (thereby) marking the end of the mission and strengthening our understanding of the magnetosphere and space
This "penguin party" is loud. The twisted spiral galaxy in the center, known as the Penguin, and the compact elliptical galaxy to the left, known as the Egg, are in an active embrace. A new near- and mid-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope, taken to mark two years of scientific activity, shows that their interaction is marked by a subtle, inverted U-shaped blue glow. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

The Penguin and the Egg: A Living Portrait of Interacting Galaxies to Mark the Second Anniversary of the Webb Space Telescope

Researchers speculate that the penguin had the shape of a spiral. Today, its galactic center shines like an eye, its disordered arms now shaping as a beak, head, spine, and spread tail. The elliptical galaxy that looks like
Hubble's Advanced Surveying Camera captured this detailed image of the galaxy NGC 5253 using its High Resolution Channel, which operated between 2002 and 2007. The image highlights the active star formation regions of the galaxy. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, WD Vacca

Star show: Hubble's rare glimpse of star formation at the core of a distant galaxy

Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys captured this detailed image of the galaxy NGC 5253, highlighting regions of active star formation at the core of a distant galaxy.
Artist's impression of a protoplanetary disk. Credit: ESA

The Webb Space Telescope finds an abundance of carbon molecules around a young star

"It's amazing that we can detect and quantify the amount of molecules we know very well on Earth, like benzene, which is actually more than 600 light-years away," said one of the authors of the paper that appeared.
Perseus galaxy cluster. The image, taken by the Euclid satellite, shows the Perseus galaxy cluster illuminated by the soft blue light emitted by orphan stars. These stars are scattered throughout the cluster, and reach a distance of 2 million light years from its center. The cluster galaxies stand out in illuminated elliptical shapes against the dark space. Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, Image processing: M. Montes (IAC) and J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay).

The Euclid mission reveals 1.5 trillion orphan stars cruising through space

The Perseus cluster is among the most massive structures in the universe, containing thousands of galaxies and located about 240 million light years from Earth. Within this vast expanse, the Euclid satellite detected faint and ghostly lights - the orphan stars
The 360-meter-diameter asteroid Apophis will come very close to Earth on April 13, 2029. Credit: Jonathan Mennell / via Eyes on the Solar System, NASA/JPL

Approaching an asteroid: Exploring Apophis using advanced minisatellites

German researchers and the German Space Agency will try three strategies for the study of the asteroid that will approach in 2029 to a distance of 31 thousand km from the Earth
NGC 5468 — the host galaxy of Cepheid. Joint photograph of the Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes, NASA/ESA

The Webb and Hubble telescopes confirm the rate of expansion of the universe, the puzzle remains

Webb's measurements provide new light on a decade-long mystery known as the Hubble stress - the differences in the age of the universe between the Hubble observations and past observations that remain unexplained * Prof. Adam Rees, winner
An image of Jupiter taken by Juno in 2019, showing storm zones in the northern hemisphere. Credit: Enhanced image by Kevin M. Gill (CC-BY) based on images provided courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS

Extrasolar Planet Hunter Targets Jupiter: A New Twist in the Space Exploration Plot

For the first time, NASA activated a tool designed to discover planets many light years away on an object in the solar system, in a study of the winds of Jupiter
The galaxy AM 1054-325 has been warped from a normal pancake-like spiral shape into an S shape by the gravitational pull of a neighboring galaxy, as seen in this Hubble Space Telescope image. As a result, new star clusters were formed along a tidal tail stretched over thousands of light years, resembling a string of pearls. Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, Jayanne English (University of Manitoba)

Hubble discovers how collisions between galaxies create conditions for star formation

The discovery of an S-shaped galaxy could revolutionize the understanding of the process of star formation
The LISA mission will be the first space-based observatory dedicated to detecting ripples in the fabric of space-time. Credit: ESA

Capturing the Ripples of Space-Time: The LISA Mission to Study Gravitational Waves

The European Space Agency gets the green light for the first space observatory of its kind, dedicated to revealing space-time vibrations.
Hubble Space Telescope image showing the spiral galaxies NGC 1356, LEDA 467699, LEDA 95415, and IC 1947. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, image credit : L. Shatz

The Great Galactic Illusion: Revealing the Real Distances in Space

The two-dimensional reflection of the galaxies in the night sky does not say much about the real distances between the galaxies and between them and the Earth
Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Niyadi in a sleep lab experiment on the International Space Station. NASA photo. The experiment was designed to improve the sleep quality and general health of the astronauts during long space missions

The Emirati astronaut marks half a year in space

A few weeks ago, the astronaut Sultan Al Nyadi participated in a sleep laboratory experiment on the space station
Astroscale's new hook will be equipped with a docking device that will allow connecting and 'towing' satellites and launchers and taking them off course

Astroscale unveiled a new satellite for "dead" satellite removal missions

It will be equipped with a docking device that will allow connecting and 'towing' satellites and launchers and taking them off course
The members of the space mission from the Weizmann Institute of Science (right to left): Dr. Eli Galanti, Prof. Yohai Caspi and Maria Smirnova

By 2031 you will reach justice: Israeli technology on the way to deep space

A blue-and-white device that was created especially for an experiment by Weizmann Institute of Science scientists was launched to the planet Jupiter, as part of an international research mission of the European Space Agency
The launch of the JUICE spacecraft from the Coro Space Center in French Guiana. Screenshot from the European Space Agency and Ariane Space TV

The JUICE spacecraft was launched to the moons of Jupiter

The launch at Coro in French Guiana was postponed from yesterday due to weather conditions * The spacecraft is carrying ten instruments, some of which are also made in Israel * Will arrive in the Zedek system in July 2031
JUICE operation schedule. Infographic: European Space Agency

The European spacecraft JUICE is ready to explore the icy moons of Jupiter; Will be launched on 13/4

The purpose of the operation - to find out if the oceans hidden beneath the surface of Jupiter's icy moons have the potential to support extraterrestrial life
Exploring Jupiter and Ganymede using the JUICE spacecraft - artist impression. Figure: European Space Agency

The Israeli point of the JUICE spacecraft that will be launched to Tzedek this week

The European Space Agency ESA will launch on 13/4 the JUICE spacecraft on the historic mission to Jupiter, with technologies and scientific research funded by the Israel Space Agency at the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology
On October 25, the European Space Agency's Probe-2 spacecraft captured two partial solar eclipses. This picture depicts one of them. See the video below in a higher resolution. Photo: European Space Agency

The Proba-2 spacecraft experienced two partial solar eclipses in one day

On October 25, 2022, the European Space Agency's Probe-2 spacecraft recorded two partial solar eclipses. This picture depicts one of them. See the video below in a higher resolution. Photo: European Space Agency
ESA's Laser Ranging Station in Tenerife aims its green laser at the sky. Credit: ESA

A laser observation station will make it possible to identify dangers of satellite collisions and space debris

The European Space Agency station in Tenerife is a technology testing facility and an essential first step in making waste reduction widely accessible to all actors in space who have an impact on the future of our space environment *
The Phi-Colombo spacecraft near the planet Hema. Figure: European Space Agency ESA

Europe launched the space probe by Columbus to the planet Mercury

The spaceship Gaia. Figure: European Space Agency

"Gaia's data could enable breakthroughs in astronomy"

A typical satellite of the Galileo system. Photo: European Space Agency

Galileo, the European navigation satellite array has started operating

The Philae lander stands vertically on its side with one leg in outer space. Here we see it in relation to the panoramic image taken by the CIV camera. Photo: ESA

The comet lander with whom contact was lost transmitted a first sign of life after seven months

Stamp depicting Jules Verne's book "To the Moon". Illustration Solodov Alexey / Shutterstock.com

From science fiction to real science

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

An active glacier has been discovered on Mars

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

A destructive mud washed over Mars

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

The Ulysses spacecraft flies over the sun's south pole

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

Earth's cruel twin

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

Venus Express was successfully launched

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

New Venus Express launch date: November 9, 2005

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

Venus mission - just before the jump

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

Venus Express is ready for the journey to the launch pad

Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

Evaporative gases raise the question of life again