The combination of images taken by three exceptional
telescopes, the ESO Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal , the MPG/ESO
2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla observatory and the NASA/ESA Hubble
Space Telescope, has allowed the stunning Jewel Box star cluster to be seen in a
whole new light.
On the 19 October, at an international ESO/CAUP exoplanet conference in
Porto, the team who built the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher,
better known as HARPS, the spectrograph for ESO's 3.6-metre telescope, reported
on the incredible discovery of some 32 new exoplanets, cementing HARPS's
position as the world’s foremost exoplanet hunter. This result also increases
the number of known low-mass planets by an impressive 30%. Over the past five
years HARPS has spotted more than 75 of the roughly 400 or so exoplanets now
known.
Astronomy education goes on tour through the Andes Mountains
5 October, 2009
The 5 October marked the beginning of the GalileoMobile Project, a two-month expedition to bring the wonder and excitement of astronomy to young
people in Chile, Bolivia and Peru. Supported by ESO and partners, a group of
astronomers and educators will travel through a region of the Andes Mountains
aboard the GalileoMobile, offering astronomical activities, such as workshops
for students and star parties for the general public. Professional filmmakers on
the trip will produce a multilingual documentary capturing the thrill of
discovery through science, culture and travel.
On March 2nd, 2009, a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA), named 2009
DD45, passed close to the Earth for the first observable time. And by close - it
was very close, less than a fifth of the distance to the moon!. It is believed
to of a similar size to the asteroid that crashed into Tunguska, Siberia, a hundred
years ago.
The Space Shuttle program managers have decided to meet on March 4th, to review new test data on the troublesome hydrogen gaseous control valve (pictured right) which has belayed the Discovery mission to the ISS.
After a delay due to bad weather, the Space Shuttle Endeavour, is on it's way back to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. On top of a modified Boeing 747, it lifted off a runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 7am PST.
A team of scientists
have used the Nasa Spitzer Space Telescope to image the ‘bow shock’ waves
produced by stellar winds colliding with the surrounding interstellar medium
(ISM). Lead by Matt Povich of the University of
Wisconsin, Madison, USA, the team have published a paper in the Dec 10 issue of
Astrophysical Journal, describing 6 prominent IR ( infra red) bow shocks in M17
and RCW 49.
On the 19 October, at an international ESO/CAUP exoplanet conference in
Porto, the team who built the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher,
better known as HARPS, the spectrograph for ESO's 3.6-metre telescope, reported
on the incredible discovery of some 32 new exoplanets, cementing HARPS's
position as the world’s foremost exoplanet hunter. This result also increases
the number of known low-mass planets by an impressive 30%. Over the past five
years HARPS has spotted more than 75 of the roughly 400 or so exoplanets now
known.
The Space Shuttle program managers have decided to meet on March 4th, to review new test data on the troublesome hydrogen gaseous control valve (pictured right) which has belayed the Discovery mission to the ISS.
After a delay due to bad weather, the Space Shuttle Endeavour, is on it's way back to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. On top of a modified Boeing 747, it lifted off a runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 7am PST.
A team of scientists
have used the Nasa Spitzer Space Telescope to image the ‘bow shock’ waves
produced by stellar winds colliding with the surrounding interstellar medium
(ISM). Lead by Matt Povich of the University of
Wisconsin, Madison, USA, the team have published a paper in the Dec 10 issue of
Astrophysical Journal, describing 6 prominent IR ( infra red) bow shocks in M17
and RCW 49.