Copernical Team
Solar eclipse: myth vs fact
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00:03:39
What really happens during a solar eclipse? ESA astronaut Pablo Álvarez Fernández separates myth from fact, answering common questions and misconceptions about one of nature's most spectacular phenomena.
ESA is getting ready for three European solar eclipses. Follow this page to keep up to date with our planned activities!
Week in images: 22-26 June 2026
Week in images: 22-26 June 2026
Discover our week through the lens
Earth from Space: Desert cropland
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These Copernicus Sentinel-2 images show agricultural development in the desert of southern Egypt, close to the border with Sudan. Cave training lab
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Cave training lab Europe feels the heat beneath our feet
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This image of land surface temperature was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission on Wednesday, 23 June. Europe faces the heat
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00:02:07
Europe is facing an intense heatwave, with record temperatures and several cities under red alert. On 23 June, France recorded its hottest June day ever.
This image was captured the same day by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite, which measures land surface temperature from space.
Unlike air temperature, land surface temperature shows how hot the ground itself becomes, often much higher as rock and asphalt absorb heat throughout the day.
Sentinel-3 uses thermal sensors to monitor Earth’s land, oceans, ice, and atmosphere, supporting everything from weather response to long-term climate monitoring.
View image: Europe feels the heat beneath our feet
Smile reaches science orbit
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Smile reaches science orbit European Flight Ticket Initiative opens to more launch service providers
A first: EarthCARE cloud data sharpen weather forecasts
The European Space Agency’s EarthCARE satellite was developed to make a unique set of simultaneous measurements that shed new light on the role that clouds and aerosols play in regulating Earth’s climate.
Now, in a remarkable example of a research mission delivering direct practical benefits, global observations from the satellite’s cloud profiling radar are being used operationally by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts to improve daily weather forecasts – this landmark achievement marks the first time that cloud radar data from space have been assimilated into a global weather forecasting system.
End of the blue glow: BepiColombo turns off solar electric propulsion for Mercury arrival
At 15:24 CEST on 15 June 2026, a faint blue glow in space was switched off for the last time. After powering BepiColombo's eight-year journey across the inner Solar System, the spacecraft's solar electric propulsion (SEP) system completed its final thrust arc, marking the end of BepiColombo’s long cruise phase and the beginning of its arrival at Mercury.