Image: Saying goodbye to ERS-2

Video: 00:12:27

The Arctic is experiencing disproportionately higher temperature increases compared to the rest of the planet, triggering a series of cascading effects. This rapid warming has profound implications for global climate patterns, human populations and wildlife.

The Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer mission (CIMR) will provide measurements to decision makers with evidence of change and impact in the polar regions – with a focus on the Arctic.

The mission has the largest radiometer developed by ESA and will provide high-resolution measurements related to sea ice, the ocean, snow and ice-sheet surfaces. This will be crucial in understanding the evolution of the

A new application channel is now open for ESA parabolic flights, another way to welcome proposals that study new technologies from both academic institutions and companies.

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Feb 13, 2024
When darkness sweeps across the landscape during a total solar eclipse, unusual things start happening. Fooled by the false dusk, birds stop singing, crickets start chirping, and bees return to their hives. Reports of these atypical animal behaviors date back centuries, but the effects of an eclipse on plant and animal life are not fully understood. So, on April 8, 2024, the NASA-funded Ec

Lemont IL (SPX) Feb 12, 2024
For more than five years, scientists at the South Pole Telescope in Antarctica have been observing the sky with an upgraded camera. The extended gaze toward the cosmos is picking up remnant light from the universe's early formation. Now researchers have analyzed an initial batch of data, publishing details in the journal Physical Review D. The results from this limited dataset hint at even more

Atlanta GA (SPX) Feb 12, 2024
Scientists working with the powerful telescopes at Georgia State's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array have completed a survey of a group of stars suspected to have devoured most of the gas from orbiting companion stars. These sensitive measurements have directly detected the feeble glow of the cannibalized stars. The new research, led by Postdoctoral Research Associ

Heidelberg, Germany (SPX) Feb 12, 2024
Ordinarily, planets in evolved planetary systems, such as the Solar System, follow stable orbits around their central star. However, many indications suggest that some planets might depart from their birthplaces during their early evolution by migrating inward or outward. This planetary migration might also explain an observation that has puzzled researchers for several years: the relatively low

Tucson AZ (SPX) Feb 12, 2024
The unique two thin rings around the Centaur Chariklo could be shaped by an even smaller satellite. Chariklo is a Centaur, which are small bodies similar to asteroids in size but to comets in composition, that revolve around the Sun in the outer Solar System, mainly between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune. "Rings around minor planets have only been recently discovered, and only a small n

Mountain View CA (SPX) Feb 12, 2024
The official classification now aligns with what many suspected from merely looking at the images of the strange meteorites that fell near Berlin on January 21, 2024. They belong to a rare group called "aubrites". "They were devilishly difficult to find because, from a distance, they look like other rocks on Earth," said SETI Institute meteor astronomer Dr. Peter Jenniskens. "Close up, not

Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 13, 2024
Earth planning date: Friday, February 9, 2024: We are found Curiosity at full energy and ready to go this morning. And go we did! We are at a very interesting location with lots of textures in the rocks in front of us, and many features to spot in the walls around us. Geologists feasting time! And feast we did! I counted - between Mastcam, ChemCam, the Navcams, and MARDI almost 450 individ