Category: News

Week in images: 25-29 November 2024

Discover our week through the lens

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A colourful patchwork of agricultural fields is pictured in this radar image captured by Copernicus Sentinel-1 over southeastern Romania.

ESA’s eclipse-making precise formation-flying mission is nearly ready for liftoff! Proba-3 is scheduled for launch on a PSLV-XL rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, on Wednesday, 4 December, at 11:38 CET (10:38 GMT, 16:08 local time).

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Watch the replay of the Sentinel-1C pre-launch media briefing for detailed information on the mission which will be launched aboard a Vega-C rocket no earlier than 4 December at 18:20 local time (22:20 CET) from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Today, the ESA awarded a contract to Open Cosmos to design, build, launch and commission the NanoMagSat Scout satellites. This new mission will uphold Europe’s leadership in monitoring Earth’s magnetic field and contribute to applications such as space weather hazard assessment, navigation, directional drilling, and more.

The SubOrbital Express-4 sounding rocket was successfully launched from the Esrange Space Center outside Kiruna, in the north of Sweden, at 06:00 CET yesterday morning. 

As the launch of the Sentinel-1C satellite approaches, we reflect on some of the many ways the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission has given us remarkable radar insights into our planet over the years.

Hidden in plain sight within the Sun’s glare is the ultra-hot yet ghostly faint solar corona, source of the solar wind and solar storms. The only way to see this key element of the Solar System is either through the remarkable cosmic coincidence that gives rise to total solar eclipses – the fact that the Sun is not only 400 times bigger than our Moon but also about 400 times further away, allowing it to cover the solar disc entirely – or else through artificial Sun-obscuring telescopes. 

A new mid-infrared image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope features the Sombrero galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104). The signature, glowing core seen in visible-light images does not shine, and instead a smooth inner disk is revealed. The sharp resolution of Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) also brings into focus details of the galaxy’s outer ring, providing insights into how the dust, an essential building block for astronomical objects in the Universe, is distributed. The galaxy’s outer ring shows intricate clumps in the infrared for the first time.

The countdown is on! The 2024 call for applications for ESA’s Student Internship Programme closes on 30 November. This is your moment to take the first step towards an extraordinary career in space. Explore this year’s internship opportunities on our job portal and imagine yourself contributing to the next breakthroughs in space. Craft your profile, upload your CV and share your passion in your motivation letter. Don’t just dream of space—become a part of it! Apply today and set your career on a trajectory for success with ESA.

Week in images: 18-22 November 2024

Discover our week through the lens

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This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image from 13 November 2024 shows the Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano eruption on the island of Flores in southern Indonesia.

In emergency evacuations, access to reliable information can mean the difference between life and death. As our world faces growing challenges from natural disasters and conflicts, the need for rapid, accurate data during evacuations is vital.