Category: Science

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Webb observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

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New moon of Uranus

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00:07:25

Smile is a brand-new space mission currently in the making. It will study how Earth responds to the solar wind and solar storms.

At the European Space Agency’s technical heart in the Netherlands, engineers have spent the last four months carrying out ‘spacecraft environment testing’ – putting Smile through its paces to make sure it is ready for the shaky rocket launch, the vacuum of space and the extreme temperatures it will face in orbit around Earth.

Now all complete, Smile is one step closer to launch in 2026.

This video provides a glimpse into the testing process. It is the third episode in a series of short videos, and includes interviews with David Agnolon (ESA Smile Project Manager), Chris Runciman (ESA Smile System Engineer), Laura Malena Lottes (ESA Smile Mechanical Engineer), Benjamin Vanoutryve (ESA Smile AIT/AIV and Launcher Interface Principal Engineer), Li Jing (CAS Smile Project Manager), He Tau (CAS Smile Mechanical Engineer) and Zhu Xiaofei (CAS Smile Thermal Engineer). 

Smile (the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Smile is due to launch on a European Vega-C rocket in 2026. Follow the latest mission news via esa.int/smile.

Access the related broadcast quality video material

Access the other episodes of ‘Let’s Smile’

Completing the spacecraft – Let’s Smile (episode 2)

Introducing the Smile mission – Let’s Smile (episode 1)

Smile’s other half arrives – Let’s Smile (action snippet)

Today, the European Space Agency (ESA) and OHB System AG sealed their agreement to build ESA’s Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, LISA. A bold scientific enterprise, the triple-spacecraft mission will be the first space-based observatory to study gravitational waves: ripples in spacetime caused by the most powerful events in the Universe, such as pairs of supermassive black holes colliding and merging.

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00:01:55

What if we could look at the Sun from a whole new angle, one we’ve never seen before? 

From Earth, we always look towards the Sun’s equator. This year, the ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission broke free of this ‘standard’ viewpoint by tilting its orbit to 17° – out of the ecliptic plane where the planets and all other Sun-watching spacecraft reside. Now for the first time ever, we can clearly see the Sun’s unexplored poles.  

Using different instruments, Solar Orbiter can see what happens throughout the Sun’s outer layers. The material in these layers never stays still, being pushed outward and (usually) falling back to the Sun.  

Interestingly, it saw that the Sun’s magnetic field has its north and south all tangled up, with patches of both magnetic polarities present right up to the Sun’s south pole. This only happens once every 11 years, at the point in the solar cycle when the Sun’s magnetic field flips.  

Solar Orbiter will keep a close eye on the Sun – including its poles – for the years to come. Its unique viewing angle will change our understanding of the Sun’s magnetic field, the solar cycle and the workings of space weather. 

Read the full story here. 

Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA.

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Streaks on Mars

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ESA has selected 10 new Fellows to pursue their own independent research in space science, starting in 2025.

The Research Fellowships in space science represent one of the highlights of the ESA Science programme. Early career postdoctoral scientists are offered the unique opportunity to carry out advanced research related to the space science areas covered by ESA Science missions at one of three ESA establishments (ESAC, ESTEC, or STScI) for a period of up to three years.

The 2025 Research Fellows in space science are Jo Ann Egger, Adam J. Finley, Zsofi Igo, Antonio La Marca, Benjamin Man, Cyril Mergny, Ioanna Psaradaki, Maria Edvige Ravasio, Giulia Roccetti, and Ciarán Rogers.

Their research spans a broad range of exciting topics in the fields of heliophysics, planetary science, astrophysics, and fundamental physics. For example, they will investigate how supermassive black holes grow, reseach what happens on the surface of the icy Moons of Jupiter, model the atmospheres of exoplanets using observations of our own Earth as a reference, and study cosmic dust. More information about the Fellows and their research can be found here.

[Image description: Graphic with space-y background, a title ‘Research Fellows in space science 2025’ and photos of the 10 new Research Fellows in Space Science 2025 with their names: Jo Ann Egger, Adam J. Finley, Zsofi Igo, Antonio La Marca, Benjamin Man, Cyril Mergny, Ioanna Psaradaki, Maria Edvige Ravasio, Giulia Roccetti and Ciarán Rogers.]

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Webb: A visual feast of galaxies, from infrared to X-ray

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered evidence that suggests the presence of a long-sought supermassive black hole at the heart of the nearby spiral galaxy Messier 83 (M83). This surprising finding, made possible by Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), reveals highly ionised neon gas that could be a telltale signature of an active galactic nucleus (AGN), a growing black hole at the center of a galaxy.

Researchers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the magnetar SGR 0501+4516 was not born in a neighbouring supernova as previously thought. The birthplace of this object is now unknown, and SGR 0501+4516 is the likeliest candidate in our galaxy for a magnetar that was not born in a supernova. This discovery was made possible by Hubble’s sensitive instruments as well as highly accurate reference data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft.

This new snapshot from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express deftly captures the two distinct faces of Mars: ridged and rugged versus smooth and unmarked.

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Smile meets Maxwell