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| Titan Fly-by - 21 December 2008 |
| Sixteen days after its previous fly-by, the Cassini spacecraft returns to Saturn's largest moon for the mission's fiftieth targeted encounter with Titan. The closest approach to Titan occurs on Sunday, 21 December, at 12:59:53 UT at an altitude of 970 kilometres above the surface and at a speed of 6.3 kilometres per second. The latitude at closest approach is 43.9°S and the encounter occurs on orbit number 97. |
| Date: 19 Dec 2008 |
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| European Membership in the JAXA Astro-H Mission Science Working Group |
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| Date: 18 Dec 2008 |
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| Mars Express reveals a link between ferric oxides and sulfates in equatorial regions of Mars |
| Observations made with the OMEGA imaging spectrometer onboard Mars Express reveal very strong signatures of sulfates and ferric oxides in Aram Chaos. Detailed morphological analyses indicate that the concentration of ferric oxides in this region results from the alteration of a sulfate rich sedimentary formation resting on the floor of the crater. |
| Date: 18 Dec 2008 |
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| The science of space weather |
| On 26 November 2008, the Ministers in charge of space activities in the European Space Agency's eighteen Member States and Canada subscribed to the start of a new programme called Space Situational Awareness. The purpose of this programme is to help protect European space systems against debris and the influence of adverse space weather. But what is the science behind space weather?
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| Date: 15 Dec 2008 |
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| What is the origin of light-toned deposits on Mars? |
| Light-Toned Deposits (LTD) on the surface of Mars have been at the centre of scientific debate since their discovery by the Viking spacecraft in the late 1970's. In a recent paper, using data obtained with Mars Express, Angelo Pio Rossi and colleagues propose that several LTD are vestiges of large-scale spring deposits.
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| Date: 10 Dec 2008 |
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| Titan Fly-by - 5 December 2008 |
| Sixteen days after its previous flyby, the Cassini spacecraft once again approached Saturn's largest moon for the mission's forty-ninth targeted encounter with Titan. The closest approach to Titan occured on Friday 5 December at 14:25:45 UTC, at an altitude of 960 kilometres above the surface and at a speed of 6.3 kilometres per second. The latitude at closest approach was 10.3°S and the encounter occured on orbit number 95. |
| Date: 10 Dec 2008 |
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| Hubble finds carbon dioxide on an extrasolar planet [heic0823] |
| The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has discovered carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star. This is an important step along the trail of finding the chemical biotracers of extraterrestrial life, as we know it. |
| Date: 09 Dec 2008 |
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| Looking at Jupiter to understand Earth |
| Magnetic substorms observed at Jupiter have recently been compared with those that occur at Earth, shedding new light on this phenomenon. This study was based on data obtained with the ESA Cluster and NASA Galileo spacecraft. |
| Date: 05 Dec 2008 |
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| Venus Express unveils the cause of Venus' global cloud patterns |
| A recent study combining data collected with the VMC and the VIRTIS instruments on board Venus Express has shed light on the atmospheric conditions that give rise to the presence and distribution of the as-yet-unidentified UV absorbers. These absorbers are responsible for the characteristic dark features in the UV images of Venus' cloud deck. Dmitry Titov and colleagues, reporting in the 4 December issue of Nature, have found that it is mainly the temperature and atmospheric dynamics that drive the global pattern of the UV markings. They also determined variations of the cloud top altitude over the Venus globe. |
| Date: 03 Dec 2008 |
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| French debut for Planck Dome exposition |
| An exposition entitled "Planck - Looking back to the dawn of time" was one of the featured exhibits at La Ville Européenne des Science held at the Grand Palais, Paris from 14-16 November 2008. |
| Date: 02 Dec 2008 |
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| ESA presence at the International Year of Astronomy Opening Ceremony |
| A spectacular launch to the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) will take place on 15 and 16 January 2009 at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Headquarters in Paris. Events will include showcases of two major ESA contributions to IYA2009: the Planck Dome and the Groningen Discovery Truck featuring Herschel. |
| Date: 01 Dec 2008 |
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| Outcome of the Ministerial Council as concerns the Science & Robotic Exploration Directorate |
| The Science Programme received a positive outcome from the recent Council Meeting at Ministerial Level, being granted an increase of 3.5% per annum for the period 2009-2013, giving it a budget over this period of 2.4 billion Euro at 2008 economic conditions. |
| Date: 28 Nov 2008 |
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| Herschel and Planck ground segments pass important milestone |
| The Herschel and Planck ground segments have successfully passed another milestone on the path to launch. The conclusion of the Board of the Herschel/Planck Ground Segment Readiness Review is that the review objectives have been met and that the ground segments are on target for a launch slot opening on 10 April 2009. |
| Date: 27 Nov 2008 |
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| Hubble captures outstanding views of mammoth stars [heic0822] |
| Two of our Galaxy's most massive stars have been scrutinised in an impressive view by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. They have, until recently, been shrouded in mystery, but the new image shows them in greater detail than ever before. |
| Date: 24 Nov 2008 |
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| Titan Fly-by - 19 November 2008 |
| Sixteen days after its previous visit, Cassini once again approaches Saturn's moon Titan for the mission's forty-eighth targeted encounter. The closest approach to Titan occurs on Wednesday, 19 November, at 15:56:28 UTC at an altitude of 1022.6 kilometres above the surface and at a speed of 6.3 kilometres per second. The latitude at closest approach is 21.6° S and the encounter occurs on orbit number 93. |
| Date: 18 Nov 2008 |
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| Latest LISA Pathfinder hardware is a little gem |
| A stunning sapphire and gold casket is the latest addition to the LISA Pathfinder flight hardware collection. Designed to house the LISA Technology Package proof masses the casket is now undergoing experiment characterisation tests in Italy. |
| Date: 18 Nov 2008 |
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| New model promises to unify view of magnetars |
| A recent model of the emission from ultra-magnetized neutron stars (magnetars) shows great promise in offering a unified view of the high energy emission from these objects. This is reported by Nanda Rea and colleagues in a recent issue of the Astrophysical Journal. The results are based on the systematic analysis of data collected with XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL. |
| Date: 14 Nov 2008 |
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| Hubble directly observes planet orbiting Fomalhaut [heic0821] |
| The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken the first visible light snapshot of a planet circling another star. |
| Date: 13 Nov 2008 |
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| International Lunar Exploration Awards 2008: who are the winners? |
| What are the lunar highlights of the year? The winners of "International Lunar Exploration Awards 2008" have just been announced by the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) at a Lunar Explorers Conference in Cape Canaveral. "The ILEWG Awards celebrate the top lunar achievements in science, technology, international cooperation, community service, commerce and outreach," says Bernard Foing, ILEWG Executive Director. |
| Date: 07 Nov 2008 |
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| Titan Fly-by - 3 November 2008 |
| After more than three months since its previous visit, the Cassini spacecraft once again approached Saturn's largest moon for the mission's forty-seventh targeted encounter with Titan. The closest approach to Titan occurred on Sunday, 3 November, at 17:35:23 UT at an altitude of 1100 kilometres above the surface and at a speed of 6.3 kilometres per second. The latitude at closest approach was 3.5° S and the encounter occurred on orbit number 91. |
| Date: 06 Nov 2008 |
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