Air Pollution Over China Returning to Pre-COVID Levels
In early 2020, data from satellites were used to show a decline in air pollution coinciding with nationwide lockdowns put in place to stop the…
European Space Agency
A Flash of Life: Hubble Spies an Unusual Planetary Nebula
Located around 5000 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus (The Swan), Abell 78 is an unusual type of planetary nebula. After exhausting the nuclear…
Gravity Explorer Mission Still Unearthing Hidden Secrets About Our Planet
Despite ESA’s GOCE mission ending over seven years ago, scientists continue to use this remarkable satellite’s gravity data to delve deep and unearth secrets about…
Exploring Earth From Space: Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is featured in this false-color image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. The Strait of Gibraltar connects the Mediterranean Sea with…
Solving a Martian Mystery: Mars Express Unlocks the Secrets of Strange Recurring Cloud
When spring arrives in southern Mars, a cloud of water ice emerges near the 20-kilometer-tall Arsia Mons volcano, rapidly stretching out for many hundreds of…
Space Debris Threatens Our Continued Use of Near-Earth Space for the Benefit of Humankind
Space debris is an issue of global concern that threatens our continued use of near-Earth space for the benefit of humankind. To raise awareness about…
Antarctica’s Magnetic Link to Ancient Neighbors: Australia, India and South Africa
For the first time, an international team of scientists has used magnetic data from ESA’s Swarm satellite mission together with aeromagnetic data to help reveal…
Getz on the Run: Accelerating Pace of Antarctic Glaciers
Using a 25-year record of satellite observations over the Getz region in West Antarctica, scientists have discovered that the pace at which glaciers flow towards…
Through the Cosmic Clouds: Hubble Spots a Beautiful Stellar Nursery
Nestled amongst the vast clouds of star-forming regions like this one lie potential clues about the formation of our own Solar System. This week’s NASA/ESA…
Massive Iceberg – 10 Times the Size of San Francisco – Breaks Off Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica
A giant iceberg, approximately 1.5 times the size of Greater Paris [or about 10 times the size of San Francisco], broke off from the northern…
Exploring Earth From Space: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Vancouver, visible at the top of the image, lies between the Burrard Inlet, an arm of the Strait of Georgia, to the north, and the…
Big, Beautiful and Blue: Hubble Captures Immense Galaxy That Stretches 200,000 Light-Years Across
NGC 2336 is the quintessential galaxy — big, beautiful and blue — and it is captured here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The barred…
ExoMars Orbiter Captures Perseverance at Landing Site in Mars’ Jezero Crater
The ESA-Roscosmos Trace Gas Orbiter has spotted NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, along with its parachute, heat shield, and descent stage, in the Jezero Crater…
European Space Agency Plans Mission to Explore Caves on the Moon
In a first step towards uncovering the Moon’s subterranean secrets, in 2019 ESA asked for your ideas to detect, map, and explore lunar caves. Five…
Eberswalde Crater Delta: Ancient River Delta Once Carried Liquid Water Across the Surface of Mars
This intricate structure of an ancient river delta once carried liquid water across the surface of Mars. The distinctive form of a delta arises from…
Hubble Captures an Eye in the Sky – “Evil Eye” Galaxy With Strange Internal Motion
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week features NGC4826 — a spiral galaxy located 17 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma…
Is the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica on the Brink?
In early 2019, all eyes were fixed on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica, where a massive iceberg, around the size of Greater London, appeared…
Italy’s Mount Etna Erupts, Spewing a Fountain of Lava and Ash Into the Sky
Italy’s Mount Etna, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, has erupted twice in less than 48 hours, spewing a fountain of lava and ash…