Astronomy & Astrophysics 101: Gravitational Lensing
What Is Gravitational Lensing? Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive celestial body — such as a galaxy cluster — causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime…
What Is Gravitational Lensing? Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive celestial body — such as a galaxy cluster — causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime…
The rocket that will launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft with the European Service Module to the Moon has been moved to the launchpad in Florida, USA,…
Part of Lake Nasser, one of the largest artificial lakes in the world, is featured in this false-color image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission….
This full-size Hubble image shows galaxy cluster SDSS J1004+4112 that was discovered as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. It is one of the…
What Is an Atmosphere? An atmosphere is a layer (or several layers) of gas that surrounds a planet, or other celestial body. If a celestial…
Following the completion of critical mirror alignment steps, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope team expects that Webb’s optical performance will be able to meet…
As an intergovernmental organization mandated to develop and implement space programs in full respect with European values, we deeply deplore the human casualties and tragic…
What Is an Active Galactic Nucleus? An active galactic nucleus, or AGN, is an extremely bright central region of a galaxy that is dominated by…
What Is a Spiral Galaxy? A spiral galaxy typically has a rotating disc with spiral ‘arms’ that curve out from a dense central region. The…
This finely detailed image shows the heart of NGC 1097, a barred spiral galaxy that lies about 48 million light-years from Earth in the constellation…
Twilight is a long affair at research station Concordia, situated just a few 1000 km from the South Pole. The Sun disappears completely behind the…
The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission takes us over the archipelago of Lofoten in northern Norway. Extending around 175 km from north to south, the archipelago comprises…
Following a competition, ESA has selected the industrial team that will design and build the first experimental payload to extract oxygen from the surface of…
The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft is speeding towards its historic first close pass of the Sun. On March 14, the spacecraft will pass the orbit…
It’s the first mission of its kind, set to monitor our active and unpredictable Sun and help protect us from its violent outbursts – and…
The dusty faces of the Moon and Mars conceal unseen hazards for future explorers. Areas of highly oxidizing material could be sufficiently reactive that they…
An energetic outburst from an infant star streaks across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This stellar tantrum — produced by an extremely…
Earlier this year, the discovery of a potentially hazardous asteroid took astronomers on a roller coaster ride. On January 6, 2022, astronomers at the Mount…