We are building a coalition of nations that can help us get to the Moon quickly and sustainably. Together.
We have a bold vision to go back to the Moon by 2024. As we work towards this goal, we welcome a growing list of international and commercial partners.
It is the partnerships over the last 60 years that have ensured the steady progress. With Mars on the horizon, together we can explore more of our solar system and share in the advances and the knowledge that will come.
Juice, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, is set to embark on a seven-year cruise to Jupiter starting May 2022. The mission will investigate the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants and the Jupiter system as an archetype for the numerous giant planets now known to orbit other stars.
This animation depicts the journey to Jupiter and the highlights from its foreseen tour of the giant planet and its large ocean-bearing moons.
An Ariane 5 will lift Juice into space from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou. A series of gravity-assist flybys at Earth (3), Venus (1) and Mars (1) will set the spacecraft on course for its October 2029 rendezvous in the Jovian system.
It is expected that a number of instruments will be activated during the gravity assists (indicated by the different coloured beams scanning across the planets) and measurements will be taken for calibration and to check the health of the instruments. The visualisations of the Earth flybys show the closest approaches over the planet according to current planning – over the South Pacific Ocean, Argentina and Peru, respectively. Throughout the animation, the instrument beam colours correspond to example observations by JANUS (green), MAJIS (red), UVS (purple), Gala (Blue) and RIME (grey), which are cameras, spectrometers, laser altimeter and radar.
During the Venus flyby, limited observations can be made because the spacecraft will be oriented to protect it from the heat of the Sun experienced in the inner Solar System. The Mars flyby will see Juice fly over the planet’s south pole to make scientific observations.
Juice will start its science mission about six months prior to arriving in orbit around the gas giant, making observations as it approaches its destination. Once in the Jovian system, a gravity-assist flyby of Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede – the largest moon in the Solar System – helps Juice enter orbit around the gas giant 7.5 hours later.
While in Jupiter orbit, the spacecraft will study the Jovian system as an archetype for gas giants, making observations of its atmosphere, the magnetosphere, its rings and satellites.
During the tour, Juice will make two flybys of Europa, which has strong evidence for an ocean of liquid water under its icy shell. Juice will look at the moon’s active zones, its surface composition and geology, search for pockets of liquid water under the surface and study the plasma environment around Europa.
A sequence of Callisto flybys will not only be used to study this ancient, cratered world that may too harbor a subsurface ocean, but it will change the angle of Juice’s orbit with respect to Jupiter’s equator, making it possible to investigate the polar regions and environment at higher latitudes.
During the tour there will also be unique periods to observe events such as moon transits. The example in this animation shows Europa and Io passing in front of Jupiter on 27 January 2032. This type of event is rare, with less than 10 expected to occur during Juice’s tour of the Jovian system.
A sequence of Ganymede and Callisto flybys will adjust the orbit of Juice to enable it to enter orbit around Ganymede, marking it the first spacecraft to orbit another planet’s moon (aside from our own). The elliptical orbit will be followed by a 5000 km altitude cicular orbit, and later a 500 km circular orbit.
Ganymede is unique in the Solar System in that it is the only moon to have a magnetosphere. Juice will investigate this phenomenon and the moon’s internal magnetic field, and the interaction of its plasma environment with that of Jupiter. Juice will also study the moon’s atmosphere, surface, subsurface, interior and its internal ocean, investigating the moon as a planetary object and possible habitat.
Over time the 500 km orbit will naturally decay – eventually there will not be enough propellant to maintain it – and it will make a grazing impact on the surface. The animation concludes with an example of what the approach to impact could look like.
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ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
On 25 December 2003, ESA’s Mars Express entered orbit around the Red Planet. The spacecraft began returning the first images from orbit using its High Resolution Stereo Camera just a couple of weeks later, and over the course of its fifteen year history has captured thousands of images covering the globe.
This video compilation highlights some of the stunning scenes revealed by this long-lived mission. From breathtaking horizon-to-horizon views to the close-up details of ice- and dune-filled craters, and from the polar ice caps and water-carved valleys to ancient volcanoes and plunging canyons, Mars Express has traced billions of years of geological history and evolution.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
This year saw ESA’s science exploration mission BepiColombo begin its seven year cruise to the innermost planet of our Solar System: Mercury. This timelapse recalls some of the preparations that went into readying the mission at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The mission, a joint endeavour between ESA and JAXA, comprises three spacecraft modules: ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter that will study all aspects of Mercury from their complementary orbits around the planet, and ESA’s Mercury Transfer Module that will bring them to the planet using a combination of solar electric propulsion and nine planetary flybys.
The video includes testing of the individual spacecraft units, stacking of the three modules and a protective sunshield into their launch configuration, integration of the spacecraft inside the launcher fairing, roll out to the launch pad, and finally launch itself. The mission lifted off at 01:45:28 GMT on 20 October 2018.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
Experience magical moments from ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst’s Horizons mission in this time-lapse of highlights from space.
Combining thousands of images taken by Alexander over more than six months, this Ultra High Definition video provides a glimpse into spacecraft operations and the beauty of Earth as seen from the International Space Station.
Marvel at orbital sunrises, dancing auroras, city lights, oceans, clouds, the Milky Way, the release of cargo vehicles, a Soyuz launch and more against the thin band of atmosphere that surrounds our planet.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
BepiColombo, Europe’s first mission to Mercury, launched on 20 October 2018. The spacecraft began its seven year journey by unfurling antennas and solar arrays, taking a few selfies and deploying a three metre magnetometer boom. The spacecraft, a joint mission between ESA and the Japanese space agency JAXA, will soon engage its solar propulsion engine but meanwhile scientists are busy preparing for BepiColombo’s arrival in 2025.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
ExoMars is the first mission to head to the Red Planet to seek signs of life, now or in the past. It’s a massive scientific and technical challenge, and Euronews meets some of the team involved in this joint ESA-Roscosmos project in this month’s edition of Space.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
Since the very first module Zarya launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 20 November 1998, the International Space Station has delivered a whole new perspective on this planet we call home. Join us as we celebrate 20 years of international collaboration and research for the benefit of Earth with ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst’s longest timelapse yet.
In just under 15 minutes, this clip takes you from Tunisia across Beijing and through Australia in two trips around the world. You can follow the Station’s location using the map at the top right-hand-side of the screen alongside annotations on the photos themselves.
This timelapse comprises approximately 21 375 images of Earth all captured by Alexander from the International Space Station and shown 12.5 times faster than actual speed.
Music is Orbital Horizons, an original composition by Los Angeles-based musician Matt Piper.
Participate in further Space Station celebrations via social media using hashtag #SpaceStation20th.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
Highlights from the days up to and including the exciting launch of the ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury.
BepiColombo launched at 01:45 GMT from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. It will make a seven year cruise to Mercury, flying by Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury six times before entering orbit.
It is the first European mission to Mercury, the smallest and least explored planet in the inner Solar System, and the first to send two spacecraft to make complementary measurements of the planet and its dynamic environment at the same time. The mission comprises two science orbiters: ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). The ESA-built Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) will carry the orbiters to Mercury using a combination of solar electric propulsion and gravity assist flybys.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
Mercury is a planetary misfit, an oddball in the solar system, and this month the BepiColombo mission is setting off to study it in unprecedented detail.
The best images we have of Mercury are from NASA’s MESSENGER mission, which pictured its cratered surface and curious features earlier this decade.
Soon, the joint European and Japanese BepiColombo mission will head there to take an even closer look.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
Meet Bepi, Mio and MTM, three new space explorers about to start an extraordinary journey to Mercury, a planet of extremes and mysteries.
Find out how these bold spacecraft have been preparing for their epic adventure, from space school to flyby practice. Watch as their training covers not only planetary science and space education, but also cultural aspects of their places of origin: Bepi and MTM were born in Europe, while Mio comes from Japan.
Follow Bepi, Mio and MTM as they become fascinated by their destination thanks to the curious discoveries made by their cousin Messenger. Learn about the science questions that Bepi and Mio will investigate, from Mercury’s geology and surface composition to the magnetic field and its interaction with the solar wind.
Finally, walk with them to the launch pad and wish them a great start to a memorable adventure.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
BepiColombo is scheduled for launch at 01:45 GMT (03:45 CEST) on 20 October on an Ariane 5 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou.
Final assembly of the two orbiters and transfer module has taken place, ready for the spacecraft to be integrated into its Ariane 5 launcher.
BepiColombo is Europe’s first mission to Mercury, the smallest and least explored planet in the inner Solar System. It is a joint endeavour between ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, and consists of two scientific orbiters: ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). The mission will study all aspects of Mercury, from the structure and dynamics of its magnetosphere and how it interacts with the solar wind, to its internal structure with its large iron core, and the origin of the planet’s magnetic field.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
What would the outcome be if you took a leap of faith straight into a black hole? We looked to Einstein and Hawking to ponder the scenario.
Say one day you were exploring space looking for a new planet for humans to inhabit, but came across a black hole and decided – why not check it out? Would you have any chance of survival? How would you get out if at all? Would you find a shortcut to another universe? Watch the video to learn about what would happen if you fell into a black hole.
About What If: Produced by Underknown in Toronto, Canada, What If is a mini-documentary web series that takes you on an epic journey through hypothetical worlds and possibilities. Join us on an imaginary adventure — grounded in scientific theory — through time, space and chance, as we ask what if some of the most fundamental aspects of our existence were different.
Revisit the April 18, 2018, launch of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. TESS is already scanning the skies, identifying planet candidates that may be orbiting distant stars. https://go.nasa.gov/2Q3J9ei
TESS is NASA’s next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system, including those that could support life. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. TESS will survey 200,000 of the brightest stars near the sun to search for transiting exoplanets.
Although it may not be immediately obvious when we visit the beach, sea-level rise is affecting coastlines all over the world. For low-lying countries such as the Netherlands, sea-level rise and tidal surges are a constant threat. Our oceans are rising as a consequence of climate change. As the temperature of seawater increases it expands and the ice melting from ice sheets and glaciers adds more water to the global ocean. We know this because satellites high above our heads measure the temperature of the sea surface and of our changing ice.
While the global averaged trend is towards rising levels, there are many regional differences so that in some places it is rising and in other places it is falling. Satellites carrying altimeter instruments systematically measure the height of the sea surface so that sea-level rise can be closely monitored. Altimetry measurements over the last 25 years show that on average sea-level is rising about 3 mm a year and this rise is accelerating.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
Watch in 360 degrees as an United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida carrying NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft. Roughly the size of a small car, the spacecraft lifted off at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Aug. 12, 2018, starting its historic mission to “touch” the Sun.
NASA’s historic Parker Solar Probe mission that launched Aug. 12, 2018 from Space Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida will revolutionize our understanding of the Sun. The Parker Solar Probe spacecraft will travel through the Sun’s atmosphere, closer to the surface than any spacecraft before it, facing brutal heat and radiation conditions — and ultimately providing humanity with the closest-ever observations of a star. This is a look at the moments leading up to T-Zero for NASA’s mission to “touch” the Sun.
Ever wondered what it feels like to fly from Alaska to the Andes in 260 seconds? ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst captured this timelapse footage of Alaska, the USA and South America while orbiting Earth on board the International Space Station.
This timelapse is made up of 6,375 images shown 12.5 times faster than actual speed. Music is Our Oasis by Miriam Speyer, sourced from Audio Network Limited.
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Are wormholes real or are they just magic disguised as physics and maths? And if they are real how do they work and where can we find them?
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Māori, as native New Zealanders, refer to their islands as “Aotearoa” or “the land of the long white cloud”. This timelapse from ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst shows Australia and New Zealand shrouded in cloud from the unique viewpoint of the International Space Station.
Comprised of 5,175 photos, this timelapse is 12.5 times faster than actual speed and is set to the soundtrack “Try or Die” sourced from Audio Network Limited.
What is a lunar eclipse? What is a solar eclipse? This short video explains the difference between these regularly occurring events that can be observed from Earth.
The video uses a mix of ground- and space-based imagery of eclipses, including footage from the International Space Station, ESA’s Proba-2 satellite and the Japanese-led Hinode satellite.
Remember: never look directly at the Sun, even when partially eclipsed, without proper eye protection such as special solar eclipse glasses, or you risk permanent eye damage.
Credits: ESA, ESA/CESAR (graphics, ground-based observations), NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio (partial lunar eclipse sequence) ESA/NASA (ISS footage), ESA/Royal Observatory of Belgium (Proba-2 footage), NASA/Hinode/XRT (Hinode image).
Orbiting Earth once every 90 minutes, the International Space Station soars into 16 sunrises and sunsets every single day. Many of these sunrises occur while the crew is working or sleeping, but ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst captured this stunning timelapse of a sunrise to share with us here on Earth.
These photos were taken by Alexander at an interval of two per second and the video has been edited at 25 frames per second.
Music: First Survivors 4 by Los Angeles-based British composer, Luke Richards. Sourced from Audio Network Limited.
Humans will have to breath, drink and eat while living on the Moon. They will need energy to perform tasks using their robotic companions and materials to build structures. For a sustainable approach to space exploration these resources cannot be carried from Earth but have to be found on the Moon itself.
Angel Abbud Madrid is the Director of the Center for Space Resources at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), where he leads a multidisciplinary research programme on the human and robotic exploration of space and the utilisation of its resources. He is also the Director of the CSM Space Resources Program, the first academic programme in the world focused on educating scientists, engineers, economists, entrepreneurs and policymakers in the developing field of space resources.
Space Bites hosts the best talks on space exploration from the most inspiring and knowledgeable speakers from the field. Held at the technical heart of the European Space Agency in the Netherlands, the lectures are now also available on YouTube. If you want to know about the present and future challenges of ESA, stay tuned for more.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Enjoy this animation visualising BepiColombo’s launch and cruise to Mercury. Some aspects have been simplified for the purpose of this animation.
The joint ESA-JAXA mission comprises the European Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Japan’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, which will be transported to the innermost planet by the Mercury Transfer Module. The animation highlights several key milestones, including the solar array and antenna deployments once in space, through to the arrival at Mercury seven years later. When approaching Mercury, the transfer module will separate and the two science orbiters, still together, will be captured into orbit around the planet. Their altitude will be adjusted until the Magnetospheric Orbiter’s desired orbit is reached. Then the Planetary Orbiter will separate and descend to its lower orbit, and the two craft will begin their scientific exploration of Mercury and its environment.
Spacecraft in orbit and on Mars’s surface have made many exciting discoveries, transforming our understanding of the planet and unveiling clues to the formation of our Solar System, as well as helping us understand our home planet. The next step is to bring samples to Earth for detailed analysis in sophisticated laboratories where results can be verified independently and samples can be reanalysed as laboratory techniques continue to improve.
Bringing Mars to Earth is no simple undertaking—it would require at least three missions from Earth and one never-been-done-before rocket launch from Mars.
A first mission, NASA’s 2020 Mars Rover, is set to collect surface samples in pen-sized canisters as it explores the Red Planet. Up to 31 canisters will be filled and readied for a later pickup – geocaching gone interplanetary.
In the same period, ESA’s ExoMars rover, which is also set to land on Mars in 2021, will be drilling up to two meters below the surface to search for evidence of life.
A second mission with a small fetch rover would land nearby and retrieve the samples in a Martian search-and-rescue operation. This rover would bring the samples back to its lander and place them in a Mars Ascent Vehicle – a small rocket to launch the football-sized container into Mars orbit.
A third launch from Earth would provide a spacecraft sent to orbit Mars and rendezvous with the sample containers. Once the samples are safely collected and loaded into an Earth entry vehicle, the spacecraft would return to Earth, release the vehicle to land in the United States, where the samples will be retrieved and placed in quarantine for detailed analysis by a team of international scientists.
Animated view of 14 099 asteroids in our Solar System, as viewed by ESA’s Gaia satellite using information from the mission’s second data release. The orbits of the 200 brightest asteroids are also shown, as determined using Gaia data.
In future data releases, Gaia will also provide asteroid spectra and enable a complete characterisation of the asteroid belt. The combination of dynamical and physical information that is being collected by Gaia provides an unprecedented opportunity to improve our understanding of the origin and the evolution of the Solar System.
Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, CC BY SA 3.0 IGO
Acknowledgement: Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC); Orbits: Gaia Coordinating Unit 4; P. Tanga, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, France; F. Spoto, IMCCE, Observatoire de Paris, France; Animation: Gaia Sky; S. Jordan / T. Sagristà, Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Germany
Meet our new space explorers, the spacecraft of the BepiColombo mission, as they begin their adventure to planet Mercury. But first, they have to navigate through Amsterdam Schiphol airport to reach Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The spacecraft really do depart from Schiphol; along with essential ground-support equipment they are scheduled to fly in a series of Antonov aircraft during the last week of April and first week of May. Upon arrival at Kourou, an intensive six-months of preparations will prepare the mission for launch. The launch window opens 5 October until 29 November 2018.
Find out more about the BepiColombo mission on esa.int/bepicolombo
Following its launch in February 2016 and subsequent commissioning phase, the Copernicus Sentinel-3A satellite has been systematically measuring our oceans, land, ice and atmosphere. The information feeds a range of practical applications and is used for monitoring and understanding large-scale global dynamics. Sentinel-3A will soon be joined in orbit by its identical twin, Sentinel-3B. Both satellites carry a suite of cutting-edge instruments to supply a new generation of data products, which are particularly useful for marine applications. For example, they monitor ocean-surface temperatures for ocean and weather forecasting services, aquatic biological productivity, ocean pollution and sea-level change. The mission also delivers unique and timely information about changing land cover, vegetation, urban heat islands, and for tracking wildfires. With the two satellites in orbit, global coverage and data delivery will be optimised.
These observations of Phobos and Saturn were taken by the Super Resolution Channel of the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express. The video comprises 30 separate images acquired during Mars Express orbit 16 346 on 26 November 2016. The slight up and down movement of Saturn and Phobos in these images is caused by the oscillation of the spacecraft’s orientation after completing the turn towards the moon. Phobos can be seen in the foreground, partially illuminated, with Saturn visible as a small ringed dot in the distance. For more information go tohttp://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_views_moons_set_against_Saturn_s_rings
This visualization tracks the trajectory of the Voyager 1 spacecraft through the solar system. Launched on September 5, 1977, it was one of two spacecraft sent to visit the giant planets of the outer solar system. Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter and Saturn before being directed out of the solar system.
To fit the 40 year history of the mission into a short visualization, the pacing of time accelerates through most of the movie, starting at about 5 days per second at the beginning and speeding up to about 11 months per second after the planet flybys are past.
The termination shock and heliopause are the ‘boundaries’ created when the plasma between the stars interacts with the plasma flowing outward from the Sun. They are represented with simple grid models and oriented so their ‘nose’ is pointed in the direction (Right Ascension = 17h 24m, declination = 17 degrees south) represented by more recent measurements from other missions. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4139
Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
This visualization tracks the trajectory of the Voyager 2 spacecraft through the solar system. Launched on August 20, 1977, it was one of two spacecraft sent to visit the giant planets of the outer solar system. Like Voyager 1, Voyager 2 flew by Jupiter and Saturn, but the Voyager 2 mission was extended to fly by Uranus and Neptune before being directed out of the solar system.
To fit the 40 year history of the mission into a short visualization, the pacing of time accelerates through most of the movie, starting at about 5 days per second at the beginning and speeding up to about 11 months per second after the planet flybys are past.
The termination shock and heliopause are the ‘boundaries’ created when the plasma between the stars interacts with the plasma flowing outward from the Sun. They are represented with simple grid models and oriented so their ‘nose’ is pointed in the direction (Right Ascension = 17h 24m, declination = 17 degrees south) represented by more recent measurements from other missions.
A Plútóról 2015-ben készített részletes felvételeket a New Horizons űrszonda, ezek a felvételek felbolygatták a tudományos közösséget. A törpebolygó több a furcsaságot tartogat, mint arra bárki számított, felszínén olyan jelenségek zajlanak, amire egyelőre nincs magyarázatunk. A fenti videóban a téma legjobb európai szakértői beszélnek arról, mit tudunk a Plútóról, és miértérdekes ez a probléma tudományos szempontból.
A Plutó 1930-as felfedezése óta rejtély volt az emberiség számára. Először bolygónak nevezték, 2006-ban átsorolták a törpe-bolygók közé. Minél többet tudunk meg róla, annál jobban megragadja tudósok fantáziáját.
A virtual journey, from our Solar System through the Milky Way, based on data from the first release of ESA’s Gaia satellite.
The journey starts by looking back at the Sun, surrounded by its eight planets. We then move away from the Sun and travel towards and around the Hyades star cluster, the closest open cluster to the Solar System, some 150 light-years away.
The 3D positions of the stars shown in the animation are drawn from the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS), which combines information from Gaia’s first year of observations with the earlier Hipparcos and Tycho-2 Catalogues, both based on data from ESA’s Hipparcos mission.
This new dataset contains positions on the sky, distances and proper motions of over two million stars. It is twice as precise and contains almost 20 times as many stars as the previous reference for astrometry, the Hipparcos Catalogue.
The journey continues showing the full extent size of the stars contained in the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution, all relatively near to the Sun, in the overall context of our Milky Way galaxy.
The final Gaia catalogue will contain the most detailed 3D map ever made of the Galaxy, charting a billion stars – about 1% of the Milky Way’s stellar content – to unprecedented accuracy.
How did it all begin? What are the origins of our planet? To understand our place in the Universe we need to explore space. Find out how we’re doing this with ESA’s incredible fleet of space science missions to study our Sun and chart the stars around us, probe the dark matter and dark energy of the Universe, and tour various planets, moons and other small bodies in our Solar System.
Bli med Paxi på en reise i solsystemet vårt, fra de steinete indre planetene i nærheten av solen, forbi de store planetene, til den iskalde utkanten og hjemstedet til kometene.
I denne videoen, som retter seg mot barn mellom 6–12 år, tar Paxi oss med på en tur i solsystemet. I løpet av turen besøker dere alle de åtte planetene og andre mindre ting som asteroider, kometer og dvergplaneten Pluto.
Videoen er den andre i en serie av animasjoner hvor Paxi, ESAs utdannelsesmaskot, kommer i kontakt med forskjellige sider ved solsystemet, universet, jordens hemmeligheter og mye mer.
Följ med Paxi till utkanten av Solsystemet för att upptäcka en värld av kometer och lära dig om det fascinerande Rosetta-projektet till kometen 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
I den här videofilmen, som är avsedd för barn mellan 6 och 12 år, tar Paxi med sig barn för att utforska kometer och Rosetta, ESA:s fascinerande rymdfarkost som flyger sida vid sida med kometen 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko och ska försöka släppa ned en landningsenhet på kometen den 12 November 2014.
Den här videofilmen är den tredje i en serie av animationer i vilka Paxi, ESA:s utbildningsmaskot, berör olika aspekter av Solsystemet, Universum, planeten Jordens hemligheter och mycket mer.
Lär känna Paxi, ESA:s utbildningsmaskot. Var han kommer ifrån, varför han gillar rymdresor, vilka hans vänner är …
I den här videofilmen som är avsedd för barn mellan 6 och 12 år, introduceras Paxi, en liten rymdvarelse från planeten Ally-O, och som har kommit till Jorden för att träffa nya vänner och ta med barn på en äventyrlig upptäcktsresa i rymden. Det är den första i en serie av animationer i vilka Paxi, ESA:s utbildningsmaskot, berör olika aspekter av Solsystemet, Universum, planeten Jordens hemligheter och mycket mer.
Följ med Paxi på en resa genom vårt Solsystem. Från de steniga inre planeterna nära Solen och förbi de jättestora planeterna, ut till den iskalla utkanten där kometerna bor.
I den här videofilmen som är avsedd för barn mellan 6 och 12 år, tar Paxi med oss på en resa i vårt eget Solsystem där vi besöker alla åtta planeterna samt andra mindre himlakroppar såsom asteroider, kometer och dvärgplaneten Pluto. Den här videofilmen är den andra i en serie av animationer i vilka Paxi, ESA:s utbildningsmaskot, berör olika aspekter av Solsystemet, Universum, planeten Jordens hemligheter och mycket mer.
Acompanhe o Paxi numa viagem através do sistema solar, dos planetas rochosos interiores próximos do Sol, passando pelos planetas gigantes até à orla gelada onde se encontram os cometas.
Neste vídeo, destinado a crianças entre os 6 e os 12 anos de idade, o Paxi leva-nos a dar uma volta pelo sistema solar, visitando os oitos planetas e outros corpos menores como asteroides, cometas e o planeta anão Plutão.
Este vídeo é o segundo de uma série de animações em que o Paxi, a mascote educacional da ESA, aborda diferentes aspetos do sistema solar e do Universo, os segredos do planeta Terra e muito mais.
