Press Releases
March 2009
30 March 2009 - ESO
ESO takes the public on an astronomical journey “Around the World in 80 Telescopes”
A live 24-hour free public video webcast, “Around the World in 80 Telescopes”, will take place from 3 April 09:00 UT/GMT to 4 April 09:00 UT/GMT, chasing day and night around the globe to let viewers “visit” some of the most advanced astronomical telescopes on and off the planet. The webcast, organised by ESO for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009), is the first time that so many large observatories have been linked together for a public event.
24 March 2009 - ESA
Fifth European Conference on Space Debris to address key issues
The European Space Agency will host the 5th European Conference on Space Debris at ESA's Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, from 30 March -2 April. The conference, which is the largest dedicated event on space debris issues, is co-sponsored by the British, French, German and Italian space agencies (BNSC, CNES, DLR, ASI), the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) and the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), and is expected to gather more than 200 leading experts from all over the world.
24 March 2009 - ESO
ESO’s First Observatory Celebrates 40th Anniversary
ESO’s La Silla Observatory, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, became the largest astronomical observatory of its time. It led Europe to the frontline of astronomical research, and is still one of the most scientifically productive in ground-based astronomy.
17 March 2009 - ESRF
Synthesizing the most natural of all skin creams
Research done at the ESRF by scientists from Leiden University could help millions of people with skin problems
17 March 2009
ESA launches first Earth Explorer mission GOCE
This afternoon, the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) was lofted into a near-sunsynchronous, low Earth orbit by a Rockot launcher lifting off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia.
16 March 2009 - ESO
A Curious Pair of Galaxies
The ESO Very Large Telescope has taken the best image ever of a strange and chaotic duo of interwoven galaxies. The images also contain some surprises — interlopers both far and near.
13 March 2009 - CERN
CERN celebrates 20th anniversary of World Wide Web
Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee returned to the birthplace of his invention today, 20 years after submitting his paper 'Information Management: A Proposal' to his boss Mike Sendall.
13 March 2009 - ESA
King Albert II to visit European Astronaut Centre
Their Majesties Albert II King of the Belgians and Queen Paola will be visiting the European Astronaut Centre of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Cologne, Germany, on 19 March 2009. Media representatives are invited to attend.
10 March 2009 - ESO
Hubble and ESO’s VLT provide unique 3D views of remote galaxies
Astronomers have obtained exceptional 3D views of distant galaxies, seen when the Universe was half its current age, by combining the twin strengths of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s acute eye, and the capacity of ESO’s Very Large Telescope to probe the motions of gas in tiny objects. By looking at this unique “history book” of our Universe, at an epoch when the Sun and the Earth did not yet exist, scientists hope to solve the puzzle of how galaxies formed in the remote past.
9 March 2009 - ESA
GOCE satellite launch-mapping the Earth's gravity as never before
ESA is about to launch the most sophisticated of Earth Observation satellites to investigate the Earth’s gravitational field with unprecedented resolution and accuracy.
9 March 2009 - ESO
New Inspiring Planetarium Show Introduces ALMA to the Public
As part of a wide range of education and public outreach activities for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009), ESO, together with the Association of French Language Planetariums (APLF), has produced a 30-minute planetarium show, In Search of our Cosmic Origins. It is centred on the global ground-based astronomical Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) project and represents a unique chance for planetariums to be associated with the IYA2009.
2 March 2009 - ESRF
Scientists discover 356 animal inclusions trapped in 100 million years old opaque amber
Paleontologists from the University of Rennes (France) and the ESRF have found the presence of 356 animal inclusions in completely opaque amber from mid-Cretaceous sites of Charentes (France). The team used the X-rays of the European light source to image two kilogrammes of the fossil tree resin with a technique that allows rapid survey of large amounts of opaque amber. At present this is the only way to discover inclusions in fully opaque amber.
2 March 2009 - ESO
The lower atmosphere of Pluto revealed
Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have gained valuable new insights about the atmosphere of the dwarf planet Pluto. The scientists found unexpectedly large amounts of methane in the atmosphere, and also discovered that the atmosphere is hotter than the surface by about 40 degrees, although it still only reaches a frigid minus 180 degrees Celsius. These properties of Pluto's atmosphere may be due to the presence of pure methane patches or of a methane-rich layer covering the dwarf planet's surface.