Press Releases
September 2008
29 September 2008 - ESA
Successful re-entry marks bright future for ATV
Europe's first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Jules Verne successfully completed its six-month ISS logistics mission today with its controlled destructive re-entry over a completely uninhabited area of the South Pacific. Following a final deorbit burn at 14:58 CEST which slowed its velocity by 70 m/s, the ATV entered the upper atmosphere at an altitude of 120 km at 15:31 CEST. It broke up at an altitude of 75 km with the remaining fragments falling into the Pacific some 12 minutes later.
26 September 2008 - ESA
Ministers meet to take forward the European Space Policy
Ministers in charge of space activities within ESA and European Union Member States met in Brussels today for the fifth Space Council.
25 September 2008 - ESO
The Wild, Hidden Cousin of SN 1987A
Over a decade after it exploded, one of the nearest supernovae in the last 25 years has been identified. This result was made possible by combining data from the vast online archives from many of the world's premier telescopes.
24 September 2008 - ESO
The Hibernating Stellar Magnet
Astronomers have discovered a most bizarre celestial object that emitted 40 visible-light flashes before disappearing again. It is most likely to be a missing link in the family of neutron stars, the first case of an object with an amazingly powerful magnetic field that showed some brief, strong visible-light activity.
23 September 2008 - CERN
LHC re-start scheduled for 2009
Investigations at CERN1 following a large helium leak into sector 3-4 of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) tunnel have indicated that the most likely cause of the incident was a faulty electrical connection between two of the accelerator's magnets.
20 September 2008 - CERN
Incident in LHC sector 3-4
During commissioning (without beam) of the final LHC sector (sector 3-4) at high current for operation at 5 TeV, an incident occurred at mid-day on Friday 19 September resulting in a large helium leak into the tunnel.
19 September 2008 - ESO
Pinning down the Milky Way's spin
New, very precise measurements have shown that the rotation of the Milky Way is simpler than previously thought. A remarkable result from the most successful ESO instrument HARPS, shows that a much debated, apparent 'fall' of neighbourhood Cepheid stars towards our Sun stems from an intrinsic property of the Cepheids themselves.
18 September 2008 - ESO
Future Looks Bright for Interferometry
The PRIMA instrument of the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) recently saw "first light" at its new home atop Cerro Paranal in Chile. When fully operational, PRIMA will boost the capabilities of the VLTI to see sources much fainter than any previous interferometers, and enable astrometric precision unmatched by any other existing astronomical facility. PRIMA will be a unique tool for the detection of exoplanets.
18 September 2008 - ESA
ESA at IAC 2008, Glasgow
The 59th International Astronautical Congress is taking place between 29 September and 3 October in Glasgow, Scotland. IAC 2008 is being organised by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and the British Interplanetary Society (BIS). This year's venue is the state-of-the-art Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre situated on the banks on the River Clyde.
17 September 2008 - ESRF
New tool for early diagnosis of breast cancer
Scientists from Finland, Germany and the ESRF have developed a new X-ray technique for the early detection of breast cancer. This allows a 3D visualization of the breast with a high spatial resolution and is extremely sensitive to alterations in the tissue, such as those generated by cancer. This technique could be used in the next years in hospitals. It may help doctors to detect tumours with greater precision than is possible using current X-ray mammography. The results of this research appear today in the journal "Radiology".
10 September 2008 - CERN
First beam in the LHC - accelerating science
The first beam in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN was successfully steered around the full 27 kilometres of the world's most powerful particle accelerator at 10h28 this morning.
10 September 2008 - ESO
The Double Firing Burst
Astronomers from around the world combined data from ground- and space-based telescopes to paint a detailed portrait of the brightest explosion ever seen. The observations reveal that the jets of the gamma-ray burst called GRB 080319B were aimed almost directly at the Earth.
9 September 2008 - ESA
Major European programme for the environment under the spotlight in Lille, France
On 16 and 17 September, in the context of France's presidency of the EU, Lille will play host to "Forum GMES 2008" at the Grand Palais.
8 September 2008 - ESO
Mind the gap
Astronomers have been able to study planet-forming discs around young Sun-like stars in unsurpassed detail, clearly revealing the motion and distribution of the gas in the inner parts of the disc. This result, which possibly implies the presence of giant planets, was made possible by the combination of a very clever method enabled by ESO's Very Large Telescope.
6 September 2008 - ESA
Encounter of a different kind: Rosetta observes asteroid at close quarters
ESA's comet chaser, Rosetta, last night flew by a small body in the main asteroid belt, asteroid Steins, collecting a wealth of information about this rare type of minor Solar System body.
5 September 2008 - CERN
CERN reiterates safety of LHC on eve of first beam
A report published today in the peer reviewed Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics provides comprehensive evidence that safety fears about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are unfounded.
5 September 2008 - ESA
ESA's ATV successfully undocks from International Space Station
At the end of a flawless six-month mission, Jules Verne, Europe's first Automated Transfer Vehicle, undocked from the International Space Station today at 23:29 hours CEST. The ATV has now embarked on the last leg of its journey in space, which will end with a controlled destructive re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere on 29 September.
5 September 2008 - ESO
A Fine-Tooth Comb to Measure the Accelerating Universe
Astronomical instruments needed to answer crucial questions, such as the search for Earth-like planets or the way the Universe expands, have come a step closer with the first demonstration at the telescope of a new calibration system for precise spectrographs. The method uses a Nobel Prize-winning technology called a 'laser frequency comb', and is published in this week's issue of Science.