The Rosetta probe approached the asteroid Lutetia last Saturday afternoon, executing a spectacular maneuver only 3,162 kilometers away. And it showed us a totally cratered asteroid, possibly a relic from the creation of the Solar System.
The Planck space telescope of the European Space Agency (ESA) has published the most complete map of the Universe to date known, an image of the entire celestial vault that provides new evidence on the process of formation of stars and galaxies and allows the study of the former phases of formation of the cosmos.
The Japanese probe Hayabusa returned to Earth yesterday after completing the mission that began in 2003 to the asteroid Itokawa, with the aim of collecting data on the formation and origins of the Solar System.
Using the NASA and ESA Hubble Space Telescope, a team of German astronomers has succeeded in observing and measuring a cluster of young stars in the Milky Way moving at a uniform speed of 4.5 kilometers per second.
One of Jupiter's two main cloud belts has completely disappeared, transforming this planet's aspect of the solar system. "This is a great event," said planetary scientist Glenn Orton of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA). "We are closely monitoring the situation and we still do not fully understand what is going on."
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has released one of the most accurate and detailed portraits ever obtained of the nearby galaxy Messier 83, considered the "little sister" of the Milky Way. The image, captured with the HAWK-I instrument of ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory (Chile), shows the galaxy in infrared light and confirms the incredible power of this camera.
A thin layer of ice and organic matter is present on the surface of asteroid 24 Themis, according to the journal Nature. The finding, made with NASA's Infrared Telescope, has surprised astronomers by the proximity of the object to the Sun.
A team of Swiss astronomers has identified six extrasolar planets that orbit in the opposite direction to the rotation of their star. The finding, presented at the National Astronomy Meeting of the British Royal Society to be held this week in Glasgow (Scotland), is a "challenge" to the theories of planetary formation held to date.
Danni Büchner is invited to Sam Dylan's Halloween party. But the "Goodbye Germany" emigrant has no desire for many other party guests. And find clear words.
