Over one month ago, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that the Herschel space observatory had run out of liquid helium coolant. The coolant was necessary to cool the telescope’s instruments to near absolute zero. As planned, the powerful infrared …

The European Space Agency (ESA) today announced that the Herschel space observatory has run out of liquid helium coolant. The coolant is necessary to cool the telescope’s instruments to near absolute zero. Herschel’s ground station in Western Australia this afternoon …

NASA and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Herschel Space Telescope has spotted a planet-forming star that wasn’t thought to be possible. The star, named TW Hydrae, is estimated to be 10 million years old – older than the age at …

Astronomers this week announced that they have discovered what could be an asteroid belt around the star Vega. NASA‘s Spitzer space telescope and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Herschel Space Observatory were used to observe the star, which is the …

NASA this week has launched a “game” that allows anyone to identify galactic clouds in a series of photos. The game, called Clouds, is part of the Milky Way Project, which helps astronomers crowd source data sorting. It can be …

Astronomers announced today that have characterized hundreds of previously unseen starburst galaxies. The starburst galaxies, which produce hundreds of stars each year, reveal that high star-formation rates have been the norm for much of our universe’s history. Using the European …

Astronomers using the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Herschel space observatory have discovered massive comet belts orbiting two nearby planetary systems. The systems, named GJ 581 and 61 Vir, are known to host planets that range in mass from Earth-sized to …

The European Space Agency (ESA) has released a new image of the aftershock of a supernova remnant named W44. The image, seen above, combines infrared and X-ray light captured by the ESA’s Herschel and XMM-Newton space observatories. W44 is located …