First Temperate Exoplanet Sized Up

17 Mar 2010 at 11:00am  Combining observations from the CoRoT satellite and the ESO HARPS instrument, astronomers have discovered the first ?normal? exoplanet that can be studied in great detail. Designated Corot-9b, the planet regularly passes in front of a star similar to the Sun located 1500 light-years away from Earth towards the constellation of Serpens (the Snake).
Read more...

Jupiter?s Spot Seen Glowing

16 Mar 2010 at 2:00pm  New ground-breaking thermal images obtained with ESO?s Very Large Telescope and other powerful ground-based telescopes show swirls of warmer air and cooler regions never seen before within Jupiter?s Great Red Spot, enabling scientists to make the first detailed interior weather map of the giant storm system linking its temperature, winds, pressure and composition with its colour.
Read more...

The Cosmic Bat

3 Mar 2010 at 3:00am  The delicate nebula NGC 1788, located in a dark and often neglected corner of the Orion constellation, is revealed in a new and finely nuanced image that ESO is releasing today. Although this ghostly cloud is rather isolated from Orion?s bright stars, the latter?s powerful winds and light have had a strong impact on the nebula, forging its shape and making it home to a multitude of infant suns.
Read more...

Light, Wind and Fire

24 Feb 2010 at 3:00am  Today ESO has released a dramatic new image of NGC 346, the brightest star-forming region in our neighbouring galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud, 210 000 light-years away towards the constellation of Tucana (the Toucan). The light, wind and heat given off by massive stars have dispersed the glowing gas within and around this star cluster, forming a surrounding wispy nebular structure that looks like a cobweb. NGC 346, like other beautiful astronomical scenes, is a work in progress, and changes as the aeons pass. As yet more stars form from loose matter in the area, they will ignite, scattering leftover dust and gas, carving out great ripples and altering the face of this lustrous object.
Read more...

February 2010 Extra

19 Feb 2010 at 10:00am  In this show we find out about space weather from Jim Wild [00:43-09:01] and talk to Marek Kukula about all things Solar [09:01-14:19], Tim answers your astronomical questions [17:21-37:31], and we round-up your feedback.


 Listen to the Podcast

No Place to Hide: Missing Primitive Stars Outside Milky Way Uncovered

17 Feb 2010 at 3:00am  After years of successful concealment, the most primitive stars outside our Milky Way galaxy have finally been unmasked. New observations using ESO?s Very Large Telescope have been used to solve an important astrophysical puzzle concerning the oldest stars in our galactic neighbourhood ? which is crucial for our understanding of the earliest stars in the Universe.
Read more...

Orion in a New Light

10 Feb 2010 at 3:00am  The Orion Nebula reveals many of its hidden secrets in a dramatic image taken by ESO?s new VISTA survey telescope. The telescope?s huge field of view can show the full splendour of the whole nebula and VISTA?s infrared vision also allows it to peer deeply into dusty regions that are normally hidden and expose the curious behaviour of the very active young stars buried there.
Read more...