ESA

A powerful collision between galaxy clusters has been captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This clash of clusters provides striking evidence for dark matter and insight into its properties.

Proposals are solicited for observations with XMM-Newton in response to the Eighth Announcement of Opportunity, AO-8, issued today. This AO covers the period May 2009 to April 2010 and is open to all proposers. The deadline for receipt of proposals is 12:00 UT on 10 October 2008.

XMM-Newton has discovered a rare, very massive cluster of galaxies at a distance of about 7700 million light years (or z~1). The object, designated 2XMM J083026+524133, was discovered during a systematic analysis of the 2XMM X-ray source catalogue. In a paper, to appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Georg Lamer and colleagues present the discovery and analysis of this exceptional cluster of galaxies.

ESPM-12 will be held in Freiburg. The meeting will cover all aspects of solar physics and is the ideal place for European and international solar researchers to come together.

The Hubble Space Telescope has found the answer to a long-standing puzzle by resolving giant but delicate filaments shaped by a strong magnetic field around the active galaxy NGC 1275. It is the most striking example of the influence of these immense tentacles of extragalactic magnetic fields, say researchers.

The science and propulsion modules of LISA Pathfinder have arrived at ESTEC for a series of system tests. These are devised to validate the spacecraft design parameters and to record the response of the LISA Pathfinder hardware to the launch environment by measuring acceleration loads on the spacecraft. The test campaign will continue until the end of 2008.

The August 2008 issue of ESA's flagship magazine, the ESA Bulletin, features an article presenting some of the most important science results from Venus Express - results which could answer some of the greatest mysteries about our nearest planetary neighbour.

Rosetta's on-board cameras have successfully started to visually track asteroid Steins in an optical navigation campaign. The images have been used to calculate the asteroid's location and to optimise Rosetta's trajectory for the upcoming fly-by of the asteroid on 5 September 2008.

In the coming decade fundamentally new observing platforms and space probes will become available for Solar System research. This workshop will provide a forum to discuss the use of these future facilities, especially also to optimize scientific use and to establish synergies.

A 3-dimensional (3-D) "magnetic snapshot" of the heart of a magnetic reconnection region has been obtained in-situ by the four satellites of the ESA Cluster mission, at one-third of the distance to the Moon from Earth. The snapshot, constructed using a new analysis method, reveals for the first time a 3-D magnetic structure known as a magnetic null pair where two reconnection sites, or nulls, are magnetically linked. The rare occurrence of one of the Cluster satellites passing by one null of the pair has uncovered a new phenomenon where the electrons are temporarily trapped around that null. The electron trapping may ultimately lead to the formation of energetic electron beams, a well-known but poorly understood consequence of reconnection.

In commemoration of the ESA/NASA Hubble Space Telescope completing its 100 000th orbit around the Earth in its 18th year of exploration and discovery, scientists have aimed Hubble to take a snapshot of a dazzling region of celestial birth and renewal.

The seventh INTEGRAL workshop focusses on the research fields of compact objects and is setup to discuss scientific results. Both contributed posters and oral presentations as well as highlight talks will be given.

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has identified thousands of ancient globular clusters in the Virgo cluster of galaxies, many of them more than 5000 million years old. These discoveries improve our understanding of the life and evolution of cannibal galaxies.

On 4 August Rosetta starts to use its cameras to visually track asteroid Steins. These observations will be used to refine the trajectory of the spacecraft relative to Steins and to adjust it, if necessary, to achieve the desired fly-by conditions: 800 km distance at closest approach on 5 September at 18:37 UTC and zero phase angle reached prior to closest approach.

At a bilateral ESA-NASA meeting held on 15-16 July, 2008, David Southwood, the ESA Director for the Science and Robotic Exploration Program, and Ed Weiler, the NASA Associate Administrator of the Science Mission Directorate, endorsed a plan to establish an International X-ray Observatory (IXO) study.

Mechanical tests on the Herschel flight model spacecraft were successfully completed on 3 July 2008. On that day, the last vibration test was performed on the multi-axis hydraulic shaker at ESTEC. The spacecraft is currently undergoing electrical tests and will later be prepared for the forthcoming environmental tests scheduled for September.

ESA, JAXA and NASA recently announced their intention to perform a joint study of a new large X-ray astronomy mission, the International X-ray Observatory (IXO). This supercedes the previous XEUS and Constellation-X studies being performed separately by the agencies, with the intention to make a common submission to ESA's Cosmic Vision downselection, and NASA's decadal survey.

This meeting will cover all areas of helio- and asteroseismology, with emphasis on what these research topics have taught us about the dynamo generation of solar and stellar magnetic fields.

Observations with the VIMS instrument on Cassini have identified the presence of liquid ethane in one of the large lake-like features observed on Saturn's moon, Titan. These results are reported by R. Brown and colleagues in the 31 July issue of Nature.