07 Oct 2024
A team of scientists including researchers from the University of Bern, the University of Geneva and the NCCR PlanetS used…
17 Sep 2024
Astronomers have uncovered the ‘‘Neptunian Ridge’’, a newly identified feature in the distribution of exoplanets. This discovery, led by an…
10 Sep 2024
NCCR PlanetS member Prof. Ravit Helled, of the University of Zurich in Switzerland, has been awarded the 2024 Paolo Farinella Prize for…
05 Sep 2024
An international team of astronomers, including scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the National Centre of Competence in…
13 Jul 2024
The majority of stars in our galaxy are home to planets. The most abundant are the sub-Neptunes, planets between the…
27 Jun 2024
Known for their detrimental effect on Earth, greenhouse gases could be beneficial for alien civilizations afar to terraform their worlds,…
05 Jun 2024
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is endorsing a new spectrograph for its future giant telescope. Switzerland is contributing thanks to…
15 May 2024
An international team of astronomers - including members of the NCCR PlanetS, the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University…
08 May 2024
Researchers using NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope may have detected an atmosphere surrounding 55 Cancri e, a rocky exoplanet 41…
15 Apr 2024
The mystery of how Pluto got a giant heart-shaped feature on its surface has finally been solved by an international…
05 Apr 2024
New observations from the space telescope point to the existence of a «glory» in the atmosphere of WASP-76b, a luminous…
06 Mar 2024
The 2024 MERAC Prize for the Best Doctoral Thesis in Observational Astrophysics is awarded to Dr Julia V. Seidel (European…
05 Mar 2024
The 2024 Tycho Brahe Medal is awarded to Prof. Francesco Pepe (University of Geneva, Switzerland) by the European Astronomical Society…
01 Mar 2024
Thanks to simulations with a software system developed at the University of Bern by NCCR PlanetS members, an international team…
09 Feb 2024
Why are so few exoplanets about twice the size of Earth detected? On the basis of computer simulations, a team…
24 Jan 2024
Since April 2023, "Space Talk, the programme that brings outer space to Earth" videos have been released monthly. Guido Schwarz…
24 Jan 2024
The year 2023 has been rich in events for the NCCR PlanetS. It was mainly the occasion to meet with…
24 Jan 2024
Take a space instrument orbiting mars, turn its Principal Investigator (PI) into a detective, add a hint of comic-style images,…
23 Jan 2024
Finding meteorites is no easy task. Despite this, a team of scientists including NCCR PlanetS member Prof. Maria Schönbächler from…
19 Dec 2023
The quest to unravel the universe's mysteries takes a leap forward as the Near Infra Red Planet Searcher (NIRPS) consortium,…
18 Dec 2023
The Earth is a wonderful blue and green dot covered with oceans and life, while Venus is a yellowish sterile…
29 Nov 2023
An international collaboration between astronomers using the CHEOPS and TESS space satellites, including NCCR PlanetS members from the University of…
13 Nov 2023
The Observatory of Geneva has just celebrated its 250th anniversary. Now attached to the University of Geneva, it is one…
10 Nov 2023
With the help of the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of researchers including members from the NCCR PlanetS at…
27 Oct 2023
Mars’ liquid iron core is smaller and denser than previously thought. Not only is it smaller, but it is also…
28 Sep 2023
An ambitious space mission could open the way to a better understanding of our heliosphere and of cosmic dust. NCCR…
16 Aug 2023
A team of French and Swiss scientists, including astronomers from the University of Geneva and the National Centre of Competence…
14 Jul 2023
Swiss researchers are equipping legged robots with scientific instruments to search for minerals and resources on the Moon. One major…
08 Jun 2023
With the help of the CHEOPS space telescope an international team of European astronomers managed to clearly identify the existence…
22 Mar 2023
Ever had sand hot whip across your face? That’s a soothing experience compared to the volatile conditions discovered high in…
10 Mar 2023
After more than three years in orbit, the mission of the CHEOPS space telescope has just been extended. Led by…
21 Feb 2023
All kinds of exoplanets orbit very close to their star. Some look like the Earth, others like Jupiter. Very few,…
14 Feb 2023
Astronomers have long been aware that planetary systems are not necessarily structured like our solar system. Researchers from the Universities…
23 Jan 2023
Interstellar molecular clouds are considered to be the birth sites of planetary systems. With the help of the James Webb…
12 Dec 2022
The European Southern Observatory's (ESO) newest scientific instrument, the Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) has successfully completed its first…
05 Dec 2022
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and its unparalleled images of our Universe offers us a new first: by combining…
30 Nov 2022
The impact experiment conducted on the asteroid Ryugu by the Japanese Hayabusa2 mission which took place two years ago resulted…
23 Nov 2022
Nearly two years ago, the Hayabusa2 space probe returned samples from the asteroid Ryugu to Earth. Since then, international research…
19 Oct 2022
From September 18 to 22, the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) was held in Paris. One of the topics at the…
13 Oct 2022
An international team including researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR)…
03 Oct 2022
On September 27, the world’s first full-scale planetary defense test against potential asteroid impacts on Earth hit its target. Researchers…
22 Sep 2022
Astronomical observations from ground-based telescopes are sensitive to local atmospheric conditions. Anthropogenic climate change will negatively affect some of these…
21 Sep 2022
2022 Farinella Prize Awarded to Julie Castillo-Rogez and Martin Jutzi. Image: Europlanet 2024 RI/V. Southgate Dr Julie Castillo-Rogez, a planetary…
14 Sep 2022
The first edition of the Astronomical Innovation event, co-organized by the PlanetS Technology & Innovation Platform (TIP) and the Science…
13 Sep 2022
Last Saturday, the fourth "Night of Research" took place at the University of Bern. Members of the National Centre of…
12 Sep 2022
After a thousand days in orbit, the CHEOPS space telescope shows almost no signs of wear. Under these conditions, it…
07 Sep 2022
An international research team, with the participation of the University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research…
31 Aug 2022
On Saturday, 10 September, the University of Bern invites you to the 4th edition of "Nacht der Forschung" (Night of…
25 Aug 2022
The James Webb Space Telescope delivers a sensation right away with its first scientific result: for the first time, CO2…
24 Aug 2022
In mid-August, the International Affairs and Multilingualism Division of the Parliamentary Services visited the University of Bern. The delegation viewed…
15 Aug 2022
Researchers of the ETH Zurich and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS have closely analysed the characteristics…
15 Aug 2022
Researchers from ETH Zurich and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS discover the first definitive proof that…
13 Jul 2022
The consortium of the North American (NASA), European (ESA) and Canadian (CSA) space agencies released a series of first images…
07 Jul 2022
An international team of researchers, led by the ETH Zurich and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS,…
29 Jun 2022
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is the world’s first full-scale planetary defense test against potential asteroid impacts on…
27 Jun 2022
Liquid water is an important prerequisite for life to develop on a planet. As researchers from the University of Bern,…
20 Jun 2022
The JUICE space mission of the European Space Agency ESA is scheduled to fly to Jupiter in spring 2023 where…
13 Jun 2022
The Observatory of Geneva celebrates its 250th anniversary with a year of activities for the public between June 2022 and…
10 Jun 2022
Brown dwarfs, mysterious objects that straddle the line between stars and planets, are essential to our understanding of both stellar…
01 Jun 2022
This year’s Fantasy Basel concluded with a record: 62'000 visitors came to the mega event at the Messehalle Basel. Many…
27 May 2022
Do you want to learn more about Entrepreneurship and possibilities to develop your Idea, with the help of your Research…
24 May 2022
An international team of researchers led by the ETH Zurich and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS…
16 May 2022
The latest Junior Research Assembly (JURA) took place from the 4th to the 6th of April. Young researchers from the…
16 May 2022
The first in-person General Assembly in two years took place in Grindelwald. Nearly 150 members and associates, as well as…
04 Apr 2022
Researchers of the University of Zurich (UZH) and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS have investigated Jupiter’s…
17 Mar 2022
We do not yet know whether the Sun-like stars closest to us, the α Centauri A/B binary, harbour an Earth-like…
17 Mar 2022
"How many planets has she been to?", the 8- and 9-year-old pupils asked their teacher. "Well, she's a scientist, not…
17 Mar 2022
Martin Turbet was a member of the NCCR PlanetS for three years and received a Marie Curie fellowship from the…
17 Mar 2022
ESA’s next-generation planet-hunting mission received the green light to continue with its development after the critical milestone review concluded successfully…
28 Jan 2022
An international team including researchers from the University of Bern and the University of Geneva as well as the National…
11 Jan 2022
With the help of the CHEOPS space telescope, an international team including researchers from the Universities of Bern and Geneva…
10 Jan 2022
Led by the University of Bern, an international research team has discovered a sub-Neptune exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star.…
15 Dec 2021
The peculiar characteristics of Uranus’ moons have been a topic of debate in astronomy for decades. Making use of state-of-the-art…
14 Dec 2021
After two years in orbit, the CHEOPS space telescope has exceeded expectations. By reliably revealing details of some of the…
08 Dec 2021
An international team of researchers with participation of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS, ETH Zurich and…
30 Nov 2021
https://vimeo.com/624130849 All of us are made from stardust. But how were the first small space bodies formed out of this…
30 Nov 2021
The French-Swiss scientific cooperation was under the spotlight at the University of Bern, during an event organised Wednesday 3rd of…
03 Nov 2021
Astronomers led by the UNIGE and members of NCCR PlanetS have discovered exoplanets that orbit in planes at 90 degrees…
20 Oct 2021
This year, the European Space Agency (ESA) chose the themes for its large-class science missions for the timeframe 2035-2050. Two…
20 Oct 2021
Fantasy Basel is Switzerland's largest convention for comic culture, science fiction, cosplay and more. Around 45,000 visitors from near and…
15 Oct 2021
A compositional link between planets and their respective host star has long been assumed in astronomy. For the first time…
13 Oct 2021
Today’s Venus, with its extreme greenhouse effect, could be considered Earth’s "evil twin". Yet in its past, it may have…
01 Oct 2021
There are still a few places available for a workshop for potential future entrepreneurs which will take place in November…
08 Sep 2021
A little girl looks fascinated at the screen and watches as a researcher floats around weightlessly in an airplane. Next…
27 Aug 2021
Brown dwarfs are astronomical objects with masses between those of planets and stars. The question of where exactly the limits…
24 Aug 2021
One of the patterns emerging from the thousands of exoplanets that astronomers have discovered to date, is that the larger…
28 Jun 2021
Artist’s impression of CHEOPS, two planets of the Nu2 Lupi planetary system and the Constellation Lupus. © Francois Schuiten &…
18 Jun 2021
It could be a milestone on the path to detecting life on other planets: Scientists under the leadership of the…
17 May 2021
The relationship between science and science fiction has changed significantly in recent years. And they influence each other, as Dr.…
17 May 2021
At the age of 32, Judit Szulágyi convinced the European Research Council to fund her research on planet and moon…
17 May 2021
Scientists who like science fiction. A no-go? Or perhaps the opposite? We talked to five scientists from the NCCR PlanetS…
17 May 2021
More than 4000 planets have already been discovered since Michel Major and Didier Queloz tracked down the first exoplanet orbiting…
17 May 2021
To ensure the smooth running of the CHEOPS mission once the satellite is in orbit, operations have been split in…
11 Mar 2021
The weathering of silicate rocks plays an important role to keep the climate on Earth clement. Scientists led by the…
09 Mar 2021
Reaching new heights with 100 consortium publications including the early exoplanet demographics release. The SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exo-planet REsearch) planet…
04 Mar 2021
Until now, researchers have found no evidence of global tectonic activity on planets outside our solar system. Under the leadership…
11 Feb 2021
Scientists of the Universities of Zurich and Cambridge, associated with the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS, suggest…
26 Jan 2021
Samples taken from the asteroid Ryugu by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa2 mission have returned to Earth. Scientists…
25 Jan 2021
The CHEOPS space telescope detects six planets orbiting the star TOI-178. Five of the planets are in a harmonic rhythm…
25 Jan 2021
Scientists at the University of Zurich associated with the National Center of Competence in Research PlanetS reveal considerable uncertainties in…
22 Jan 2021
The TRAPPIST-1 star is home to the largest batch of roughly Earth-size planets ever found outside our solar system. An…
21 Jan 2021
Terrestrial planets versus gas and ice giants: A new theory explaining why the inner solar system is so different to…
18 Dec 2020
In its first year in orbit, the CHEOPS space telescope has already revealed details of one of the most extreme…
16 Dec 2020
An international research team led by the University of Bern has discovered an exotic binary system composed of two young…
26 Nov 2020
A team of international scientists, led by the ETH Zurich and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS,…
24 Nov 2020
Astrophysicist Kevin Heng and epidemiologist Christian Althaus have just published a joint study. In an interview with "uniaktuell", the two…
05 Nov 2020
Space debris increasingly threatens rockets, the international space station and satellites. At the beginning of October, the CHEOPS space telescope…
30 Oct 2020
New theoretical insights and space mission data have changed our perception of the Solar system’s largest planets. Scientists from the…
28 Oct 2020
Space exploration telescopes have revealed that planets between the size of 1.3 and 2.4 Earth radii seem to be c…
15 Oct 2020
The “SAINT-EX” Observatory, led by scientists from the National Centre of Competence in Research NCCR PlanetS of the University of…
13 Oct 2020
The NIRPS spectrograph optical components has been successfully integrated and aligned into its cryogenic vacuum chamber and delivered its first…
13 Oct 2020
Out of the 4300 exoplanets that have been detected to date, only a few dozen have been detected thanks to…
07 Oct 2020
The bench2biz* consortium is pleased to announce its next pre-seed workshop which will be held online from November 23 to…
29 Sep 2020
An international team of researchers led by the National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS of the University of Bern…
28 Sep 2020
CHEOPS keeps its promise: Observations with the space telescope reveal details of the exoplanet WASP-189b – one of the most…
22 Sep 2020
The Aerosuisse 2020 Award was presented to the CHEOPS satellite team at the Aerosuisse Annual General Meeting held at Geneva…
21 Sep 2020
#InspiredByOtherWorlds, an "Art contest" for all launched by Europlanet This year and for the first time, the European congress dedicated…
07 Sep 2020
In order to better characterize the noise introduced by stars when searching for new exoplanets, five years ago the HARPS-N…
17 Aug 2020
With the participation of the NCCR PlanetS, an international team of scientists has determined the chemical composition of 84 stars…
13 Jul 2020
Veerle Sterken had been away from a paid job in cosmic dust science for three years. Then she convinced the…
13 Jul 2020
PlanetS astronomers associated with an international team have estimated the density of the planets in two planetary systems. Discovered by…
13 Jul 2020
Yogita Kadlag is an astrophysicist from Maharashtra, India. Since October 2019, she’s been a member of the NCCR PlanetS. From…
13 Jul 2020
The Space Research and Planetology Division within the Physics Institute of the University of Bern has an opening, as per…
01 Jul 2020
Researchers led by the University of Warwick have discovered the first exposed core of an exoplanet, which provides an unprecedented…
01 Jul 2020
Christoph Mordasini deals with the formation and evolution of planets inside and outside our solar system. In an interview he…
15 Jun 2020
In a laboratory of a special kind, researchers from the National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS were able to…
05 Jun 2020
METIS, the powerful imager and spectrograph for the European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), has passed its Preliminary Design…
03 Jun 2020
An international team of experts, including researchers from the NCCR PlanetS, has confirmed the existence of the Proxima b extrasolar planet…
03 Jun 2020
The "LIFE" mission, proposed by PlanetS researchers, could help answer questions about the habitability of our cosmic environment by employing…
03 Jun 2020
"Bennu" and "Ryugu" are two near-Earth asteroids with a diamond-like shape, the origin of which has long been a mystery.…
30 Apr 2020
A group of scientists led by the NCCR-PlanetS and the University of Geneva, investigated wind patterns of an exoplanet with…
24 Apr 2020
An international team of scientists, with participation of PlanetS and ETH Zurich, investigated the origin of water on Earth. Their…
16 Apr 2020
An international team lead by researchers of PlanetS and the University of Geneva has discovered a six-planets system. Almost visible…
16 Apr 2020
CHEOPS has reached its next milestone: Following extensive tests in Earth's orbit, some of which the mission team was forced…
08 Apr 2020
Researchers from the Universities of Zurich and Cambridge have succeeded for the first time in creating a single computer-simulated model…
07 Apr 2020
For weeks we have been spending most of our time at home. We are distancing ourselves from each other, trying…
18 Mar 2020
After months of uncertainty about the launch date of the CHEOPS satellite, the launch date was finally set for December…
18 Mar 2020
Where few thought to look, the PlanetS co-funded telescope “SAINT-EX” is searching for new worlds. After a year of operation,…
18 Mar 2020
In response to an invitation from Willy Benz, Catherine Cesarsky has accepted to become a member of the NCCR PlanetS…
18 Mar 2020
The NIRPS spectrograph front end has been successfully installed on the ESO 3.6m telescope at the La Silla Observatory. NIRPS,…
11 Mar 2020
Thanks to a new instrument conceived by the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, and set at the Very Large Telescope…
27 Feb 2020
They say that the most important substance in the universe is water. Because you need water to brew coffee. And…
25 Feb 2020
Pierre Bratschi, Chantal Taçoy and Piero Pontelandolfo receive the "Making a Difference" prize awarded by Geneva Tourism and the Convention…
07 Feb 2020
Next milestone in the commissioning of CHEOPS: After the successful opening of the space telescope cover on January 29, 2020,…
05 Feb 2020
Last Wednesday, the CHEOPS team could successfully open the lid of the space telescope. How CHEOPS’ fantastic journey on board…
04 Feb 2020
The two outermost giant planets of the Solar system have similar masses but there are also striking differences. Researchers of…
30 Jan 2020
134 members and associates gathered from 27 to 29 January 2020 in Montreux to present and discuss their research projects,…
29 Jan 2020
Decisive moment for the CHEOPS space telescope: The cover was opened as intended on Wednesday, January 29, 2020 at 7:38…
24 Jan 2020
The cover of the CHEOPS space telescope was scheduled to be opened on Monday, January 27, 2020. The date is…
13 Jan 2020
Researchers determined the age of stardust from a meteorite to be seven billion years - the oldest solid material ever…
08 Jan 2020
Before Christmas, on 18 December 2019, a Soyuz Fregat rocket was launched in Kourou, French Guyana, and put ESA's CHEOPS…
23 Dec 2019
Illustration - « La Liberté », 18.12.2019, Alex Ballaman
19 Dec 2019
There should be interstellar comets hiding in our Solar system after making a journey of many lightyears. Maybe we have…
18 Dec 2019
The relief was huge when the Soyuz Fregat rocket with CHEOPS on board took off shortly before 10 a.m. MEZ…
17 Dec 2019
Liftoff is currently scheduled for Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at 9:54:20 CET. On Tuesday morning, 1 hour 25 minutes…
14 Dec 2019
Bern researcher and NASA take a cue from Silicon Valley to hatch Artificial Intelligence Technologies. Could the same computer algorithms…
11 Dec 2019
In a very formal and festive ceremony in Stockholm, the Swedish king Carl XVI Gustaf presented the Nobel prizes to…
09 Dec 2019
Some of the Earth's building material was stardust from red giants, researchers from ETH Zurich have established. They can also…
05 Dec 2019
The space telescope CHEOPS is scheduled to begin its journey into space on Tuesday, 17 December 2019 shortly before 10…
25 Nov 2019
Chloe Fisher is a PhD student at the Center of Space and Habitability (CSH) and associate of the NCCR PlanetS.…
20 Nov 2019
At the “Global Science Film Festival” in Bern and Zürich astrophysicists associated with PlanetS discussed a movie about an Indian…
04 Nov 2019
Professors Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz are awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of the first…
04 Nov 2019
PostsController@cheopschildrendrawings
04 Nov 2019
About 1700 astronomers attended the planetology congress from 15th to 20th September organized jointly by the Europeans of the EPSC…
04 Nov 2019
What name would you give to an exoplanet and its star several tens of light years away? To celebrate its…
19 Oct 2019
Last station before launch! The CHEOPS satellite has arrived by plane on 16 October 2019 at Europe's Spaceport Kourou in…
13 Oct 2019
Willy Benz is particularly pleased about this year's Nobel Prize in Physics for the Swiss astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier…
09 Oct 2019
A hot, molten Earth would be around 5% larger than its solid counterpart. This is the result of a study…
08 Oct 2019
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded with one half jointly to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz “for…
02 Oct 2019
Are you wondering if your invention/research is commercialisable? Do you need to get a clear picture on how to pursue…
26 Sep 2019
Astronomers detected a giant planet orbiting a small star. The planet has much more mass than theoretical models predict. While…
29 Aug 2019
A rocky extrasolar moon (exomoon) with bubbling lava may orbit a planet 550 light-years away from us. This is suggested…
19 Aug 2019
By Christoph Mordasini Astrophysics - the branch of physics that aims at explaining astronomical observations - differs from most other…
19 Aug 2019
The space telescope CHEOPS is foreseen to launch in the last quarter of 2019. "In July, we carried out the…
19 Aug 2019
While the EPSC (European Planetary Science Congress) and the meeting of the Division of Planetary Science (DPS, USA) are planetology…
14 Aug 2019
New interior models of Jupiter based on data gathered by NASA’s Juno mission suggested that the giant gas planet might…
29 Jul 2019
The Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, CHEOPS, has successfully passed the final analysis review for its launch on a Soyuz rocket from…
19 Jul 2019
Observing stars that are known to harbour planets with unprecedented accuracy to characterise their planetary population – this is the…
24 Jun 2019
When Buzz Aldrin stepped out of the lunar module on 21 July 1969, the first thing he did was to…
24 Jun 2019
The astronomer Monika Lendl has won the Look! business award for the Austrian woman of the year in STEM (Science,…
24 Jun 2019
Sascha Quanz was appointed the new professor of Exoplanets and Habitability at ETH Zurich on 1 June 2019. "I'm delighted that…
24 Jun 2019
Two years ago, the Icelandic company CCP, which markets and operates the EveOnline galactic conquest game, launched the "project discovery",…
24 Jun 2019
The NCCR PlanetS has been participating to several public events since its creation. Amongst them, there is one which has…
03 Jun 2019
For the first time, an international team of astrophysicists, including members of PlanetS, discovered a new kind of exoplanet in…
24 May 2019
Our Solar System may contain alien comets that were stolen from another star flying past 4.5 billion years ago. Far…
21 May 2019
Bern in Space Berne celebrates 50 years of moon landing - When Buzz Aldrin was the second man to leave…
09 May 2019
KELT-9 b is the hottest exoplanet known to date. In the summer of 2018, a joint team of astronomers from…
03 May 2019
PlanetS was at the Fantasy Basel! And talked about many things with you! PostsController@fantasybasel2019
17 Apr 2019
A team of astronomers led by members of PlanetS has discovered five new planets with periods of revolution between 15…
15 Apr 2019
Since its inauguration in 1969, ESO's La Silla Observatory has been at the forefront of astronomy. Its state-of-the-art instruments have…
15 Mar 2019
The Bernese camera CaSSIS delivered new high-resolution, colour images of the surface of Mars. They show curious surface features, water-formed…
13 Mar 2019
Xavier Barcons is Director General of the European Southern Observatory ESO. Last week he travelled to Switzerland for the ESO…
13 Mar 2019
The NCCR PlanetS is now in its second four-year-long phase. 122 members and associates gathered at the end of January…
13 Mar 2019
After being able to measure the masses and the diameters of exoplanets, using the information to deduce what materials they…
13 Mar 2019
Emeline Bolmont has just been appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Geneva, a position…
13 Mar 2019
To find out how planets form, astrophysicists run complicated and time consuming computer calculations. Members of the NCCR PlanetS in…
25 Feb 2019
Barely three times larger than the Earth, this new planet is the third closest to our solar system ever discovered.…
11 Feb 2019
Earth’s solid surface and clement climate may be in part due to a massive star in the birth environment of…
19 Dec 2018
Researchers at the Universities of Zurich and Cambridge have discovered a new, exotic class of planets outside our solar system.…
13 Dec 2018
"But where did the hot Neptunes go?" This is the question astronomers have been asking for a long time, faced…
12 Dec 2018
While testing their new subsystem on the SPHERE planet-hunting instrument, a team lead by Hans Martin Schmid, professor of ETH…
06 Dec 2018
Researchers from UNIGE and members of the NCCR PlanetS have found helium in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, swollen like…
30 Nov 2018
Planets start out with a bang. During the last stage of planet formation, planetary embryos collide with other protoplanets, causing…
28 Nov 2018
ESPRESSO has been opened to the astronomical community and finally started operations on the 24th of October 2018. Since, it…
28 Nov 2018
"When last year the organizers of the Cité des Métiers asked us whether the astronomy department of the University of…
27 Nov 2018
SAINT-EX is a 1 meter robotic telescope under construction at the National Astronomical Observatory of Mexico in San Pedro Martir.…
24 Nov 2018
The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite, CHEOPS, will target 15 October to 14 November 2019 for launch as the European Space Agency…
19 Nov 2018
Astrophysicists of the University of Zürich, ETH Zürich and the NCCR PlanetS show how the icy moons of Uranus were…
09 Nov 2018
The Laboratory for Astronomical Instrumentation at ETH Zürich has shipped its first cryogenic wheels that were developed for the new…
25 Oct 2018
BepiColombo blasted off to investigate Mercury. Nicolas Thomas, Co-Principal Investigator of the instrument BELA and Director of the Physics Institute…
25 Oct 2018
The smallest planet in our Solar System has a large iron core. How come? According to the most popular theory,…
25 Oct 2018
After a long tour through Europe, the CHEOPS satellite is back at Airbus Defence and Space Spain in Madrid. On…
25 Oct 2018
When astrophysicists of the NCCR PlanetS at the University of Zürich analyzed their computer simulations they were amazed: The formation…
09 Oct 2018
Researchers of the NCCR PlanetS at the University of Zürich have analyzed the composition and structure of far-away exoplanets using…
27 Aug 2018
The research satellite CHEOPS was developed jointly by the University of Bern and the European Space Agency ESA. At an…
27 Aug 2018
Researchers of the Universities of Bern and Zürich and of ETH Zürich show how Jupiter was formed. Data collected from…
23 Aug 2018
The MiARD project (Multi-instrument Analysis of Rosetta Data) was a 30-month international research project led by the University of Bern…
22 Aug 2018
When the NASA science director comes to Bern, a full lecture hall is guaranteed. This was naturally the case on…
22 Aug 2018
In front of the dome housing the Swiss 1.2-metre Euler Telescope in La Silla, after a sunny day, a South…
22 Aug 2018
30 members of PlanetS gathered on the 9th of July 2018 in Bern for a workshop with the title “Exoplanet…
16 Aug 2018
Metal vapours have been detected in the atmosphere of an “ultra-hot Jupiter” by a team of astronomers led by the…
31 Jul 2018
Just about 4.5 billion years ago, our sun went through an active phase during which it shone much more brightly…
17 Jul 2018
The method of transits, consisting of detecting a dip in the luminosity of the host star at the time the…
12 Jul 2018
Together with the CHEOPS space telescope 2748 miniaturized drawings will fly into space in the first half of 2019. The…
12 Jul 2018
The Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 has reached the asteroid Ryugu. Hayabusa means peregrine falcon in Japanese, Ryugu is the name…
12 Jul 2018
The Workshop Mechanical workshop of the astronomy department of the University of Geneva: It is in this workshop that some of…
12 Jul 2018
Tackling humanity’s biggest challenges with Artificial Intelligence: Uni Bern scientist at NASA’s Frontier Development Lab The NASA FDL Astrobiology team…
26 Jun 2018
Astrophysicists of the NCCR PlanetS contributed to a series of NASA papers that lay out strategies to search for signs…
25 Jun 2018
At the University of Bern, astrophysicists of the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) teamed up with medical technology researchers…
20 Jun 2018
Each exoplanet revolves around a star, like the Earth around the Sun. This is why it is generally impossible to…
23 May 2018
The Gva HELIOS team: Xavier Dumusque, Thibaut Pirson, François Wildi and Thibault Wildi (Photo UniGe) The detection of small exoplanets…
21 May 2018
Formation of Atlas, one of the small inner moons of Saturn. Its flat, ravioli-like shape is the result of a…
03 May 2018
For the first time, an international team of astronomers including members of PlanetS has detected helium in an exoplanet’s atmosphere.…
27 Apr 2018
The Mars camera CaSSIS on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has returned its first colour images of the red planet.…
11 Apr 2018
With an instrument at the Very Large Telescope in Chile scientists of ETH Zurich and NCCR PlanetS observed planet-forming disks…
05 Apr 2018
Construction of the space telescope CHEOPS is finished. The engineers from the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) at the…
05 Apr 2018
Christopher Broeg is project manager of the CHEOPS mission. A consortium of more than 100 scientists and engineers in eleven…
05 Apr 2018
NASA plans to launch a new exoplanet satellite called TESS on 16 April 2018. It is expected to discover thousands…
05 Apr 2018
Christophe Lovis, a member of NCCR PlanetS at the University of Geneva, received the "La Recherche" prize at the beginning…
05 Apr 2018
On 28 March 2018, the exhibition "Expedition Sonnensystem – Mit der ETH auf Forschungsreise durchs All" opened to the public…
05 Apr 2018
Worldwide Science Slam series «Astronomy on Tap» lands in Bern If talking about astronomy and space science over drinks in…
29 Mar 2018
The winning entry of the fairing sticker competition designed by Denis Vrenko. (Credit: ESA/D. Vrenko) A colourful design by Denis…
05 Mar 2018
Comets which consist of two parts, like Chury, can form after a catastrophic collision of larger bodies. Such collisions may…
14 Feb 2018
The membres of the ESPRESSO team announced that the first light of ESPRESSO with the four VLT 8.2-meter Unit Telescopes…
05 Feb 2018
Researchers at the University of Bern are providing the most precise calculations so far of the masses of the seven…
01 Feb 2018
With two prestigious awards, conferred at the end of 2017, Kevin Heng started an exciting year. The professor at the…
18 Dec 2017
Astronomers members of PlanetS, discovered that the GJ436b, nicknamed “the comet-like exoplanet” because it evaporates like a comet, follows a…
07 Dec 2017
The new ultra-high resolution spectrograph developed by a consortium led by Francesco Pepe professor at the Department of Astronomy of…
07 Dec 2017
The Council of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has elected Willy Benz, Professor at the University of Bern, as its…
07 Dec 2017
The Swiss 20 franc note. (Image SNF) There is a good chance that you are carrying 51 Pegasi around with…
07 Dec 2017
What do the images of Mars, Comet Chury or other celestial bodies really show? For a reliable answer researchers at…
07 Dec 2017
Planetary formation starts with small dust grains in disks surrounding young stars. But dust growth is hindered by collisional fragmentation…
17 Nov 2017
A temperate Earth-sized planet has been discovered only 11 light-years from the Solar System by a team including member of…
15 Nov 2017
To directly image exoplanets, coronagraphs are usually used to block the light from the host star. Instead of using a…
15 Nov 2017
Prof. Michel Mayor, Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour. (Photos PlanetS) „Professor Michel Mayor, on behalf…
15 Nov 2017
From the 11th to the 13th of September, thirty-three PhD students and postdocs, members or associates of PlanetS met together…
01 Nov 2017
Thanks to a new instrument developed in part by the Geneva Observatory, an international team of astronomers discovered a giant…
20 Oct 2017
Ewine van Dishoeck is a pioneer in astrochemistry and one of the most famous female astronomers in the world. Invited…
27 Sep 2017
The airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) observed a mini-eclipse of the extrasolar planet GJ 1214b. The goal was…
27 Sep 2017
Our campaign to collect CHEOPS children drawings is completing a major milestone as the first plaques have been engraved. The…
27 Sep 2017
According to theory, the moon was created during a gigantic collision between the earth and another celestial body called Theia.…
27 Sep 2017
The Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) was built at the University of Bern. As part of ESA’s Trace…
27 Sep 2017
After almost 10 years of studies, construction, problems, efforts and sleepless nights, the ESPRESSO spectrograph left at the end of…
27 Sep 2017
The characterization of habitable or even inhabited exoplanets is one of the ultimate goals of modern astrophysics. Reviving the concept…
25 Sep 2017
On September 11, around 140 invited guests celebrated the 50th anniversary of space research at the University of Bern. Among…
14 Sep 2017
Astronomers members of PlanetS have discovered a comet-like exoplanet that trails an enormous coma of gas behind it. Astronomers from…
01 Sep 2017
The NIRPS (Near Infra Red Planet Searcher) instrument will be installed on the 3.6 m telescope at ESO’s La Silla…
31 Aug 2017
An international team of astronomers led by Vincent Bourrier member of PlanetS used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to estimate…
31 Aug 2017
During ten days in August 2017, the CHEOPS telescope had to withstand various tests on the shaker at the University…
31 Aug 2017
Some members and associates of PlanetS were lucky to be able to watch the solar eclipse in the US on…
31 Aug 2017
NASA has just appointed Kevin Heng, director of the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) at the University of Bern,…
03 Aug 2017
Scientists have found unmistakable evidence for a stratosphere on an enormous planet outside our solar system, with an atmosphere hot…
12 Jul 2017
In our previous update, we reported on the delivery of the CHEOPS telescope from Florence to Bern. While the scientific…
06 Jul 2017
An international team of astronomers, including PlanetS members and associates at the universities of Bern and Geneva, and at ETHZ…
20 Jun 2017
ESA launches Europe’s largest exoplanet research mission, with partners from the Universities of Geneva and Bern. PLATO, the largest European exoplanet research…
14 Jun 2017
The Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern (CSH), the University of Geneva (UNIGE), and their partners…
14 Jun 2017
With his bright red colored hair Konstantin Batygin looks more like a rock musician than an astrophysicist. In fact, he…
14 Jun 2017
SPIRou is a near infra red instrument mainly designed to detect exoplanets by measuring radial velocities of M dwarf stars…
07 Jun 2017
The avatar of Michel Mayor which will be implemented in the video game Eve Online is ready. CCP, the firm…
22 May 2017
After 60 hours of non-stop work, researchers at the University of Bern being part of an international team reached their…
15 May 2017
The Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) project is dedicated to finding Neptune sized transiting exoplanets around bright southern hemisphere host stars.…
15 May 2017
April the 7th of 2017 will remain as a special day for Michel Mayor. Indeed, he found himself alone on…
03 May 2017
At the end of April 2017, an eagerly-awaited cargo from Italy arrived at the University of Bern: the telescope flight…
20 Apr 2017
An international team of astronomers, including researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the NCCR PlanetS, discovered a rocky…
06 Apr 2017
Now it is clear: the space telescope CHEOPS - CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite - will be launched with a Soyuz rocket…
03 Apr 2017
The participants of the PlanetS workshop. (Photo PlanetS) A workshop on planets in binary stars was organized on Monday 27th…
24 Mar 2017
Pictures of Venus from the Earth between December 2016 and March 2017. (Credit: Serge Brunier) On Saturday 25th of March…
22 Mar 2017
The discovery of seven earth-like planets around an ultracool star made headlines worldwide. How does the so called TRAPPIST-1 system…
22 Mar 2017
Hubble's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is complete. It still has to undergo a battery of tests before…
22 Mar 2017
Just as you can tell where your friend spent his holidays based on the tan of his skin, scientists can…
22 Mar 2017
The American business magazine Forbes is famous for its annual ranking lists of young influential people in different categories. Among…
22 Mar 2017
In the next months, engineers at the University of Bern will assemble the CHEOPS space telescope integrating parts arriving from…
13 Mar 2017
The Icelandic firm CCP teamed up with Michel Mayor, renowned exoplanet astronomer and honorary professor at the University of Geneva,…
09 Mar 2017
PlanetS researchers observed Trappist-1 and its planets with the Hubble Space Telescope to find out if life was possible on…
01 Mar 2017
Dr. Julia Venturini studies mini-Neptunes. (Photo: Sylviane Blum) For her work about planet formation Julia Venturini received the prize for…
22 Feb 2017
An international team of astronomers has discovered a compact analogue of our inner solar system about 40 light-years away. Brice-Olivier…
14 Feb 2017
At the University of Bern, the CHEOPS team integrated all electrical and electronic parts into a model of the space…
14 Feb 2017
Francesco Pepe, head of ESPRESSO, in the new clean room of the Astrotech building. (Photo: Alessandro Della Bella) ESPRESSO, the…
02 Feb 2017
An international team of astronomers led by Dan Bayliss of the Observatory of the University of Geneva and member of…
02 Feb 2017
As science director of NASA, Thomas Zurbuchen is one of the world’s most influential scientists. In January 2017, he visited…
27 Jan 2017
David Ehrenreich explains how exoplanets are detected. (Image: Euronews) The multilingual news channel Euronews visited the Observatory of Geneva and…
17 Jan 2017
Professors Michel Mayor (Faculty of Sciences UNIGE) and Didier Queloz (Faculty of Science UNIGE / Cambridge University) both members of…
13 Jan 2017
In an article published in A&A early January, a team led by Christophe Lovis of PlanetS shows that it would…
22 Dec 2016
A team of astronomers including Christophe Lovis, member of PlanetS, confirmed in a press release distributed by ESO that Proxima…
08 Dec 2016
What's more motivating for a student than to participate in research and perhaps make a real discovery. This is what…
08 Dec 2016
Brice-Olivier Demory is looking for earth-sized, potentially habitable exoplanets. Part of his research strategy is building a telescope in Mexico.…
08 Dec 2016
On 24 November 2016, the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne opened the new space exhibition. A few days later,…
08 Dec 2016
On Thursday 17 November the European Research Council (ERC) announced to David Ehrenreich, leader of NCCR PlanetS sub-project 3.2 in…
29 Nov 2016
The Mars Camera, CaSSIS, on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter captured its first high resolution images of the Red Planet…
26 Nov 2016
"Launches are inherently dangerous," said Nicolas Thomas, when he waited at Baikonur Cosmodrome for ExoMars to lift off in March…
09 Nov 2016
Based on computer simulations, Astrophysicists at the University of Bern conclude that the comet Chury did not obtain its duck-like…
02 Nov 2016
Caroline Dorn filmed by an Arte camera team. (Photo: Arte TV) A TV documentary called „The Luther Code“ asks how…
27 Oct 2016
Young giant planets are born from gas and dust. Researchers of ETH Zürich and the Universities of Zürich and Bern…
24 Oct 2016
Computer simulations by astrophysicists at the University of Bern of the formation of planets orbiting in the habitable zone of…
03 Oct 2016
At the University of Bern about 300 guests and the Swiss media followed the end of the spacecraft Rosetta that…
28 Sep 2016
On Friday 30 September 2016 the European spacecraft Rosetta will crash into the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Aboard the Rosetta spacecraft is…
28 Sep 2016
Ravit Helled occupies an office in the buildings of the Irchel campus, University of Zurich, Y11 building. She is with…
28 Sep 2016
On 19 October 2016, the spacecraft Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) of the European ExoMars mission will manoeuvre into Mars orbit.…
28 Sep 2016
This interactive page describes the different elements of the optical bench to test and calibrate the entire optics of the…
21 Sep 2016
Hilke Schlichting, Professor at MIT/UCLA, came to NCCR PlanetS as Visiting Scholar for two weeks in September 2016. The Visiting…
25 Aug 2016
A team of astronomers has discovered a planet similar to Earth orbiting Proxima Centauri in just over 11 days. This…
10 Aug 2016
The early phase of star and planet formation can be very violent. Usually, dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of stars…
10 Aug 2016
To kick off its annual "school trip" around the country, the Swiss Federal Council paid the Center for Space and…
21 Jul 2016
Normally computers speed up calculations. But with his new pen-and-paper formula Kevin Heng of the University of Bern gets his…
19 Jul 2016
On 19-20 July, approximately 30 scientists and engineers representing five partner institutions met on the ETH Honggerberg campus to review…
14 Jul 2016
To students, Scott Tremaine is best known as co-author of “the bible of astrophysics”. His textbook “Galactic Dynamics” is one…
01 Jul 2016
Twenty-eight NCCR PlanetS researchers representing six out of the seven research projects met on 7 June at the ETH in…
30 Jun 2016
Astrotech, the new building of the Geneva Observatory with its solar concentrator on the roof. The roof of Astrotech Astrotech,…
29 Jun 2016
Water is necessary for life as we know it, but too much water is bad for habitability. Therefore, to study…
29 Jun 2016
"The Universe provides ample scope to use one’s own imagination,” says Anna Lehninger. The art historian investigates children's drawings as…
07 Jun 2016
Space missions exploring Venus unveiled a Venusian world of active volcanoes, shining mountains, and river valleys carved by torrents of…
15 Apr 2016
Asteroid interiors in the early solar system - from fluffy snowballs to internal magma oceans In the nascent solar system,…
14 Apr 2016
Since its launch on March 14, 2016, the ExoMars probe is on its way to Mars. The spacecraft with the…
07 Apr 2016
Astrophysicists at the University of Bern have modelled the evolution of the putative planet in the outer solar system. They…
31 Mar 2016
Children in Switzerland and all over Europe made thousands of imaginative drawings of stars, planets, rockets, satellites, aliens and CHEOPS.…
24 Mar 2016
The Universities of Bern and Geneva and members of the NCCR PlanetS are involved in one of the instruments for…
24 Mar 2016
Kappa Andromedae b is one of the few substellar objects outside our Solar System that has been directly photographed. Whereas…
08 Mar 2016
On 14 March 2016, a new Mars mission will be launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. Aboard the European spacecraft is…
08 Mar 2016
Members of PlanetS have joined the worldwide race to spot the alleged ninth major object in the outer Solar System.…
08 Mar 2016
How do we define what "habitable" means on another planet and how do we look for life elsewhere in the…
10 Feb 2016
Planet-hunting SPHERE Images First Circumbinary Planet System with Disc HD 106906AB is a double star located in the constellation of…
02 Feb 2016
At the second General Assembly of the NCCR PlanetS the members presented project highlights and discussed future interdisciplinary ventures. “People…
13 Jan 2016
With 216 square meter of cleanliness, the new clean room of the Geneva Observatory is the largest in the French-speaking…
14 Dec 2015
The formation of Earth-like planets is like billiards: A tiny change in the first collision of the building blocks can…
14 Dec 2015
“Building the world’s largest telescopes at ESO” was the title of Tim de Zeeuw’s talk at the University of Bern.…
14 Dec 2015
In association with the Canadians from the Montreal University and Brasilian colleagues from the Natal University, the Geneva Observatory and…
14 Dec 2015
The video shows the successful baffle cover opening test performed at Airbus Defence and Space (ADS) – Spain after the…
07 Oct 2015
A research team has observed structures racing out from the centre of a young star's debris disk at high speeds.…
23 Sep 2015
To test the accuracy and stability of the CHEOPS photometer, a light source with a variability of less than the…
23 Sep 2015
After the arrival of the vacuum vessel that was installed last October 2014 in a temporary clean room, it is…
23 Sep 2015
Bacterium, virus, fungus: Which one of these three things is not considered to be a living organism? The quiz question…
28 Aug 2015
Planets with a deep, global ocean should be very common. But their habitable zone is much narrower compared to Earth-like…
03 Aug 2015
Astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and members of the NCCR PlanetS have teased out a secret planetary system…
07 Jul 2015
„To search for anomalies is the best available strategy to discover the forms of life – on Earth and elsewhere“,…
01 Jul 2015
Astronomers of PlanetS have confirmed the existence of a young gas giant planet that is still embedded in the gas…
25 Jun 2015
Astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and members of the NCCR -for National Centre of Competence in Research- PlanetS…
04 Jun 2015
In 10 years we have learned to improve the performance of optical fibers including giving them an octagonal shape. A…
28 May 2015
Rosetta’s target «Chury» and other comets observed by space missions show common evidence of layered structures and bi-lobed shapes. With…
27 May 2015
Great honour for Nicolas Thomas from PlanetS at the University of Berne: The scientist was selected as part of the…
27 May 2015
Swiss telescope Euler and 3.6m at La Silla, Chile. (Credit ESO) The Arte television channel aired Tuesday, May 26…
14 May 2015
Artist's impression of 51pegb. (Credit ESO) 51pegb: 20 years after its discovery, astronomers have managed to obtain its spectrum. …
08 May 2015
In order to show the extraordinary diversity of planetary systems (multiple or single) discovered to date, PlanetS offers once a…
21 Apr 2015
When Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz discovered the first exoplanet orbiting a normal star twenty years ago, they started a…
20 Apr 2015
«Comets give us good clues that the planet formation era was violent and the early solar system very different from…
13 Apr 2015
Studying the atmosphere of an exoplanet, astronomers of the NCCR PlanetS derived a temperature profile with unprecedented precision. Their results…
30 Mar 2015
500 people! Never before hosted the Natural History Museum of Geneva so many people for an opening of a temporary…
04 Mar 2015
An outstanding vacuum chamber in a brand new laboratory is now waiting for the space telescope CHEOPS at the Center…
02 Mar 2015
Are we alone in the universe? «This is one of the questions that drives us forward», says Ellen Stofan, NASA’s…
29 Jan 2015
The NCCR-PlanetS folks meet for the first time ever in Anzère (Vs). All participants pose up for the first group…
06 Jan 2015
The CHaracterizing ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) has been selected in 2012 as the first S-class mission in ESA's Science Programme. It is…
23 Dec 2014
Geneva astronomers, members of an international team and the Nccr PlanetS, discovered a super-Earth thank to Harps-N and the repaird…
23 Dec 2014
The vacuum tank of ESPRESSO The Geneva observatory received the vacuum tank Stunned for Wins ESPRESSO, DE the new spectrometer…
