CHEOPS space telescope takes its first pictures

Next milestone in the commissioning of CHEOPS: After the successful opening of the space telescope cover on January 29, 2020, CHEOPS has now taken its first images of the sky. CHEOPS is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Switzerland, led by the University of Bern, in collaboration with the University of […]

Cheops launch preparations

Last Wednesday, the CHEOPS team could successfully open the lid of the space telescope. How CHEOPS’ fantastic journey on board a Soyuz rocket began is shown in this time-lapse video!

European space research & innovation and Euresearch

Why Uranus and Neptune are different

The two outermost giant planets of the Solar system have similar masses but there are also striking differences. Researchers of the NCCR PlanetS at the University of Zurich have found an explanation for this long-standing unsolved mystery: Two different giant impacts could have had completely separate effects. Uranus and Neptune are the outermost planets of the Solar […]

PlanetS General Assembly 2020

134 members and associates gathered from 27 to 29 January 2020 in Montreux to present and discuss their research projects, establish contacts between the different institutions in Bern, Geneva and Zürich, and talk about new ideas at the annual NCCR PlanetS General Assembly. With loud, enthusiastic applause the PlanetS scientists acknowledged the news on the […]

Cover of CHEOPS Space Telescope Open

Decisive moment for the CHEOPS space telescope: The cover was opened as intended on Wednesday, January 29, 2020 at 7:38 am. CHEOPS is now being tested for precision and the first images are being produced. CHEOPS is a joint mission of ESA and Switzerland, led by the University of Bern, in collaboration with the University […]

Opening of the CHEOPS cover delayed by a few days

The cover of the CHEOPS space telescope was scheduled to be opened on Monday, January 27, 2020. The date is being pushed back by a few days because several tests are being repeated. The CHEOPS space telescope has been orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 700 kilometers since its launch on December 18, 2019. […]

SPIE 2020

This year takes place again the biennial SPIE international conference on Astronomy Telescopes and Instruments. It will be held between June 14th and 19th in Yokohama (Japan), link. The last 2018 edition was held in Austin (USA) gathering 2500 visitors and 125 exhibitor companies. For the 2020 edition the Swiss astronomer consortium NCCR PlanetS and the Swiss […]

Meteorite contains the oldest material on Earth

Researchers determined the age of stardust from a meteorite to be seven billion years – the oldest solid material ever found on Earth.   Stars have life cycles. They’re born when bits of dust and gas floating through space find each other and collapse in on each other and heat up. They burn for millions […]