on my webpage! I am an experienced spacecraft analyst at the European Space Operations Centre via Telespazio Germany GmbH. Currently, I am the analyst for the X-ray astronomy mission XMM-Newton, but have worked as an analyst for almost all Earth Explorer spacecrafts previously. In the past I have worked as an astrophysicist studing accreting neutron stars and cosmological neutrino sources. For more details please have a look at the “About me” menu.
ESA Space Science News
XMM-Newton celebrates 25 years of breakthroughs
10/12/2024
Today, ESA’s powerful X-ray observatory, XMM-Newton, celebrates 25 years in space. From planets to black holes, the space telescope has delivered many ground-breaking observations of a variety of celestial objects. And the mission is still going strong as recent results testify. We take a look at five fascinating discoveries from the last five years.
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BepiColombo reveals Mercury in a new light
09/12/2024
On 1 December 2024, BepiColombo flew past Mercury for the fifth time. During this flyby, BepiColombo became the first spacecraft ever to observe Mercury in mid-infrared light. The new images reveal variations in temperature and composition across the planet's cratered surface.
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Webb finds surprises in Spiderweb protocluster field
04/12/2024
Using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers have found new galaxies in the Spiderweb protocluster. Their characteristics reveal that new galaxies are forming in these large cosmic cities, with the finding that gravitational interactions in these dense regions are not as important as previously thought.
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Five space mysteries Proba-3 will help solve
03/12/2024
ESA’s Proba-3 will be the first mission to create an artificial total solar eclipse by flying a pair of satellites 150 metres apart. For six hours at a time, it will be able to see the Sun’s faint atmosphere, the corona, in the hard-to-observe region between the Sun’s edge and 1.4 million kilometres from its surface. This new technology combined with the satellite pair’s unique extended orbit around Earth will allow Proba-3 to do important science, revealing secrets of the Sun, space weather and Earth’s radiation belts.
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Bepi, Mio and MTM greet Mercury for the fifth time
02/12/2024
BepiColombo's fifth Mercury flyby
29/11/2024
Webb traces swirling spiral arms in infrared
27/11/2024
Webb traces spiral arms in infrared
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Sombrero Galaxy dazzles in new Webb image
25/11/2024
A new mid-infrared image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope features the Sombrero galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104). The signature, glowing core seen in visible-light images does not shine, and instead a smooth inner disk is revealed. The sharp resolution of Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) also brings into focus details of the galaxy’s outer ring, providing insights into how the dust, an essential building block for astronomical objects in the Universe, is distributed. The galaxy’s outer ring shows intricate clumps in the infrared for the first time.
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Fly around Ares Vallis on Mars
20/11/2024
Explore the immense power of water as ESA’s Mars Express takes us on a flight over curving channels, streamlined islands and muddled ‘chaotic terrain’ on Mars, soaking up rover landing sites along the way.
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Introducing the Smile mission – Let’s Smile (episode 1)
13/11/2024
Smile is the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, a brand-new space mission currently in the making.
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How we made history by landing on a comet
12/11/2024
On 12 November 2014, after a ten-year journey through the Solar System and over 500 million kilometres from home, Rosetta’s lander Philae made space exploration history by touching down on a comet for the first time.
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Ariel takes shape and first shake
29/10/2024
The construction phase of ESA’s Ariel mission has started at Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse (France) with the assembly of the spacecraft’s structural model.
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Comet C/2023 A3 brightens SOHO’s week
15/10/2024
From 7 until 13 October 2024, ESA/NASA’s SOHO spacecraft recorded Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), the second brightest comet it has ever seen.
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Webb’s new view of Arp 107
18/09/2024
This composite image of Arp 107, created with data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) and MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument), reveals a wealth of information about the star formation taking place in these two galaxies and how they collided hundreds of million years ago.
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Fly over Mercury with BepiColombo
13/09/2024
See Mercury in a whole new light, through the ‘eyes’ of the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft, as it sped past Mercury during its latest encounter on 4 September 2024.
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