Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Euclid's First Data Release: A Treasure Trove of Deep Field Galaxies

2025-03-23

The European Space Agency's Euclid mission released its first batch of survey data, offering a preview of its deep fields. This includes millions of galaxies, showcasing their large-scale organization in the cosmic web. Combining AI and citizen science, Euclid classified over 380,000 galaxies and 500 gravitational lens candidates. This rich dataset will help unravel the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy by precisely measuring the shapes and distribution of billions of galaxies across a third of the sky. The initial data, from just a week of observation, already contains 26 million galaxies, some up to 10.5 billion light-years away.

(www.esa.int)

Tech Euclid Deep Field Galaxies Dark Matter and Dark Energy

Pierogi in Space: A Polish Astronaut's Culinary Mission

2025-03-19

For the first time, Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski will bring pierogi, traditional Polish dumplings, to the International Space Station on Axiom Mission 4. This culinary adventure involved overcoming significant challenges in preserving the pierogi for space travel, requiring a complex freeze-drying process to ensure a 24-month shelf life. The menu, developed with celebrity chef Mateusz Gessler and a Polish food company, also includes other Polish dishes, highlighting the importance of comfort food and cultural connection for astronauts in space.

(www.esa.int)

Tech space food Polish cuisine

Mars' Red Dust: A Wetter History Than We Thought

2025-02-25

New research combining data from ESA and NASA spacecraft with lab experiments reveals that Mars' iconic red dust has a much wetter history than previously believed. Scientists found that the red color, caused by rusted iron minerals, formed early in Mars' history when liquid water was more abundant. This challenges previous assumptions and suggests Mars rusted earlier than thought, implying a longer period with surface water—a crucial factor in the search for past life on the planet.

(www.esa.int)

Tech iron oxide liquid water

Gaia Completes Sky Survey: 3 Trillion Observations, 2 Billion Stars

2025-01-15

ESA's Gaia spacecraft has completed its decade-long sky survey, amassing over three trillion observations of roughly two billion stars and other celestial objects. This represents a revolutionary leap in our understanding of the Milky Way and our cosmic neighborhood. Despite nearing fuel depletion, Gaia's data continues to grow, fueling scientific research with over 13,000 publications and 580 million catalogue accesses to date. Two more massive data releases are yet to come, promising further revelations about the universe.

(www.esa.int)

Tech Gaia Milky Way

BepiColombo Reveals Mercury's Shadowy North Pole

2025-01-10

The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission's sixth and final Mercury flyby yielded stunning images of the planet's north pole, captured by the Monitoring Camera 1 (M-CAM 1). The long-exposure photo reveals permanently shadowed craters, potentially the coldest places in the Solar System and possible locations of water ice. The image also showcases Borealis Planitia, vast volcanic plains comparable in scale to Earth's mass extinction-level volcanic events. This flyby provides crucial data for BepiColombo's future orbital studies of Mercury.

(www.esa.int)

Tech Mercury North Pole