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Environment - Astronomy / Space Science - 09.08.2023 
Mars: new evidence of an environment conducive to the emergence of life
Scientists have discovered fossil evidence of a cyclical climate on Mars, with wet and dry seasons like those on Earth. This environment, in which simple organic molecules have already been discovered, may have provided ideal conditions for the formation of complex organic compounds. This work opens up new prospects for research into the processes underlying the origin of life, of which no vestiges remain on Earth.
Astronomy / Space Science - 21.06.2023 
Detection of an echo emitted by our Galaxy’s black hole 200 years ago
An international team of scientists has discovered that Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) 1 , the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, emerged from a long period of dormancy some 200 years ago. The team, led by Frédéric Marin 2 , a CNRS researcher at the Astronomical Strasbourg Observatory (CNRS/University of Strasbourg), has revealed the past awakening of this gigantic object, which is four million times more massive than the Sun.
Physics - Astronomy / Space Science - 19.06.2023 
Superionic ammonia created and analyzed in the laboratory
Ammonia plays an important role in the mechanisms at work inside the planets Uranus and Neptune. Experiments carried out at the Laboratory for the Use of Intense Lasers (LULI) have reproduced the extreme conditions prevailing on these planets, and demonstrated the fusion of "superionic" ammonia ice. These results are reported in the journal Nature Physics.
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 12.06.2023 
A French-German laboratory for identifying the nature of dark matter
Dark matter remains a scientific mystery: it makes up 26% of our Universe's total energy density, but has never been observed. The CNRS and German research centres from the Helmholtz Association have joined forces to create the Dark Matter Lab (DMLab), an International Research Laboratory (IRL) focusing on the mysterious substance that is dark matter.
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 11.05.2023
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 11.05.2023
Astronomy / Space Science - 03.05.2023 
The Moon’s heart revealed for the first time
By combining various techniques, scientists have successfully revealed the internal structure of the Moon. Their findings confirm that the Moon has a solid core, like the Earth. They also confirm the 'mantle overturn' and explain the presence of iron-rich elements at the surface of the Moon.
Astronomy / Space Science - Chemistry - 14.04.2023
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 12.12.2022 
First light for the next-generation spectrograph WEAVE
WEAVE has carried out its first-light observations on Stephan's Quintet, a group of five galaxies, some of which are undergoing collision. They provide a demonstration of its exceptional capabilities and hold out the promise of major discoveries. WEAVE, a new spectrograph on the William Herschel Telescope (Canary Islands, Spain), has successfully carried out first-light observations of a group of five galaxies called Stephan's Quintet, thus demonstrating its unprecedented capabilities and providing the astronomical community with the promise of many new discoveries.
Astronomy / Space Science - 30.11.2022 
Exceptionally luminous jets: when a star meets a black hole
For the first time in over a decade, scientists from the CNRS and the Institut de radioastronomie millimétrique 1 , together with international colleagues, have observed a tidal disruption event (TDE
History / Archeology - Astronomy / Space Science - 20.10.2022 
Discovery of extracts from a lost astronomical catalog
Hipparchus' star catalog is the earliest known attempt to accurately determine the positions of fixed stars. Researchers have just found fragments of this missing text in an old manuscript. They show that Hipparchus' data were significantly more accurate than those of another catalog composed centuries later.
Astronomy / Space Science - History / Archeology - 20.10.2022 
Discovery of extracts from a lost astronomical catalogue
They prove that Hipparchus' data were significantly more accurate than those of another catalogue composed centuries later. Researchers from the CNRS, Sorbonne Université and Tyndale House (affiliated with the University of Cambridge) have recently found fragments of the Star Catalogue composed by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus during the 2nd century BC.
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 12.09.2022 
The James Webb telescope: first images of the Orion Nebula
The James Webb telescope has delivered extraordinary new images of the Orion Nebula. Many stars are born in this nebula, hence these observations could yield information on the origins of our Solar system. The new images were obtained by a team headed by French and Canadian researchers. An international research team has released the first images of the Orion Nebula, the closest richly productive stellar nursery to our own solar system.
Earth Sciences - Astronomy / Space Science - 25.08.2022 
Planet Mars: Perseverance rover makes surprising geological discoveries in Jezero Crater
On February 21, 2021, NASA's Perseverance rover landed in the Jezero Crater on Mars. In October 1 , the rover confirmed the importance of its landing site, showing that Jezero Crater really was the site of a lake 3.6 billion years ago. Perseverance's geological discoveries in the crater's floor are described in four papers published on August 25, 2022 in Science and Science Advances .
Astronomy / Space Science - 28.07.2022
Astronomy / Space Science - 12.05.2022 
First image of the black hole at the heart of our galaxy
Within the EHT collaboration, the CNRS and IRAM participated in the creation of a first image of the black hole Sagittarius A*. Astronomers have unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. This result provides overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants, which are thought to reside at the centre of most galaxies.
Astronomy / Space Science - 28.04.2022 
Discovery of 30 exocomets in a young planetary system
For the past thirty years, the star - Pictoris has fascinated astronomers because it enables them to observe a planetary system in the process of formation. It is made up of at least two young planets, and also contains comets, which were detected as early as 1987. These were the first comets ever observed around a star other than the Sun.
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 01.04.2022 
Perseverance records the first ever sounds from Mars
Using a microphone developed in France, the Perseverance rover has recorded the first ever sounds from Mars audible to the human ear. By analysing these sounds, scientists have been able to find out more about the physical characteristics of the Martian atmosphere, and in particular about the speed of sound and its attenuation there.
Astronomy / Space Science - 15.02.2022 
Discovery of a third moon orbiting the asteroid (130) Elektra
Publication of the CRAL in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics on Fabruary 8, 2022. CNRS-INSU communication on February 14, 2022. Context . Extreme adaptive optics systems, such as the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch facility (SPHERE), push forward the limits in high contrast and high resolution in direct imaging.
Astronomy / Space Science - 07.02.2022 
New calculations of worldwide glacial flows and volumes
Many mountain populations-in the Andes or Himalayas, for example-rely on glaciers for their water. Yet changes in glacial water reserves, like predictions of sea level rise, greatly depend on glacier volume and thickness, both of which have been poorly evaluated-until now. By analysing over 800,000 pairs of satellite images, researchers from the CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes (France), 1 and Dartmouth College (USA) have established the first global map of flow velocities for 98% (>200,000) of the world's glaciers.
Astronomy/Space Science
Results 1 - 20 of 102.
Scientists have discovered fossil evidence of a cyclical climate on Mars, with wet and dry seasons like those on Earth. This environment, in which simple organic molecules have already been discovered, may have provided ideal conditions for the formation of complex organic compounds. This work opens up new prospects for research into the processes underlying the origin of life, of which no vestiges remain on Earth.
An international team of scientists has discovered that Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) 1 , the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, emerged from a long period of dormancy some 200 years ago. The team, led by Frédéric Marin 2 , a CNRS researcher at the Astronomical Strasbourg Observatory (CNRS/University of Strasbourg), has revealed the past awakening of this gigantic object, which is four million times more massive than the Sun.
Ammonia plays an important role in the mechanisms at work inside the planets Uranus and Neptune. Experiments carried out at the Laboratory for the Use of Intense Lasers (LULI) have reproduced the extreme conditions prevailing on these planets, and demonstrated the fusion of "superionic" ammonia ice. These results are reported in the journal Nature Physics.
Dark matter remains a scientific mystery: it makes up 26% of our Universe's total energy density, but has never been observed. The CNRS and German research centres from the Helmholtz Association have joined forces to create the Dark Matter Lab (DMLab), an International Research Laboratory (IRL) focusing on the mysterious substance that is dark matter.
James Webb Space Telescope reveals composition of protoplanetary disc
Young stars are surrounded by discs of material from which future planets form. The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed the chemical composition of the disc around the star J160532, which turns out to be rich in hydrocarbons. In recent years, observations have shown that rocky exoplanets are very abundant around low-mass stars such as J160532.
Young stars are surrounded by discs of material from which future planets form. The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed the chemical composition of the disc around the star J160532, which turns out to be rich in hydrocarbons. In recent years, observations have shown that rocky exoplanets are very abundant around low-mass stars such as J160532.
The James Webb Telescope reveals the composition of a protoplanetary disk
Young stars are surrounded by disks of material where future planets are born. The James Webb telescope has revealed the chemical composition of the disk of the star J160532, rich in hydrocarbons. Observations in recent years have shown that rocky exoplanets are very abundant around "light" stars like J160532.
Young stars are surrounded by disks of material where future planets are born. The James Webb telescope has revealed the chemical composition of the disk of the star J160532, rich in hydrocarbons. Observations in recent years have shown that rocky exoplanets are very abundant around "light" stars like J160532.
By combining various techniques, scientists have successfully revealed the internal structure of the Moon. Their findings confirm that the Moon has a solid core, like the Earth. They also confirm the 'mantle overturn' and explain the presence of iron-rich elements at the surface of the Moon.
Discovery of a cosmic stream of cold gas feeding a massive galaxy in the young Universe
Publication of the CRAL in the journal Science on March 30, 2023. Communication of the CNRS-INSU on April 14, 2023. In this study, published in the journal Science , an international team involving French scientists from the Lyon Astrophysics Research Center (CRAL - OSUL, CNRS / ENS de Lyon / Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University) and the Institut d'astrophysique de Paris (IAP, CNRS/Sorbonne University) focus on one of the processes involved in the formation and evolution of galaxies.
Publication of the CRAL in the journal Science on March 30, 2023. Communication of the CNRS-INSU on April 14, 2023. In this study, published in the journal Science , an international team involving French scientists from the Lyon Astrophysics Research Center (CRAL - OSUL, CNRS / ENS de Lyon / Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University) and the Institut d'astrophysique de Paris (IAP, CNRS/Sorbonne University) focus on one of the processes involved in the formation and evolution of galaxies.
WEAVE has carried out its first-light observations on Stephan's Quintet, a group of five galaxies, some of which are undergoing collision. They provide a demonstration of its exceptional capabilities and hold out the promise of major discoveries. WEAVE, a new spectrograph on the William Herschel Telescope (Canary Islands, Spain), has successfully carried out first-light observations of a group of five galaxies called Stephan's Quintet, thus demonstrating its unprecedented capabilities and providing the astronomical community with the promise of many new discoveries.
For the first time in over a decade, scientists from the CNRS and the Institut de radioastronomie millimétrique 1 , together with international colleagues, have observed a tidal disruption event (TDE
Hipparchus' star catalog is the earliest known attempt to accurately determine the positions of fixed stars. Researchers have just found fragments of this missing text in an old manuscript. They show that Hipparchus' data were significantly more accurate than those of another catalog composed centuries later.
They prove that Hipparchus' data were significantly more accurate than those of another catalogue composed centuries later. Researchers from the CNRS, Sorbonne Université and Tyndale House (affiliated with the University of Cambridge) have recently found fragments of the Star Catalogue composed by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus during the 2nd century BC.
The James Webb telescope has delivered extraordinary new images of the Orion Nebula. Many stars are born in this nebula, hence these observations could yield information on the origins of our Solar system. The new images were obtained by a team headed by French and Canadian researchers. An international research team has released the first images of the Orion Nebula, the closest richly productive stellar nursery to our own solar system.
On February 21, 2021, NASA's Perseverance rover landed in the Jezero Crater on Mars. In October 1 , the rover confirmed the importance of its landing site, showing that Jezero Crater really was the site of a lake 3.6 billion years ago. Perseverance's geological discoveries in the crater's floor are described in four papers published on August 25, 2022 in Science and Science Advances .
Research INSTITUT-IphU A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away... with JWST
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope. JWST is designed to answer outstanding questions about our origins: from the formation of stars and planets to the birth of the first galaxies in the early Universe. JWST was built by an international partnership between NASA, ESA, and CSA.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope. JWST is designed to answer outstanding questions about our origins: from the formation of stars and planets to the birth of the first galaxies in the early Universe. JWST was built by an international partnership between NASA, ESA, and CSA.
Within the EHT collaboration, the CNRS and IRAM participated in the creation of a first image of the black hole Sagittarius A*. Astronomers have unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. This result provides overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants, which are thought to reside at the centre of most galaxies.
For the past thirty years, the star - Pictoris has fascinated astronomers because it enables them to observe a planetary system in the process of formation. It is made up of at least two young planets, and also contains comets, which were detected as early as 1987. These were the first comets ever observed around a star other than the Sun.
Using a microphone developed in France, the Perseverance rover has recorded the first ever sounds from Mars audible to the human ear. By analysing these sounds, scientists have been able to find out more about the physical characteristics of the Martian atmosphere, and in particular about the speed of sound and its attenuation there.
Publication of the CRAL in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics on Fabruary 8, 2022. CNRS-INSU communication on February 14, 2022. Context . Extreme adaptive optics systems, such as the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch facility (SPHERE), push forward the limits in high contrast and high resolution in direct imaging.
Many mountain populations-in the Andes or Himalayas, for example-rely on glaciers for their water. Yet changes in glacial water reserves, like predictions of sea level rise, greatly depend on glacier volume and thickness, both of which have been poorly evaluated-until now. By analysing over 800,000 pairs of satellite images, researchers from the CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes (France), 1 and Dartmouth College (USA) have established the first global map of flow velocities for 98% (>200,000) of the world's glaciers.
