NCCR PlanetS

07/10/2026

In space, new stars and planetary systems form amid a dense chemical mixture. An international research team co-led by the University of Bern has now demonstrated, through the large-scale COMPASS project at the ALMA Observatory, that young, Sun-like stars are surrounded by a surprisingly rich “chemical starter kit” – including methanol in previously unexpected forms and abundances. The results provide new insights into how early chemical processes might shape the subsequent formation of planets – and possibly life. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/ycsyywmp

28/09/2026

🌍🚀 JUICE has successfully completed its Earth flyby! The manoeuvre has fine-tuned the ESA spacecraft’s trajectory towards Jupiter, bringing it one step closer to its destination. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/2bektwuv
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🌍🚀 JUICE hat seinen Vorbeiflug an der Erde erfolgreich absolviert! Das Manöver hat die Flugbahn der ESA-Raumsonde zum Jupiter weiter optimiert und bringt sie ihrem Ziel ein Stück näher. Mehr dazu unter https://tinyurl.com/2bektwuv
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24/09/2026

Did Venus once swallow its own moon? New simulations suggest that the planet’s extremely slow rotation could have caused a former moon to spiral inward until it eventually crashed into Venus. The study offers a new explanation for why our planetary neighbour has no moon today.

Study says that if Venus ever did have a moon, the planet's spin and gravity would cause the moon to be swallowed by it.

22/09/2026

Are moons forming around a young exoplanet? Observations of PDS 70c reveal a dense ring of dust around the planet – potentially a nursery for new moons. Astronomers may be getting a rare glimpse of a moon system in the making. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/3uwkkke3

Entstehen gerade Monde um einen jungen Exoplaneten? Beobachtungen von PDS 70c zeigen einen dichten Staubring in seiner Umgebung – möglicherweise eine Kinderstube für neue Monde. Damit könnten Astronomen erstmals beobachten, wie ein Mondsystem entsteht. Mehr dazu unter https://tinyurl.com/3uwkkke3

20/09/2026

Meet Elias 2-24 b, the youngest known planet: less than one million years old and still growing within the disk of gas and dust surrounding its young star. The Jupiter-mass world offers a rare glimpse into planet formation in action.

Astronomers have confirmed a world that’s less than a million years old as the youngest known planet, using data from NASA-funded archives. Called Elias 2-24

18/09/2026

A new crater on the Moon! The 222-metre-wide, 43-metre-deep McGetchin crater formed in 2024 when an asteroid or comet – potentially as large as a six-storey building – slammed into the lunar surface.

It started as a routine data-quality check. But as Robert Wagner, a scientist with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), scanned a giant Moon map on his

16/09/2026

BELA successfully activated in space! A major milestone for the joint ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission: the BELA laser altimeter, designed and built under the leadership of the University of Bern, has been fully activated in space for the first time. The instrument successfully transmitted its first laser pulses into space. In the future, BELA will map the topography and surface structure of Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, enabling a detailed 3D representation of its surface. The successful activation marks a crucial step towards the start of the scientific mission in 2027. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/39zhwvvu

08/09/2026

First close-up images of Kamoʻoalewa! 🛰️🌑 China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft has captured the first detailed images of asteroid 2016 HO3, a tiny “quasi-moon” that travels around the Sun while staying close to Earth. The mission aims to collect samples from its surface and return them to Earth – potentially revealing whether this unusual asteroid could be a fragment of our Moon.

China's Tianwen-2 beamed home the first close-ups of our occasional companion, asteroid 2016 HO3 – or 'mini moon' Kamoʻoalewa.

06/09/2026

Recent observations with the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a giant, evolving 10-sided atmospheric wave encircling Saturn’s south pole. This discovery marks the first time a large regular-sided jet pattern has been observed in the planet’s southern hemisphere. Read more at https://esahubble.org/news/heic2612/

Jüngste Beobachtungen mit dem Hubble-Weltraumteleskop haben eine riesige, sich entwickelnde, zehnseitige atmosphärische Welle enthüllt, die den Südpol des Saturns umgibt. Diese Entdeckung ist die erste Beobachtung eines grossen, regelmässig geformten Strömungsmusters auf der südlichen Hemisphäre des Planeten. Mehr dazu unter https://esahubble.org/news/heic2612/

03/09/2026

BepiColombo: a crucial day at Mercury! 🚀 After eight years in space, ESA/JAXA’s BepiColombo mission reaches its next major milestone today. The Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) will separate at 12:00 UTC, followed by the eagerly awaited acquisition of signal from the spacecraft from 13:53 UTC. ESA will broadcast the key moments live from mission control in Darmstadt, starting at 11:45 UTC. The University of Bern is involved in the BepiColombo mission with two scientific instruments.
🎥 Watch live: ESA on YouTube · ESA on LinkedIn

BepiColombo: Heute wird es spannend! 🚀 Nach acht Jahren Flug beginnt heute die entscheidende Ankunftsphase der ESA/JAXA-Mission BepiColombo am Merkur. Ab 13:45 Uhr MESZ überträgt die ESA live aus dem Kontrollzentrum ESOC in Darmstadt. Der erste Höhepunkt folgt um 14:00 Uhr mit der Abtrennung des Mercury Transfer Module (MTM). Nach einer Unterbrechung wird der Livestream um 15:30 Uhr fortgesetzt; ab 15:53 Uhr wird das erste Signal von BepiColombo nach der Separation erwartet – der entscheidende Moment, um zu bestätigen, dass alles planmässig funktioniert hat. Die Universität Bern ist an der BepiColombo-Mission mit zwei Instrumenten beteiligt.
Livestream: ESA auf YouTube · ESA auf LinkedIn