The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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This is an image of X-ray light from the galaxy M100. No longer do we see the prominent spiral arms of the galaxy, apparent in optical images. Instead, the X-ray image reveals high-energy activity throughout the galaxy. The most active region is the galaxy centre.
The red and orange regions are sources of very hot, diffuse gas
between stars. SN 1979C is the orange hotspot about 7 o'clock from the white galactic centre.
This XMM-Newton image is a composite of three X-ray energy bands: soft, 0.3-1.5 keV (in red); medium, 1.5-4 keV (in green); and hard, 4-10 keV (in blue, which is blended into the white core).