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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ESA’s Herschel infrared space observatory has shown that the dying star IRC+10216 is surrounded by a large volume of high-temperature water vapour. This colour-coded image shows the star, surrounded by a clumpy envelope of dust, at three infrared wavelengths, taken by Herschel’s PACS and SPIRE instruments. The blue colour represents the PACS 160 micron image, the green colour is the SPIRE 250 micron image, and the red colour the SPIRE 350 micron image.