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
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The irregular galaxy NGC 5408 viewed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
The galaxy is located some 16 million light-years away and hosts a very bright source of X-rays, NGC 5408 X-1.
NGC 5408 X-1 is an ultra-luminous X-ray source – a binary system consisting of a stellar remnant that is feeding on gas from a companion star at an especially high rate.
Scientists using ESA's XMM-Newton have discovered gas streaming away at a quarter of the speed of light from NGC 5408 X-1 and another bright X-ray binary, NGC 1313 X-1, confirming that these sources conceal a compact object accreting matter at extraordinarily high rates.