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More than 2500 years ago, a total solar eclipse is said to have ended a war between the Lydians and the Medes. Today, we understand the science behind eclipses, but witnessing one is still one of the most awe-inspiring experiences on Earth.

In this video, discover how solar and lunar eclipses happen, why totality is so rare, and what makes a total solar eclipse so extraordinary. From ancient legends to modern ESA missions studying the Sun's corona, discover the science behind one of nature's greatest spectacles.

Discover more about the three European eclipses of 2026–2028 here.

Two new satellites have now officially joined Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation constellation, strengthening its capabilities, resilience and autonomy. Four Galileo First Generation satellites remain to be launched, with the next pair planned for the end of the year.

Discover the science behind one of nature's most extraordinary phenomena and experience a total solar eclipse with the European Space Agency (ESA), the City of León and the University of León.

More analysis is needed to ensure that tropical forest degeneration and regeneration are consistently reported in carbon cycle models and in national reporting, according to a study funded in part by ESA's Climate Change Initiative Biomass project.

The study analysed how tropical forests store carbon under varying conditions and then release it back into the atmosphere. The scenarios studied range from complete forest destruction through deforestation, which is relatively well understood, to forest degradation, whereby the forest’s condition worsens over time due to damage and organic decomposition, for example through wildfires or selective logging, which is often inconsistently reported in models or omitted altogether.

The European Space Agency’s terrestrial planet hunter Plato has recently completed a series of key tests inside the Maxwell Test Chamber at ESTEC, demonstrating that its electronic equipment is fit to work in space.

This photo captures the spacecraft standing inside the special chamber. The shielded enclosure features conducting metal walls, floor, and ceiling that form a Faraday cage, screening out all external interference. Its 9 m-high interior is lined floor to ceiling with foam spikes that absorb electrical signals and sounds to mimic the void of space.

Once the chamber was sealed closed, engineers remotely switched on and commanded Plato’s electronic equipment. They ran a series of tests to ensure that the spacecraft’s complex instruments and modules did not interfere with each other or with the communication systems, creating unwanted ‘crosstalk’.

In the extreme vacuum of space, a spacecraft’s electronics can behave differently than they do in a typical test lab on the ground. Without proper testing, this can have unforeseen consequences that could affect the mission’s goals or even damage the equipment.

Thanks to the tests run in the Maxwell Test Chamber, engineers verified that Plato’s many electronic systems can work together in space without interference – in other words, that they are electromagnetically compatible.

With compatibility checked off, Plato has now cleared the last remaining major exam in the series that the spacecraft must undertake to graduate for launch.

The exams started back in January this year with vibration and acoustic tests, followed by a month-long stay inside the Large Space Simulator where Plato aced a demanding set of tests and demonstrated that it is fit to withstand the harsh conditions of space.

Plato will lift off on an Ariane 6. Its launch is planned by Arianespace for March 2027.

[Image description: Photograph of a spacecraft towering at the centre of a large test chamber. The chamber's walls and ceiling are covered with dense rows of blue foam spikes that create a striking geometric pattern extending in all directions around the spacecraft. The right side of the spacecraft is dominated by shiny black, stowed, solar panels. The spacecraft body is partly visible on the left wrapped in reflective gold-coloured insulating foil and partially covered by a translucent protective sheet secured with small pieces of red tape.]

The four Artemis II astronauts visited ESTEC, ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands, on 13 July as the first stop in a series of post-flight visits to the European teams that made their mission possible.

The day included a visit to the Eagle mission control room, where ESA and Airbus engineers monitored the European Service Module around the clock throughout Artemis II. There, astronauts met some of the ESA specialists who had supported their flight from Earth.

Week in images: 13-17 July 2026

Discover our week through the lens