Researchers have discovered a dazzling display of billions of new stars in a galaxy-packed filament about 4,500 light years away in the Cygnus-X star-forming region of the Cygnus constellation.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Herschel Space Observatory's large telescope and state-of-the-art infrared detectors have provided the first confirmed finding of oxygen molecules in space.

ESA’s Herschel infrared space telescope has made an unexpected discovery: a hole in space.

The European Space Agency's Herschel and Planck satellites went into space Thursday aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the French spaceport in French Guiana. The dual space telescopes were headed toward a spot called L2 -- the second Lagrange point -- where they will operate in different orbits. L2 is a local gravitational point that is fixed in the Earth-sun system and is situated on Earth's night side, the ESA said.

University of Nottingham astronomers will be studying icy cosmic dust millions of light years away — using the biggest space telescope ever built.