Mars – Page 14 – Astronomy Now

19 April 2024

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InSight spreads solar wings in critical test

27 January 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Mars Insight lander deployed its solar wings in a critical milestone on the road to launch from California in May. InSight will reach the red planet in late November, landing near the equator to study the interior of Mars.

See the Moon and planets gather at dawn

3 January 2018 Ade Ashford

It currently pays to be an early riser if you wish to view the planets, for it’s all happening at dawn in the skies of Western Europe. Find innermost planet Mercury, see a near miss of Mars and Jupiter on 7 January, then a fabulous binocular conjunction of the waning crescent Moon, the Red planet and Jupiter on 11 January!

Mars and Earth may not have always been neighbours

21 December 2017 Astronomy Now

A study published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters posits that Mars formed in what today is the Asteroid Belt, roughly one and a half times as far from the Sun as its current position, before migrating to its present location.

Crescent Moon joins Jupiter and Mars at dawn on 14 December

12 December 2017 Ade Ashford

While looking for Geminid meteors, observers in Western Europe should also look to the southeast about 90 minutes before sunrise to see a beautiful conjunction of a 25-day-old Moon, Jupiter and Mars on Thursday, 14 December.

Scientists suggest streaks on Martian hillsides are dry flows

26 November 2017 Stephen Clark

Intermittent flows that appear on steep slopes on Mars are likely formed by flowing sand, and not water as some scientists previously suspected, according to a new study.

NASA confirms contribution to Japanese-led Mars mission

20 November 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Thursday it will fund development of a scientific instrument that will fly on Japan’s Martian Moons Exploration mission, a robotic probe set for launch in 2024 to bring back the first samples from Mars’ largest moon Phobos.

Martian ridge brings out rover’s colour talents

5 November 2017 Astronomy Now

Colour-discerning capabilities that NASA’s Curiosity rover has been using on Mars since 2012 are proving particularly helpful on a mountainside ridge the rover is now climbing.

Engineers hopeful Mars rover’s drill can return to service

25 October 2017 Stephen Clark

Engineers have started testing a new way to use the Curiosity rover’s drill to bore into Martian rocks after a motor in the device stalled late last year, but ground teams are still months away from the first chance to resume drilling operations.

MAVEN mission finds Mars has a twisted tail

23 October 2017 Astronomy Now

Mars has an invisible magnetic “tail” that is twisted by interaction with the solar wind, according to new research using data from NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft.

Examining Mars’ moon Phobos in a different light

17 October 2017 Astronomy Now

NASA’s longest-lived mission to Mars has gained its first look at the Martian moon Phobos, pursuing a deeper understanding by examining it in infrared wavelengths.

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