November 2014 – Page 2 – Astronomy Now

Saturn’s swirling palette

18 November 2014 Astronomy Now

The fluid dynamics of Saturn’s upper cloud layers are interpreted in artistic terms in this 23rd August 2014 image from the Cassini-Huygens mission.

MAVEN begins science mission at Mars

18 November 2014 Stephen Clark

NASA’s newest Mars orbiter has formally started a one-year research campaign to study an ancient case of climate change that starved the red planet of water, breathable air and potential life, scientists said Monday.

Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera captures Philae’s bounce across comet

17 November 2014 Astronomy Now

A stunning sequence of images from Rosetta’s narrow-angle OSIRIS camera shows the dramatic journey of the Philae lander as it approaches and bounces on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on 12th November 2014.

Spiral galaxy NGC 986 in the constellation of Fornax

Hubble captures spiral galaxy in the Furnace

17 November 2014 Ade Ashford

This new Hubble image is a snapshot of NGC 986 — a barred spiral galaxy in the southern constellation of Fornax (The Furnace), discovered by James Dunlop in 1828.

Leonids meteor shower reaches its peak

17 November 2014 Mark Armstrong

The Leonid meteor shower has been active for a few days now and reaches its peak on the night of 17/18 November. We can expect around 20 meteors per hour at best, with the radiant rising in the UK after 9pm.

Rosetta imagery shows Philae at first landing site

16 November 2014 Astronomy Now

Images recorded by Rosetta’s navigation camera appear to show the lander, its shadow and the dust cloud kicked up by its first touchdown.

Alert: Scotland favoured for asteroid occultation of bright star

15 November 2014 Ade Ashford

Although the weather forecast is not too good, observers in Scotland and northern England could see asteroid (12655) 5041 T-3 occult a 5.7-magnitude star in western Cetus close to 7:48pm tonight.

NASA map shows 20-year global distribution of asteroid impacts

15 November 2014 Astronomy Now

A new map released by NASA shows the distribution and intensity of more than 500 separate day and nighttime bolide (fireball) events recorded by U.S. government sensors in the period 1994-2013.

Philae returns all stored science data before falling silent

15 November 2014 William Harwood

Europe’s Philae lander transmitted all its stored science data from the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko before falling silent as battery power failed.

Lander manager says Philae is doing well but battery life is low

14 November 2014 Astronomy Now

The lander project manager Stephan Ulamec says tremendous science has been collected during Philae’s short time on the surface but battery life is now limited and it is unlikely to last much longer.