February 2015 – Astronomy Now

Hubble’s Universe: Greatest Discoveries and Latest Images

28 February 2015 Astronomy Now

Any book dealing with the greatest discoveries of Hubble is likely to be subjective but most of the iconic images are covered here.

Curiosity rover drills rock sample at Mount Sharp

28 February 2015 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has used its drill to collect sample powder from inside a rock target called “Telegraph Peak.” Examining rock samples like these will help scientists understand how the ancient wet environment of Mars dried up.

Astronomers find newborn stars at the edge of the Galaxy

28 February 2015 Astronomy Now

Using survey images from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, astronomers have discovered two clusters of stars forming thousands of light-years below the galactic disc — a stellar nursery in what seems to be the middle of nowhere.

Calm regions protect organic molecules around a supermassive black hole

27 February 2015 Astronomy Now

Researchers using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) have discovered zones where certain organic molecules somehow endure the intense X-rays and ultraviolet radiation near the supermassive black hole at the centre of galaxy Messier 77.

Jupiter set to enthral observers on the night of February 26th

26 February 2015 Ade Ashford

Currently the third brightest celestial object in the night sky of the British Isles after the Moon and Venus, Jupiter presents a cornucopia of phenomena for observers with medium to large telescopes tonight.

Are volcanoes responsible for twin bright spots on Ceres?

26 February 2015 Astronomy Now

As NASA’s Dawn spacecraft heads for its historic rendezvous with dwarf planet Ceres next week, further mysteries unfold on the small world. Now seen in higher resolution, a volcano-like bright spot has a nearby companion.

Ancient quasar with massive black hole found at cosmic dawn

25 February 2015 Astronomy Now

An international team of astronomers has found a huge and ancient black hole which was powering the brightest object in the early universe. The black hole’s mass is 12 billion times that of the Sun, and was at the centre of a quasar that pumped out a million billion times the energy of our star.

Ceres looming large in Dawn’s camera

25 February 2015 Astronomy Now

These views of dwarf planet Ceres were taken on 19 February from a distance of about 46,000 kilometres (29,000 miles) by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. Dawn observed Ceres completing one full rotation, which lasted about nine hours to capture both sides of this minor body.

Rosetta closing in again on comet

25 February 2015 Astronomy Now

After a close up fly by of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on Valentine’s Day, Rosetta looped further away from the comet than it has been since arriving there and returned some dramatic new images.

Celestron NexStar Evolution 9.25 review

25 February 2015 Ade Ashford

Celestron, a leading manufacturer of Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, recently added the WiFi-enabled Evolution series to its computerised NexStar range. Targeted at intermediate-level users, we took the flagship Evolution 9.25 model through its paces and admired its futuristic vision of telescope control.