July 2015 – Page 6 – Astronomy Now

Cliffs, chasms and craters revealed in latest New Horizons images

13 July 2015 Stephen Clark

The first hints of dramatic cliffs, chasms and craters are showing up in new imagery of Pluto and its Texas-sized moon Charon as NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft prepares to bolt by the icy worlds Tuesday.

Alan Gee Telecompressor Mk II

12 July 2015 Steve Ringwood

If you own a long focal ratio Ritchey–Chrétien or Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and hanker after wider fields of view for both visual use and astrophotography, then Baader Planetarium’s new telecompressor could be just what you need. Steve Ringwood investigates.

Question time with Alan Stern, the Pluto evangelist

12 July 2015 Stephen Clark

July is a month of rich rewards for Alan Stern, the scientist who shepherded the New Horizons spacecraft from the drawing board to Pluto, and the payoff will be sweet.

New contact with intractable comet lander

11 July 2015 Stephen Clark

Europe’s Rosetta comet probe re-established momentary contact with the Philae lander late Thursday, renewing hopes of starting up the craft’s research instruments after two weeks of radio silence dampened the moods of scientists.

Huge new survey to shine light on dark matter

11 July 2015 Astronomy Now

The first results have been released from a major new dark matter survey of the southern skies using ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. The VST KiDS survey will allow astronomers to make precise measurements of dark matter, the structure of galaxy halos, and the evolution of galaxies and clusters.

The children of Pluto: reflections on Clyde Tombaugh

10 July 2015 Astronomy Now

Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto over 85 years ago. He died in 1997, but during the historic 14 July flyby of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, Clyde’s children Alden and Annette Tombaugh will be special guests at mission headquarters. Here they reflect on their father’s legacy.

Pluto probe provides appetiser for next week’s flyby

10 July 2015 Stephen Clark

Living up to promises that the view from New Horizons will only get better, the Pluto-bound spacecraft has again bested itself with a dazzling colour view of Pluto and Charon released Thursday.

Gigantic, early black hole could upend evolutionary theory

10 July 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have spotted a super-sized black hole in the early universe that grew much faster than its host galaxy. The discovery challenges previous notions about the way host galaxies grow in relation to black holes and casts doubt on earlier suggestions that the radiation emitted by expanding black holes curtails the creation of stars.

A galaxy in bloom: new Hubble snap of ESO 381-12

9 July 2015 Astronomy Now

The ghostly shells of galaxy ESO 381-12 are captured here in a new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, set against a backdrop of distant galaxies. Some 270 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus, ESO 381-12 is categorised as a lenticular galaxy — a hybrid type that shares properties with both spiral and elliptical galaxies.

Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting 2015 – report 4

9 July 2015 Astronomy Now

On the final day of NAM2015, science writer Kulvinder Singh Chadha investigates a new model that generates accurate predictions of irregularities within the Sun’s 11-year heartbeat, suggesting that solar activity could fall by 60 percent during the 2030s to ‘mini ice age’ conditions. Kulvinder also looks back at the lighter moments and highlights of a successful conference.