2015 – Page 76 – Astronomy Now

Parkes Observatory detects first ‘live’ fast radio burst

19 January 2015 Astronomy Now

Having developed a technique to search for real-time ‘fast radio bursts,’ a team of astronomers in Australia has succeeded in observing the first ‘live’ burst with the Parkes telescope from a source up to 5.5 billion light-years from Earth.

Asteroid to fly close by Earth safely on 26th January

17 January 2015 Astronomy Now

On 26th January, asteroid 2004 BL86 will pass Earth just three lunar distances away. It will be the closest approach by any known space rock this large until asteroid 1999 AN10 flies past our planet in 2027.

See asteroid 2004 BL86 whizz by Earth

17 January 2015 Ade Ashford

Asteroid 2004 BL86 skims past Earth at a distance of just three times the Moon on the evening of 26th January. When best placed, it will become bright enough to see from the UK with small telescopes or large binoculars. Here’s our hour-by-hour observing guide.

Baader Nano Tracker

17 January 2015 Steve Ringwood

Would you like to photograph Comet Lovejoy but don’t have a driven telescope mount? Now you can capture long-exposure wide-angle scenes with a DSLR camera using Baader’s diminutive yet fully-featured Nano Tracker.

Rosetta sees a blaze of cometary activity

17 January 2015 Astronomy Now

The high resolution camera aboard Rosetta has captured a stunning view of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko showing multiple jets streaming away from the surface.

Professor Mark Sims on the discovery that Beagle 2 made it to the surface

16 January 2015 Astronomy Now

Professor Mark Sims of Leicester University speaks to Astronomy Now’s Keith Cooper on the discovery that Beagle 2 made it to the surface on Christmas Day 2003.

Lost Beagle 2 spacecraft found on Mars

16 January 2015 Keith Cooper

The UK’s Beagle 2 mission to Mars, which was lost in 2003 as it entered the red planet’s atmosphere, has been rediscovered by NASA’s eagle eye in the Martian sky, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Trans-Neptunian study suggests Solar System contains more planets

16 January 2015 Astronomy Now

Research conducted in Spain and the UK suggests that at least two unknown planets exist beyond Pluto, whose gravitational influence determines the orbits and strange distribution of objects observed beyond Neptune.

Funding approved for 3200-megapixel Large Synoptic Survey Telescope

15 January 2015 Astronomy Now

When the LSST telescope begins operations atop Cerro Pachón in Chile, it will use the largest digital camera ever built and produce the widest, deepest and fastest views of the night sky ever observed.

Mars meets Neptune in the evening sky

15 January 2015 Ade Ashford

Outermost planet Neptune is currently visible in binoculars if you know just where to look. Fortunately, Mars forms a convenient guide on the night of 19th January as the two planets appear close together in the early evening sky.