July 2018 – Page 3 – Astronomy Now

Astronomers trace cosmic ray neutrino back to remote blazar

13 July 2018 Astronomy Now

For the first time, a ghostly neutrino detected at the IceCube observatory in Antarctica has been traced back to its source, a super-massive black hole in a “blazar” galaxy four billion light years away.

View the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century on 27 July

12 July 2018 Ade Ashford

Friday, 27 July sees the second total lunar eclipse of 2018, which also happens to be the longest of the 21st century. Observers in Antarctica, Australasia, Russia, Asia, Africa, Scandanavia, Europe, Central and Eastern South America will see the event. The Moon rises at mid-eclipse as seen from the British Isles, some 6 degrees north of Mars at opposition.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope captures brilliant celestial starscape

12 July 2018 Astronomy Now

The Very Large Telescope, using an instrument sensitive to infrared emissions, reveals a spectacular starscape in an image of a hot young suns 5,000 light years away in the constellation Vela that are lighting up the surrounding neighbourhood in spectacular fashion.

Cassini ‘hears” plasma waves connecting Saturn to Enceladus

10 July 2018 Astronomy Now

Data recorded by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shortly before it was directed to crash into Saturn at the end of its historic mission reveal powerful plasma waves moving from Saturn to its icy moon Enceladus.

Messier spotted the first extra-galactic globular cluster in 1778

10 July 2018 Astronomy Now

Globular clusters orbiting the core of the Milky Way are favourite targets for amateur astronomers, especially those in the Messier catalogue. It turns out one of them is the first extra-galactic globular ever discovered, something Charles Messier could not have imagined.

Quasar provides clues about conditions in the early Universe

10 July 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found a brilliant quasar harbouring a super-massive black hole some 13 billion light years away, one of the most distant ever discovered, providing a tool of sorts to study conditions in the very early Universe.

Kepler spacecraft, nearly out of fuel, suspends exoplanet search

9 July 2018 Astronomy Now

The Kepler spacecraft, nearly out of fuel, has suspended its search for exoplanets pending the downlink of stored data. Flight controllers hope to resume observations in August for as long as the dwindling propellant holds out.

Computer simulations confirm massive impact knocked Uranus off kilter

6 July 2018 Astronomy Now

Supercomputer simulations confirm a cataclysmic impact with a body at least twice the size of Earth knocked Uranus on its side during the solar system’s formation, possibly explaining the evolution of its rings and moons.

Extracting critical resources from the Moon topic of ESA workshop

5 July 2018 Astronomy Now

European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst captured this spectacular view of the moon just above Earth’s discernible atmosphere from his perch aboard the International Space Station. ESA held a workshop this week focused on extracting lunar resources.

Yet another test for general relativity; yet another “A” for Einstein

5 July 2018 Astronomy Now

In yet another success for Einstein’s theory of general relativity, astronomers studying the motions of a triple star system have again confirmed that objects fall at the same rate regardless of mass or composition.