August 2018 – Page 2 – Astronomy Now

See innermost planet Mercury’s favourable dawn show

22 August 2018 Ade Ashford

Mercury attains its maximum westerly elongation from the Sun on 26 August, meaning that the innermost planet is currently well placed for observation from the UK and Western Europe in the eastern sky around 40 minutes before sunrise. In addition to those in the evening sky, you might just see all five bright naked-eye planets this month!

An aurora by any other name? Not if it goes by STEVE

22 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Scientists studying an unusual atmospheric “skyglow” phenomenon known as STEVE events have determined they are not generated by the same processes responsible for more familiar auroral displays.

Ice deposits confirmed near Moon’s poles, confirming earlier indications

21 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Data from a NASA instrument aboard India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft has directly observed ‘definitive’ evidence of ice in shadowed craters at the Moon’s south polar region and with more sparsely distributed ice near the north pole.

Closing a loophole in Bell’s theorem with light from ancient quasars

21 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Using light from ancient quasars, researchers probing quantum entanglement have virtually closed one possible loophole in a key theorem of quantum physics, finding strong support for what Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance.’

InSight lander now halfway to Mars, on track for November landing

20 August 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s InSight spacecraft has passed the halfway point to Mars and remains on track for a 26 November landing in the Elysium Planitia region where it will become the first probe to study the red planet’s deep interior.

Putting a young exoplanet on the scales for the first time

20 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Using data from ESA’s Gaia and Hipparcos satellites, astronomers have managed to deduce the mass of a giant exoplanet orbiting Beta Pictoris by studying subtle changes in the star’s motion over a quarter of a century.

Nothing special about ingredients making up our Solar System

19 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Analysis of more than two dozen relatively nearby solar systems shows the elements that went into their construction are broadly similar to what is found in Earth’s solar family, increasing confidence that Earth-like exoplanets may be common.

NASA stands by for Mars Opportunity wake up as dust storm abates

18 August 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA has not heard from the Opportunity Mars rover since it fell silent 10 June as a global dust storm blanketed the red planet, but engineers are hopeful the long-lived robot will wake up soon as the storm abates.

Find Barnard’s Star, the Sun’s closest stellar neighbour visible from the UK

17 August 2018 Ade Ashford

Barnard’s Star is a familiar name in both the history of astronomy and popular culture, but did you realise that it’s the closest stellar body to the Sun that you can see from the British Isles and similar latitudes? We tell you some fascinating facts about this famous runaway star and show you how to locate it.

Molecules ripped apart in giant close-orbiting exoplanet

17 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Computer simulations and spectroscopic analysis show molecular bonds in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-class exoplanet orbiting so close to its star that temperatures reach some 4,000 degrees Celsius (7,200 F) are ripped asunder.