November 2018 – Astronomy Now

Type 1a supernova, caught in the act of exploding, raises new questions

30 November 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have captured the light from a white dwarf exploding in a Type 1a supernova, shedding light on the mechanism powering the blasts while raising fresh questions.

A tangled web this supernova weaves

30 November 2018 Astronomy Now

Tangled clouds of gas from a destroyed star can be seen weaving their way through space in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the remnants of a Type 1a supernova that consumed a white dwarf in a once glorious blaze of light. Such supernovae are critical to measuring cosmic distances.

Hubble peers into a globular cluster on the outskirts of the LMC

28 November 2018 Astronomy Now

An unusual globular cluster on the outskirts of the Large Magellanic Cloud, seen here in an image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, features an unusual mix of young an old stars, possibly the result of an encounter with a giant gas cloud in the distant past.

Time-lapse shows Beta Pictoris b sailing through its orbit

27 November 2018 Astronomy Now

ESO’s Very Large Telescope has captured a remarkable series of images showing the hot, young exoplanet Beta Pictoris b moving in its orbit from one side of its star to the other.

NASA’s InSight mission lands on Mars to study planet’s hidden interior

26 November 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s InSight spacecraft plunged into the rarefied atmosphere of Mars at a speed of more than 12,000 mph Monday and braked to a gentle touchdown, setting the stage for a two-year surface mission to probe the planet’s deep interior.

Live coverage: InSight probe lands on Mars

26 November 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s robotic InSight spacecraft, carrying a pair of European-built science instruments, successfully landed Monday on a broad, flat equatorial Martian plain named Elysium Planitia. Touchdown was confirmed at 1954 GMT to begin a science mission focused on studying the deep interior of Mars.

Mars lander on course for Monday touchdown

25 November 2018 William Harwood

After a six-month voyage from Earth, NASA’s InSight Mars lander, streaking through space at at some 12,300 mph, will slam into the thin martian atmosphere Monday to begin a nail-biting six-and-a-half-minute descent to the surface, kicking off a billion-dollar mission to probe the red planet’s hidden interior.

Month: November 2018