November 2018 – Page 3 – Astronomy Now

Juno orbiter captures another stunning view of Jupiter

14 November 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Juno spacecraft recently completed its 16th close flyby of Jupiter, capturing more stunning views of the giant planet’s turbulent atmosphere with anticyclonic storms and bright white “pop-up” clouds.

Gaia data reveals previously unseen ‘ghost’ galaxy near Milky Way

13 November 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers sifting through the treasure trove of data from the Gaia spacecraft have discovered a large but exceedingly dim dwarf galaxy lurking near the outskirts of the Milky Way.

Parker Solar Probe in good shape after close approach to Sun

13 November 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe came through its first close encounter with the sun on 5 November in excellent condition after braving extreme temperatures and radiation studying the solar corona.

Catch Venus near bright star Spica in the dawn sky

12 November 2018 Ade Ashford

Find a location that offers you an unobstructed view of the southeast about an hour before sunrise in the UK over the next week to see dazzling Venus close to the horizon. Look carefully at the planet around 6:30am GMT on 15 November and you’ll see it close to first-magnitude Spica, Virgo’s brightest star.

Hot magnetosphere around white dwarf explains mystery

9 November 2018 Astronomy Now

For the first time, a powerful magnetosphere has been detected around a white dwarf, providing a mechanism that explains a long-standing mystery.

Astronomers spot black hole-powered ‘galactic fountain’

9 November 2018 Astronomy Now

A supermassive black hole at the heart of the brightest galaxy in a cluster a billion light years away is powering a vast “galactic fountain” of gas that shoots out into space and then rains back inward to fuel another cycle.

Merging galactic black holes focus of new survey

9 November 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers are getting their best views yet of supermassive black holes in the cores of colliding galaxies moving toward mergers, rapidly growing as they gorge on stellar debris

Astronomers find oldest known star in the Milky Way

6 November 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found what may be the oldest star in the Milky Way, a tiny 13.5-billion-year-old body made up primarily of elements created in the Big Bang.

Foundation takes shape for Extremely Large Telescope

4 November 2018 Astronomy Now

The foundation of the European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope is taking shape atop a mountain in Chile’s Atacama Desert, home to what will be the world’s largest optical instrument, a gargantuan telescope with a segmented primary mirror 39 metres (128 feet) across.

Data indicate Milky Way smash up 10 billion years ago

4 November 2018 Astronomy Now

Data from ESA’s Gaia spacecraft indicate a large galaxy collided with the Milky Way about 10 billion years ago, leaving identifiable stars strewn in its wake to help astronomers piece together our galaxy’s history.