May 2020 – Astronomy Now

A galactic ballet

31 May 2020 Astronomy Now

The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) captured this stunning view of a pair of interacting galaxies known as Arp 271.

SharpStar D 150mm f/2.8 HNT: An imaging telescope with sharp vision

27 May 2020 Ade Ashford

Until comparatively recently, your best tool for capturing wide-angle vistas of extended deep-sky objects with a full-frame DSLR or CCD/CMOS camera was a fast prime lens from one of the big-name players in photography. Now you can attain these swift imaging speeds with hyperbolic Newtonians, such as the SharpStar 15028HNT.

Heat blast is smoking gun for how the Galaxy’s most extreme stars form

22 May 2020 Keith Cooper

A powerful wave of thermal radiation caught rippling through an accretionary disc of gas surrounding a distant protostar could be the strongest evidence yet for how the most massive stars in the Universe form.

Here’s your chance to spot Mercury, as it cosies up to Venus this weekend

21 May 2020 Mark Armstrong

Look to the north-west this evening (21 May), soon after sunset, to enjoy a spectacular coming together of brilliant Venus and shy and elusive Mercury.

See Comet 2020 F8 (SWAN) gracing UK skies tonight!

19 May 2020 Mark Armstrong

Comet 2020 F8 (SWAN) is now on show across the UK after rocketing northwards during April and earlier this month, and currently shines at around magnitude +5.8.

Perseverance Mars rover making steady progress toward July launch

11 May 2020 Astronomy Now

Despite coronavirus work restrictions, engineers at the Kennedy Space Center are on track readying the Perseverance Mars rover for launch in July

Gemini North captures ‘lucky’ shot of Jupiter in all its infrared glory

11 May 2020 Astronomy Now

The Gemini North telescope has captured one of the sharpest views of Jupiter ever taken from the ground, an infrared mosaic revealing new insights into the giant planet’s turbulent atmosphere.

Astronomers find closest black hole yet in ‘nearby’ star system

8 May 2020 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have stumbled on the closest black hole to Earth discovered to date, an unseen body in a triple star system 1,000 light years away.

Eta Aquarid meteor shower reaches peak

5 May 2020 Mark Armstrong

The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks 5/6 May, although best observed from the Southern Hemisphere, observers in the UK could expect to see 15 to 20 meteors an hour.

SpaceX to debut satellite-dimming sunshade on next Starlink launch

5 May 2020 Stephen Clark

A new sunshade, or visor, designed to reduce the brightness of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband Internet satellites will debut on the company’s next launch, a measure intended to alleviate astronomers’ concerns about impacts on observations through ground-based telescopes, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said.