January 2021 – Astronomy Now

Researchers spot whirlwind marking possible exoplanet in the making

21 January 2021 William Harwood

Astronomers have spotted an intriguing concentration of warm, dusty debris around a nearby star that may indicated a planet in the making.

Hubble helps astronomers wind back clock on supernova blast

19 January 2021 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope trace a supernova’s history by measuring how fast left over debris is moving, concluding light from the blast reached Earth during the decline of the Roman Empire 1,700 years ago.

NASA InSight’s ‘Mole’ no longer digging the red planet

14 January 2021 Astronomy Now

Engineers have given up trying to coax a German “mole,” deployed by NASA’s InSight Mars lander, to hammer a heat probe into red planet’s soil.

Most distant quasar – and youngest supermassive black hole – identified

13 January 2021 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have discovered the youngest supermassive black hole to date, challenging theories about how such monsters grow.

Researchers find strong hints of background ‘sea’ of gravity waves

12 January 2021 Astronomy Now

By measuring subtle changes in the timing of millisecond pulsar flashes, researchers are close to confirming the presence of a background “sea” of gravity waves.

Review board recommends extending Juno and Insight missions

8 January 2021 Astronomy Now

An independent review board has recommended that NASA extend the Juno and InSight missions now studying Jupiter and Mars.

Galaxy collisions highlight another year in space for Hubble

7 January 2021 Astronomy Now

Galaxy mergers provide spectacular targets for the Hubble Space Telescope as it enters new year in space.

A stunning intermediate spiral, a brilliant Seyfert galaxy, shows off a compact core

7 January 2021 Astronomy Now

The Hubble Space Telescope captures a bird’s eye view of an energetic Seyfert galaxy, showing a compact, brilliant core that likely harbours a supermassive black hole.

NASA approves preliminary design of SPHEREx space telescope

5 January 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA presses ahead with SPHEREx space telescope to search for evidence of inflation, to chart galactic history and map organic compounds.

Caught on the hook

5 January 2021 Astronomy Now

A curving arm of the spiral galaxy NGC 2442 trails into extragalactic space in this glorious image from the Hubble Space Telescope.