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News: March 2011

MESSENGER's images tell the tale of mysterious Mercury

Fresh images of Mercury show previously unseen regions of the scorching, metallic world as scientists on Earth brace for an onslaught of data shedding light on the planet's internal structure and mineral make-up.

READ MORE

 

The rose-red glow of star formation

The vivid red cloud in this new image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope is a region of glowing hydrogen surrounding the star cluster NGC 371. This stellar nursery lies in our neighbouring galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud.

ESO IMAGE RELEASE

 

Magnetic fields whip up a storm around black hole

The creation of powerful jets of particles blasting out from a black hole has been observed by the European Space Agency’s INTEGRAL (INTErnational Gamma Ray Astrophysics Laboratory) spacecraft, confirming our ideas for what powers these immense beams of radiation.

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A stripy supernova explosion

New observations of the well-studied Tycho supernova remnant by the Chandra X-ray Observatory has revealed a pattern of stripes never before seen in a supernova explosion, which could be responsible for Earth-bound cosmic rays.

READ MORE

 

Brown dwarf pair
cool as coffee

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have detected a pair of brown dwarf stars, one of which barely exceeds the temperature of a freshly made mug of coffee – extraordinarily cold for a stellar surface.

READ MORE

 

Spring showers on Titan

The Cassini spacecraft has spotted the first evidence for methane rain soaking the surface around equatorial regions of Saturn's moon Titan.

READ MORE

 

MESSENGER enters orbit around Mercury

After a 6.5 year journey around the inner Solar System, the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranger spacecraft, MESSENGER, has become the first to ever enter orbit around innermost planet Mercury.

READ MORE

 

Hubble snaps close-up of the Tarantula Nebula

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced an outstanding image of part of the famous Tarantula Nebula, a vast star-forming cloud of gas and dust in our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud.

HUBBLE IMAGE RELEASE

 

Research finds asteroid Itokawa is an ancient rock

A preliminary analysis of asteroid samples returned last year by Japan's Hayabusa probe show evidence the dust grains have a similar composition to stony meteorites that commonly fall to Earth.

READ MORE

 

Discovery's final landing marks beginning of the end

The shuttle Discovery made a graceful landing at Kennedy Space Center today, returning from her final voyage after a remarkable three-decade life of service spanning 39 flights, 5,830 orbits of the planet, 365 days spent aloft and 148 million miles traveled.

READ MORE

 

Interview with astronauts on the ISS

Astronomy Now's Emily Baldwin makes a call to the International Space Station to ask about their astronomical observation activities, and what they think will inspire the next generation of astronauts as the shuttle program comes to an end.

WATCH NOW

 

New images of
beta Pictoris planet

New observations of beta Pictoris’ giant planet confirm its movement around the star, as well as establishing the planet’s mass and temperature.

READ MORE

 

The dusty disc of NGC 247

This image of NGC 247, taken by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, reveals the fine details of this highly inclined spiral galaxy and its rich backdrop.

ESO image release

 

A well-travelled meteorite

Analysis of a pea-sized chunk of meteorite dating back to the dawn of the Solar System provides the first evidence that dust particles bound up in these ancient rocks are well-travelled and have experienced a range of environments.

READ MORE

 
 

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2010 Yearbook
Our latest 132-page Astronomy Now special edition is an extravaganza of astronomy for the year ahead, with a complete 30-page guide to observing the planets, moon, meteor showers, two solar eclipses, and the deep sky in 2010.
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Take the tour!
A 100-page special edition from the creators of Astronomy Now magazine, The Grand Tour of the Universe takes readers from one end of the Universe to the other and, in doing so, asks the question "just how big is the Universe?"
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Infinity Rising
This special publication features the photography of British astro-imager Nik Szymanek and covers a range of photographic methods from basic to advanced. Beautiful pictures of the night sky can be obtained with a simple camera and tripod before tackling more difficult projects, such as guided astrophotography through the telescope and CCD imaging.
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Guide to the Constellations
Astronomy Now presents this 100-page, full-colour guide to the 68 constellations visible from the British Isles by Neil Bone, the respected amateur astronomer and writer.
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Exploring Mars
Astronomy Now is pleased to announce the publication of Exploring Mars. The very best images of Mars taken by orbiting spacecraft and NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers fill up the 98 glossy pages of this special edition!
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