News: September 2010
Goldilocks exoworld discovered
One of two new planets discovered in the Gliese 581 system is three Earth masses and lies square in the middle of the star's habitable zone, boosting its chances of hosting conditions suitable for life.  READ MORE
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Pan-STARRS finds potentially hazardous asteroid
The latest asteroid hunting survey, the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS, or PS1), has found its first potentially hazardous object. READ MORE
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Analysis of Hayabusa samples will wait until 2011
Scientists won't know whether Japan's Hayabusa probe actually returned asteroid dust until at least February or March, when researchers finish extracting microscopic particles from the craft's return capsule and complete an exhaustive analysis to verify their origin. READ MORE
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An alien's view
of our Solar System
New computer simulations that track the interactions of thousands of dust grains show what our Solar System might look like to extra-terrestrials. READ MORE
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Shining light on
dark stellar cocoons
By studying light that has bounced off dark stellar dust clouds, astronomers are gleaning new information on the earliest phases of star formation. READ MORE
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Cassini scoops Saturn's aurora
A stunning animation of Saturn's aurora created from 1,000 images, and the first observations from within the planet's radio aurora, were presented today at the European Planetary Science Congress. READ MORE
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Magnetic anomalies
shield the Moon
Evidence for magnetic anomalies strongly deflecting the solar wind from the lunar surface was presented at the European Planetary Science Congress today. READ MORE
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Venus polar vortex
all shook up
New animations created from ESA's Venus Express mission show striking changes in the vortex that rides around the planet's south pole, its double-eyed feature currently absent. READ MORE
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'Hide-and-seek' carbon dioxide ice uncovered
The strange disappearance of carbon dioxide ice in early martian spring followed by its sudden reappearance is explained by the planet's very active water cycle, and strong winds, say scientists presenting their findings at the European Planetary Science Congress this week. READ MORE
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Venus' lightning
similar to Earth's
Despite the huge differences between Venus' and Earth's atmospheres, data from ESA's Venus Express satellite finds that the planets produce lightning in surprisingly similar ways. READ MORE
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Rosetta looks south
for landing site
A new study of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko reveals that the southern hemisphere of the comet will present the safest landing site for ESA's Rosetta mission to deliver its lander, Philae. READ MORE
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Seasons of change on Titan
Using some 2,000 Cassini images, planetary scientists are putting together a picture of Titan's seasons, which last seven Earth years. READ MORE
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Amateur astronomer teams up with ESO and Faulkes
As part of a collaboration with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Faulkes Telescope South (FTS), Astronomy Now contributor and amateur astronomer Nick Howes has imaged stars in the massive star cluster Westerlund 1. READ MORE
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Phobos born
from Mars impact
New evidence from ESA's Mars Express and NASA's Mars Global Surveyor missions supports the idea that martian moon Phobos was born from a catastrophic impact on the surface of the red planet. READ MORE
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Seasonal changes
in Mars' methane
Using three martian years worth of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) data, scientists presenting their results at the European Planetary Science Congress in Rome this week find that methane in the red planet's atmosphere follows an annual cycle. READ MORE
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Venus' hot atmosphere
cools its interior
A new computer model finds that heat in Venus' hot atmosphere could have led to a cooling effect within the planet's interior. READ MORE
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Jupiter's close approach
Jupiter steals the show this week as it reaches opposition, and its closest approach to the Earth since 1963. READ MORE
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LRO exposes Moon's
complex youth
Three papers featuring in the current issue of the journal Science describe new findings from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on the Moon's tumultuous history. READ MORE
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3D simulations show asymmetric supernovae
New 3D simulations of supernova explosions take astronomers a step closer to understanding the most powerful events in the Universe. READ MORE
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BP Piscium's identity crisis
A star that displays a gaseous disc and a pair of jets blasting out of it, typical characteristics of a young star, could in fact be more evolved than our own Sun. READ MORE
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Liquid water and volcanic activity on Mars
Data from NASA’s Phoenix Lander has revealed surprising insights into the past geological and chemical composition of Mars. READ MORE
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Supernova shrapnel
found in meteorite
Traces of an ancient supernova event have been identified in a meteorite, explaining the curious chemical fingerprints found in the rock. READ MORE
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Hot Earths have atmospheres of rock
Hot rocky exoplanets may have atmospheres of vapourised rock, says Brian Jackson of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre, USA at the Exoclimes conference at the University of Exeter. READ MORE
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Mapping new worlds
Mapping the surface of an exoplanet, or even the cloud tops of a turbulent gaseous hot jupiter, is possible even if we cannot capture direct images of the planets themselves, revealed astronomers at this week’s Exoclimes conference. READ MORE
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Detecting alien volcanoes
Astronomers using the future James Webb Space Telescope could potentially detect volcanic activity on distant Earth-like exoplanets, say Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics theorists. READ MORE
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Spiral galaxies grow by swallowing dwarfs
A new survey, based on deep-field observations of spiral and dwarf galaxies, has provided a deeper insight into the growth of spiral galaxies. READ MORE
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Hot jupiters kick up a storm
Intense heat from the nearby star of a hot Jupiter is creating turbulent storms that envelope the entire planet. READ MORE
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Methane mystery
on Gliese 436b
Observations by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope of light from the exoplanet Gliese 436b have identified an atmosphere filled with carbon monoxide but exhibiting a puzzling lack of methane, says Professor Joseph Harrington at the Exoclimes conference at the University of Exeter this week.
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Two asteroids
approach Earth
Two small asteroids will pass the Earth this week, within the distance of the Moon. READ MORE
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Pro-am collaborations crucial for Jupiter studies
Amateur observations of Jupiter are of vital importance to professional astronomers working to figure out the mysteries of the Jovian atmosphere, says Dr Leigh Fletcher of the University of Oxford, who gave a presentation about recent activity on the giant planet at the Exoclimes conference in Exeter this week. READ MORE
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Hot titans would be
Venus like worlds
A planetary scientist from the University of Michigan suggests that astronomers could in the future look for hot versions of Saturn’s moon Titan around other stars.
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Just add starlight!
A giant cloud of hot water vapour surrounding a dying star can only be explained by the interaction of ultraviolet starlight breaking down molecules, according to new data from ESA's Herschel space observatory. READ MORE
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Starbursts and superwinds
A new visible light image from ESO captures a galaxy bursting with star formation and expelling a 'superwind' of gas. READ MORE
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Colliding clusters turn on radio halos
A study of 32 galaxy clusters using the Chandra Space Observatory and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) shows that collisions between clusters trigger huge radio halos.
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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.
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?"
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.
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.
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!