Archive – Page 104 – Astronomy Now

NASA selects nine teams to study unopened Apollo moon samples

12 March 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA has selected nine teams to study pristine soil samples brought back from the moon by Apollo astronauts that have remained unopened for 50 years.

Originally left out of famous catalogue, M106 blazes in Hubble view

11 March 2019 Astronomy Now

Stunning views of M106, aka NGC 4258, show the nearby galaxy as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope combined with data provided by two amateur astronomers. An additional view from Hubble shows the galaxy’s subtle ultraviolet glow.

Milky Way tips the scales at 1.5 trillion solar masses

11 March 2019 Astronomy Now

Data from ESA’s Gaia spacecraft and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope show the Milky Way galaxy tips the scales at around 1.5 trillion solar masses.

Seek out 3C 273, the brightest optical quasar, in the spring sky

7 March 2019 Ade Ashford

Plumb the hidden depths of spring’s deep-sky by seeking out 3C 273, the optically-brightest quasi-stellar object (QSO) in the constellation of Virgo. Quasars are the intensely luminous centres of very distant and active galaxies, powered by a supermassive black hole. And don’t worry that you need a huge ‘scope to see it – a 15-cm (6-inch) instrument and a clear, moonless night are all you need.

Mars “mole” struggles to hammer its way past obstacles

6 March 2019 Astronomy Now

A German temperature probe carried to Mars aboard NASA’s InSight lander is struggling to hammer its way past sub-surface obstacles.

Shattering an in-bound asteroid may be tougher than thought

4 March 2019 Astronomy Now

A new computer model indicates it may be tougher to break up a large asteroid on a collision course with Earth than previously believed.

Planet-hunting ESO telescopes reveal Lagoon Nebula in all its glory

4 March 2019 Astronomy Now

The European Southern Observatory’s new SPECULOOS telescopes, built to search for exoplanets orbiting nearby stars, shows off its sensitive near-infrared optics and cameras with a spectacular view of the Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius.

See the old Moon between Venus and Saturn at dawn on 2 March

28 February 2019 Ade Ashford

On Saturday, 2 March 2019, observers in Western Europe should seek a location offering a level and unobstructed southeastern view at civil dawn (some 36 minutes before sunrise in the heart of the UK) to have a chance of seeing the 25-day-old waning crescent Moon between Venus in Capricornus and Saturn in Sagittarius with the unaided eye.

Intermediate mass black hole found near galactic centre

28 February 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers studying a swirling cloud of gas near the centre of the Milky Way have found what appears to be an intermediate mass black hole.

Cataclysmic neutron star merger generates powerful jet

27 February 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers studying the aftermath of the merger of two neutron stars have found what appears to be a powerful jet blasting through a shell of debris.