Archive – Page 108 – Astronomy Now

Juno captures Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and a smaller rival

18 January 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Juno spacecraft continues capturing stunning view of Jupiter and its turbulent atmosphere, including this spectacular shot of the Great Red Spot and a small companion storm in the planet’s southern hemisphere.

Cassini data shows Saturn’s rings likely a recent phenomenon

18 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Analysis of data collected near the end of the Cassini spacecraft’s mission to Saturn indicate the planet’s spectacular rings are a relatively recent phenomenon.

A viewing guide to the totally eclipsed supermoon of 21 January

17 January 2019 Ade Ashford

While you may not relish the prospect of waking up in the small hours most Monday mornings, observers in the British Isles and Western Europe will want to set their alarms no later than 5am GMT on 21 January to see this month’s showstopper celestial event — a total lunar eclipse of an unusually close ‘supermoon’. The total lunar eclipse is also visible in its entirety (weather permitting) from the Americas.

Hypernova sheds new light on how massive stars die

17 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers observing a hypernova 500 million light years away have found an explanation for why some generate gamma ray bursts and others do not.

Binary star system found with polar dust disc

17 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found a binary star system with a ring of debris tilted at right angles to the plane of the stars’ orbit, indicating planets likely can form in a wide variety of orientations.

A star’s death sheds light on black hole’s spin

14 January 2019 Astronomy Now

The remains of a destroyed star in a disc of shredded debris around a supermassive black hole showed the hole was spinning at more than half the speed of light.

Astronomers debate an unprecedented “holy cow” outburst

13 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers are debating what triggered an explosion of light in a galaxy 200 million like years away that was 10 to 100 times brighter than a typical supernova.

The Moon invades the Hyades, close to bright star Aldebaran on 17 January

13 January 2019 Ade Ashford

As dusk fades to dark on Thursday, 17 January, observers in the British Isles and Western Europe can see the rising 10-day-old Moon less than 1 degree away from first-magnitude star Aldebaran in the constellation of Taurus. Grab your binoculars to enjoy the sight of the gibbous Moon amid the Hyades open star cluster too.

A dazzling swirl of suns in the northern sky

13 January 2019 Astronomy Now

NGC 6946, nicknamed the “Fireworks Galaxy,” presents a dazzling spectacle in the northern sky between the constellations Cygnus and Cepheus as viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope and Japan’s Subaru Telescope in Hawaii.

Hubble spies brightest known quasar in the early universe

11 January 2019 Astronomy Now

The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted the brightest quasar ever seen in the early universe, an active galactic nucleus shining 11 trillion times brighter than the Sun.