Archive – Page 109 – Astronomy Now

Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 expected back on line soon

10 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Engineers are optimistic they can safely return the Wide Field Camera 3 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope to normal operation after a fault 8 January.

Direct evidence of white dwarf crystallisation found

10 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Using data collected by ESA’s Gaia spacecraft, researchers have found direct evidence that white dwarfs eventually crystallise as they slowly cool after running out of fuel.

Habitable worlds orbiting dwarf stars may not be commonplace after all

9 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope and ESO’s Very Large Telescope indicate processes that may limit the habitability of planets orbiting dwarf stars.

Hardware problem knocks Hubble camera off line

9 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Engineers are troubleshooting a hardware problem with the Wide Field Camera 3, one of the Hubble Space Telescope’s premier science instruments.

TESS on track to revolutionise exoplanet astronomy

8 January 2019 Astronomy Now

In just three months, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, discovered three confirmed worlds, 280 candidates and six supernovae.

Most detailed view yet of M33 captured in Hubble mosaic

7 January 2019 Astronomy Now

A stunning mosaic made up of 54 Hubble Space Telescope images resolves nearly 25 million stars in the most detailed view yet of M33.

See the Moon meet the Red Planet at dusk on 12 January 2019

7 January 2019 Ade Ashford

Observers should direct their gaze to the southern sky at dusk on Saturday, 12 January to view the 6-day-old waxing Moon in the constellation of Pisces. Look a little closer around 6pm GMT in the UK this night to see Mars as a magnitude +0.6 orange-coloured ‘star’ above the lunar crescent. If you own wide-angle 7× or 8× binoculars, you can see the Moon and Red Planet in the same field of view.

Venus dazzles at dawn, farthest west of the Sun on 6 January 2019

5 January 2019 Ade Ashford

Brilliant planet Venus attains its greatest elongation almost 47° west of the Sun at dawn in the UK on Sunday, 6 January. Find a location that offers you a view down to the southeast horizon around 7am GMT and you may catch a glimpse of Jupiter too. The planetary duo is currently 14 degrees apart, but drawing nearer for a close conjunction on 22 January.

Caught in the act, a young star lights up surrounding nebula in veil of glory

5 January 2019 Astronomy Now

A hot young star about 15 times more massive than the Sun, nearing the translation to main sequence maturity, lights up its parent nebula in a blaze of ionised hydrogen.

The Sun expected to ride out a looming galactic merger

4 January 2019 Astronomy Now

A collision between the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud in about 1.5 billion years likely will re-energize the supermassive black hole lurking in our galaxy’s core.