Archive – Page 125 – Astronomy Now

Hubble’s BUFFALO project looks back at the big picture

13 September 2018 Astronomy Now

The Hubble Space Telescope is re-visiting six huge galaxy clusters, taking wide-angle views to help astronomers understand more about how galaxies were distributed across the early universe and what governed their evolution.

Artificial intelligence used to find undetected fast radio bursts

12 September 2018 Astronomy Now

Artificial intelligence algorithms found 72 previously undetected fast radio bursts in a source 3 billion light years from Earth, demonstrating a powerful new tool for radio astronomers faced sifting through enormous amounts of data.

ESO captures a ‘galactic gem’ floating amid a sea of stars

12 September 2018 Astronomy Now

The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope captured a sublime view of galaxy NGC 3981 some 65 million light years from Earth, showing stretched out spiral arms that may indicate past gravitational encounters with other nearby galaxies.

Neutron star merger generated illusion of superluminal jet

10 September 2018 Astronomy Now

The merger of two neutron stars, observed in August, created two powerful jets streaming away into space at nearly the speed of light, in agreement with theoretical predictions and shedding new light on gamma ray bursts.

Revisiting a jaw-dropping Hubble view of Saturn and its moons

10 September 2018 Astronomy Now

The Hubble Space Telescope captured this spectacular view of Saturn last June, showing six of the ringed planet’s moons, during an ongoing study of outer planet atmospheres. This view expands on an earlier version posted here in July.

Dawn probe nears end of successful mission to Vesta, Ceres

8 September 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, almost out of fuel for maintaining its orientation and aiming its antenna toward Earth, is nearing the end of its life after a trail-blazing 11-year mission orbiting the asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres.

See space rock 2018 RC whizz by Earth closer than the Moon this weekend

7 September 2018 Ade Ashford

Like buses, you can wait ages for a near-Earth asteroid – then two come along in quick succession. This weekend you also have the opportunity to view a 70-metre-wide space rock known as 2018 RC in backyard telescopes of 6-inch (15-cm) aperture and larger as its hurtles past Earth closer than the Moon.

Curiosity panorama shows still-dusty Mars from Vera Rubin Ridge

7 September 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover paused its research last month to snap images for a spectacular 360-degree panorama showing the robot’s view from Vera Rubin Ridge on the lower slopes of Mount Sharp, revealing a still-dusty world in the aftermath of a global dust storm.

Two galaxies collide leaving luminous ring of collapsed stars

7 September 2018 Astronomy Now

Observations of a ring galaxy, the result of a cosmic collision with another galaxy more than 300 million years ago, reveal a necklace-like ring of ultraluminous X-ray sources powered by black holes, neutron stars or both.

Fierce molecular winds slow runaway starbirth in early galaxy

6 September 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have detected a powerful molecular wind being blasted away from a starburst galaxy in the early universe, the earliest example yet of a mechanism thought to prevent galaxies from growing too large too fast.