Archive – Page 14 – Astronomy Now

New comet predicted to brighten rapidly as it sprints Sunwards

18 August 2023 Mark Armstrong

Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) is a brand new comet discovered by on August 11 by Hideo Nishimura of Japan. In its one and only visit to the Solar System, it may reach magnitude +2 when at perihelion in September.

Celestial pyrotechnics in NGC 6946, the Fireworks Galaxy

14 August 2023 Mark Armstrong

NGC 6946 is a marvellously handsome-looking galaxy, with its enticing ‘pinwheel’ spiral structure set in a star-sparkling field for those imagers looking for the prettiest of pictures.

Perseids peak this weekend

8 August 2023 Mark Armstrong

The Perseid meteor shower, the year’s most popular shooting star show, reaches its predicted maximum activity this weekend, with the Moon’s glare not such a factor this time around.

Ancient open cluster NGC 6791: towards the dawn of the Universe in Lyra

7 August 2023 Mark Armstrong

NGC 6791 is well placed on August nights; located under 10 degrees east of brilliant Vega (alpha [α] Lyrae), it rides high and can be observed throughout the darkening nights.

Hubble images a glittering, star-studded globular cluster

6 August 2023 Astronomy Now

A star-studded image of a globular cluster near the core of the Milky Way serves as a reminder that the Hubble Space Telescope continues to wow astronomers with its powerful, crystal-clear vision.

NASA picks up faint carrier signal from Voyager 2

2 August 2023 Astronomy Now

NASA picks up faint carrier signal from Voyager 2, indicating the spacecraft is still functioning after antenna misalignment.

Webb observes menagerie of lensed galaxies behind ‘El Gordo’ cluster

2 August 2023 Astronomy Now

Webb peers into a massive galaxy cluster and finds a stunning menagerie of gravitationally lensed background galaxies from earlier epochs, again revealing the power of the telescope’s infrared vision.

JunoCam images and expert ‘citizen-scientist’ processing provides stunning portrait of Jupiter and three of its Galilean moons

1 August 2023 Astronomy Now

A family portrait of Jupiter and three of its Galilean moons shows off the skills of two “citizen scientists” using public domain imagery from NASA’s Juno orbiter.

Razor-sharp test images show Euclid’s instruments performing as expected

31 July 2023 Astronomy Now

The Euclid space telescope has reached its operational orbit and initial test images show the probe’s two instruments are operating in fine fashion as they’re fine tuned for science observations.

NASA loses touch with Voyager 2; waits for craft to ‘phone home’

31 July 2023 Astronomy Now

Flight controllers mistakenly commanded Voyager 2 to point slightly away from Earth, interrupting communications, but the spacecraft is expected to reset itself in October.