Archive – Page 164 – Astronomy Now

Gravity wave’s detected in Sun’s interior reveal rapidly rotating core

8 August 2017 Astronomy Now

Scientists using the ESA/NASA SOHO solar observatory have found long-sought gravity modes of seismic vibration that imply the Sun’s core is rotating four times faster than its surface.

New Horizons’ next target might be a binary pair

8 August 2017 Stephen Clark

Ground observations of the New Horizons spacecraft’s next target last month revealed the distant object, lurking in the outer Solar System more than four billion miles from Earth, might have an unconventional elongated shape, or even consist of two icy bodies orbiting one another in an age-old cosmic dance.

Survey reveals most accurate measurement of dark matter structure in the Universe

5 August 2017 Astronomy Now

Scientists have unveiled the most accurate measurement ever made of the present large-scale structure of the Universe by studying the mysterious forces of dark matter and dark energy.

Cassini finds molecule in Titan’s atmosphere that could give rise to organics

3 August 2017 Astronomy Now

The international Cassini-Huygens mission has made a surprising detection of a molecule that is instrumental in the production of complex organics within the hazy atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan.

Hubble detects exoplanet with glowing water atmosphere

2 August 2017 Astronomy Now

Scientists have discovered the strongest evidence to date for a stratosphere on a planet outside our solar system, or exoplanet. A stratosphere is a layer of atmosphere in which temperature increases with higher altitudes.

Astronomers discover ‘heavy metal’ supernova rocking out

2 August 2017 Astronomy Now

Many rock stars don’t like to play by the rules, and a cosmic one is no exception. A team of astronomers has discovered that an extraordinarily bright supernova occurred in a surprising location. This “heavy metal” supernova discovery challenges current ideas of how and where such super-charged supernovas occur.

See the International Space Station, Moon and Saturn in the UK sky tonight

2 August 2017 Ade Ashford

The serene beauty of the International Space Station sailing silently overhead needs nothing more than the naked eye to appreciate. But when the dazzling ISS is also in conjunction with a pair of prominent Solar System bodies — such at the Moon and Saturn on the night of 2 August 2017 in the UK — you may wish to grab your binoculars and look low in the south-southwest just before 11:20pm BST.

TS Photoline 60mm f/5.5 apo travel ‘scope

31 July 2017 Ade Ashford

It’s holiday time again and the keen observer is faced with the usual dilemma: how does one carry a telescope small enough to be useful to far-flung dark and exotic skies? Fortunately for globe-trotters concerned about optical size and weight, Telescope Service in Germany has the TSAPO60 — a compact and very versatile photo-visual 60mm f/5.5 ED refractor.

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot seen in its true colours

30 July 2017 Astronomy Now

This true-colour image of Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot (GRS) was created by citizen scientist Björn Jónsson using data from the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

Possible exomoon signal found

29 July 2017 Keith Cooper

Strong hints have been found of a possible exomoon candidate orbiting a gas giant planet over 4,000 light years away in the constellation of Cygnus the Swan. Should the moon be confirmed later this year by the Hubble Space Telescope, it will be the first moon ever discovered around a planet beyond our Solar System.