Archive – Page 267 – Astronomy Now

NASA applauds Japanese spacecraft Akatsuki’s rendezvous with Venus

10 December 2015 Astronomy Now

Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft got another shot at Venus after a main engine failure during a crucial orbital-insertion burn meant it zipped past the planet on its first attempt in December 2010. The probe spent five years orbiting the Sun so it could catch up with Venus to try again on 7 December. The successful nail-biting manoeuvre is being celebrated by NASA scientists, eager to learn more about the atmosphere and climate of Earth’s enigmatic sister planet.

New clues to dwarf planet Ceres’ bright spots and origins

9 December 2015 Astronomy Now

The surface of Ceres, whose average diameter is 584 miles, is generally dark and similar in brightness to fresh asphalt. But the dwarf planet does possess 130 mysterious bright areas associated with impact craters that new research suggests are salt-rich areas left behind when briny water-ice from a subsurface layer sublimated in the past.

Mysterious star remains silent on the SETI front

9 December 2015 Keith Cooper

A mysterious star that erratically dims by nearly a quarter as a swarm of unknown objects passes in front of it – leading to speculations that artificial objects could be orbiting the star – continues to refuse to give up its secrets after a search for laser pulses from the system turned up empty.

Colliding neutron stars seeded solar nebula with heavy elements

9 December 2015 Keith Cooper

Heavy elements present at the dawn of the Solar System were produced by a nearby merger of two neutron stars, which unleashed a powerful gamma-ray burst, according to astronomers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

VLT studies mysterious dwarf galaxy born in cosmic collision

9 December 2015 Astronomy Now

The spectacular aftermath of a 360 million year old cosmic collision is revealed in great detail in new images from ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Among the debris is a rare and mysterious young dwarf galaxy. This galaxy is providing astronomers with an excellent opportunity to learn more about similar galaxies that are expected to be common in the early universe, but are normally too faint and distant to be observed by current telescopes.

Saturn’s moon Prometheus seen up close

9 December 2015 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft spied details on the pockmarked surface of Saturn’s moon Prometheus (86 kilometres, or 53 miles across) during a moderately close flyby on 6 December 2015. This is one of Cassini’s highest resolution views of Prometheus, a moon which orbits Saturn just interior to the narrow F ring, which is seen here at top.

Get ready for the Geminid meteor shower!

8 December 2015 Ade Ashford

The Geminids of 8—17 December are widely regarded as the most active and consistent annual meteor shower, with peak predicted rates of 100 shooting stars per hour under dark skies. With new Moon occurring on Friday, 11 December, prospects for this year’s Geminid display are therefore expected to be very favourable — UK weather permitting!

The brilliant core of a starburst galaxy

8 December 2015 Astronomy Now

This image taken by NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcases the brilliant core of NGC 1569 in the constellation Camelopardalis, one of the most active galaxies in our local neighbourhood. The entire core is 5000 light-years wide.

Princeton Tec Remix Red LED Headtorch

8 December 2015 Steve Ringwood

Reviewer Steve Ringwood appraises a headband flashlight that enables night vision with due respect to the needs of astronomy. White and dark-adaption red illumination is provided by one white and three red LEDs, respectively, in a 83g low-profile unit that does not protrude like some that aspire to Dalek-like proportions.

How We’ll Live on Mars

8 December 2015 Astronomy Now

Stephen Petranek’s book does not deal with the reasons for exploring the Red Planet, but does outline many of the problems that will be encountered getting to Mars and overcome in order to live on its surface. Reviewer Greg Smye-Rumsby states that the book touches on many aspects of space travel and independent living on Mars, but does so at the cost of detail. “However … it certainly has crammed a great deal in. A worthwhile read,” he says.