Archive – Page 305 – Astronomy Now

Pluto: the ice plot thickens

16 July 2015 Astronomy Now

The latest spectra from New Horizons Ralph instrument reveal an abundance of methane ice, but with striking differences from place to place across the frozen surface of Pluto. Methane ice in the dwarf planet’s north polar cap is diluted in a thick, transparent slab of nitrogen ice.

Pluto and Charon as never seen before

15 July 2015 Stephen Clark

A spectacular sampling of imagery from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reveals mountains and water ice bedrock on Pluto, an active crust on its largest moon Charon and the first resolved views of the icy world’s tiny mini-moons.

NASA to release new Pluto images Wednesday

15 July 2015 Stephen Clark

Scientists are crunching data for a 1900 GMT press conference Wednesday, and there is high anticipation for the release of the first close-up images from Tuesday’s historic flyby of Pluto.

Brazilian-led team leading the search for a Solar System 2.0

15 July 2015 Astronomy Now

A newly discovered planet orbiting a star known as HIP 11915 is the most accurate analogue yet found for the Sun and Jupiter. HIP 11915 is about the same age and composition as the Sun, suggesting that there may also be rocky Earth-like planets orbiting closer to the star.

Ground team receives New Horizons signal

15 July 2015 Stephen Clark

A long-awaited radio signal from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft landed on planet Earth late Tuesday, confirming the faraway space probe performed as expected during a one-shot flyby of Pluto at the solar system’s outer frontier.

Scientists wowed by new views of ‘psychedelic’ Pluto

15 July 2015 Stephen Clark

Pluto and its Texas-sized moon Charon share an alien environment on the solar system’s outer frontier, with patches of organic ices and diverse rock types illustrated in color imagery released Tuesday.

Humanity’s first ambassador to Pluto makes historic flyby

14 July 2015 Stephen Clark

A speedy space probe barreled past Pluto for a one-shot flyby Tuesday, becoming the first spacecraft to ever visit the frozen, reddish world at the solar system’s distant frontier.

Take a sneak peek at Pluto

14 July 2015 Astronomy Now

Take a look at a sneak peak of Pluto taken Monday at a range of 766,000 kilometre (476,000 miles), about 16 hours before New Horizons’ closest approach.

How big is Pluto? New Horizons settles decades-long debate

13 July 2015 Astronomy Now

The true size of Pluto has been debated since its discovery over 85 years ago. New Horizons’ mission scientists can now answer that question with certainty, confirming that Pluto is larger than all other known Solar System objects beyond the orbit of Neptune.

Galaxy with a view

13 July 2015 Astronomy Now

The Hubble Space Telescope’s high-resolution Advanced Camera for Surveys captures this detailed portrait of beautiful spiral galaxy LEDA 89996 in the southern constellation of Dorado in a view that measures just four-fifths of an arcminute wide.