Archive

Bright nova in the heart of Sagittarius — still erratically variable

16 March 2015 Ade Ashford

Australian astronomer John Seach discovered a nova in Sagittarius on March 15th that’s still an easy binocular object for Southern Hemisphere observers and a challenge worth attempting in the dawn twilight of southern counties UK.

Download NASA’s Asteroid Data Hunter software and help save the planet

16 March 2015 Astronomy Now

New free software for home computers based on an algorithm created through NASA’s Asteroid Grand Challenge has the potential to increase the number of new asteroid discoveries by enabling amateur astronomers to analyse their own images.

OSIRIS detects water ice in the neck of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

16 March 2015 Astronomy Now

The Hapi region of 67P is located between the comet’s two lobes and has proven to be particularly active, displaying a bluish reflectivity spectrum in colour images captured with Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera. This strongly suggests that frozen water is mixed with the dust at the surface.

Our complete guide to seeing the solar eclipse in safety

15 March 2015 Astronomy Now

Our complete guide to observing Friday’s large partial eclipse. Find out how observers across the UK and Europe can witness this large partial eclipse in safety.

Rosetta begins listening for signs of life from comet lander

14 March 2015 Stephen Clark

Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft is trying to contact the Philae landing probe for the first time since the robot fell silent after a bouncy landing on a comet in November.

Boldly gone, but we can still see your asteroid, Mr. Spock

13 March 2015 Ade Ashford

As a nice way to celebrate the memory of the late Leonard Nimoy, over the coming week astrophotographers have a chance to image the 13-mile-wide minor planet named after Mr. Spock, the Star Trek character he shall always be most closely associated with.

Hubble views of Ganymede’s aurorae suggest a vast salty subsurface ocean

13 March 2015 Astronomy Now

Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is the largest moon in our Solar System and the only moon with its own magnetic field. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has the best evidence yet for a 60-mile deep underground saline ocean on Ganymede, believed to contain more water than all the water on Earth’s surface.