Archive – Page 351 – Astronomy Now

Taurid meteors put on celestial fireworks show this month

3 November 2014 Mark Armstrong

The Taurids meteor shower is active throughout November with a double radiant and a double peak. Observers can usually expect around 10 meteors per hour from dark sky locations.

Rosetta shifts into higher orbit to dispatch Philae lander on 12 November

1 November 2014 Astronomy Now

The European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe has shifted into a higher orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in readiness for the release of its Philae lander on 12 November.

Curiosity rover shows off its tattoo

1 November 2014 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured an image of the ‘tattoo’ on its arm, with the rocks at the base of Mount Sharp as a backdrop.

Ghosts on the Moon at Halloween

31 October 2014 Astronomy Now

Peter Grego gets into the Halloween spirit by picking out some ghostly craters to thrill those treating themselves to an evening of lunar gazing.

Cassini sees sunny seas on Titan

31 October 2014 Astronomy Now

This near-infrared, colour mosaic from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows the sun glinting off of Titan’s north polar seas.

Hubble Space Telescope sees ‘ghost light’ from dead galaxies

30 October 2014 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has picked up the faint, ghostly glow of stars ejected from ancient galaxies that were gravitationally ripped apart several billion years ago.

Mercury’s morning show

30 October 2014 Mark Armstrong

If you’ve never seen the Solar System’s innermost planet before, now is your chance, as long as early morning starts don’t worry you!

Moon probe’s impact crater found

30 October 2014 Astronomy Now

NASA’S Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has spied a new crater on the lunar surface; one made from the impact of NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission.

If it were possible to breath in space, one would smell a pungent aroma of rotten eggs, ammonia, vinegary sulphur dioxide and toxic hydrogen cyanide coming from comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, according to sensors on the Rosetta mission.

ESA’s ‘ambitious’ step into science fiction for Rosetta

29 October 2014 Keith Cooper

The European Space Agency’s first foray into science fiction, in the form of a short film entitled Ambition that promotes the Rosetta mission, may herald a new way in which science outreach can be conducted.