Archive – Page 44 – Astronomy Now

A stunning vista from the Curiosity Mars rover captures changing environment

20 August 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Curiosity rover beams back a stunning panorama from the slopes of Mount Sharp showing signs of transition between past and present environments.

Everything you need to know about planet Venus

18 August 2021 Astronomy Now

The second planet from the Sun, Venus is often described as Earth’s evil twin, with a climate that has dramatically diverged from Earth’s.

Everything You Need to Know About Planet Mercury

18 August 2021 Astronomy Now

The innermost planet, Mercury, may be the smallest in the Solar System, but it’s also home to some big surprises.

Dominant Jupiter comes to opposition

17 August 2021 Mark Armstrong

Mighty Jupiter, the king of the planets and the most observer-friendly planet of all, comes to opposition on the night of 19/20 August (Thursday night/Friday morning).

M61, a face-on titan of the Virgo galaxy cluster, reveals its star-studded structure

17 August 2021 Astronomy Now

One of the largest members of the Virgo galaxy cluster, M61 presents a spectacular face-on view of densely populated spiral arms and a brilliant stellar nucleus hosting a supermassive black hole.

Sodium jets may explain asteroid Phaethon’s comet-like brightening

17 August 2021 Astronomy Now

When does an asteroid behave like a comet? Perhaps when sub-surface sodium heats up and fizzes into space during a close pass by the Sun.

Ripples in innermost rings show Saturn’s ‘fuzzy’ core wobbles

16 August 2021 Astronomy Now

Ripples in Saturn’s innermost rings indicate the planet’s core is a thick “soup” of material that sloshes about slightly, creating detectable gravitational fluctuations.

Targeted rock, not Mars rover, to blame for failed sample collection try

12 August 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA engineers say the Perseverance Mars rover’s failed attempt collect a borehole sample was due to the nature of the targeted rock, not a problem with the rover.

Superflares may be less threatening than originally thought

11 August 2021 Astronomy Now

Superflares from red dwarf stars, long thought to be a threat to orbiting exoplanets, may not be as dangerous as previously thought, researchers say.

RS Ophiuchi in a rare outburst to naked-eye visibility

10 August 2021 Mark Armstrong

RS Ophiuchi, the most famous recurrent nova and one of just seven such systems, has gone into a very rare outburst, rising rapidly brightness 600-fold in just a day from magnitude +12 to around +5.