Archive – Page 67 – Astronomy Now

Gravity waves herald merger of black hole and enigmatic companion

24 June 2020 Astronomy Now

Gravity waves indicate the merger of a massive black hole and a much less massive companion that may represent a new class of objects.

Researchers build “supernova in a box” to study the physics of stellar blasts

23 June 2020 Astronomy Now

Researchers build a “supernova machine” to mimic in miniature the explosive turbulent mixing that occurs when stars explode.

Scientists ponder inconclusive data from dark matter experiment

21 June 2020 Astronomy Now

It’s not yet clear what, if anything, the XENON dark matter experiment may have detected during its recent run, but scientists are hopeful something new is in the offing.

Hubble camera captures stunning new views of stars gone ‘haywire’

20 June 2020 Astronomy Now

New Hubble Space Telescope images of well-studied planetary nebulae reveal fast-changing structures and shed new light on how some stars go “haywire” near the ends of their lives, throwing off spectacular clouds and jets as they run out of nuclear fuel.

Dramatic view of Venus about to be swallowed up by the Moon

19 June 2020 Mark Armstrong

This fantastic shot of Venus about to be occulted by the Moon was captured by Peter Goodhew using a remote telescope located in Spain.

Expert astronomy: watch the Moon occult Venus

18 June 2020 Mark Armstrong

The Moon occults Venus on the morning of Friday 19 June in an exciting and quite rare event, which can be observed across the whole of the UK through a pair of binoculars or a small telescope.

Astronomers find baby pulsar – a rare magnetar – born just 240 years ago

17 June 2020 Astronomy Now

The youngest known pulsar, born in a supernova blast just 240 years ago, also is a powerful magnetar, shedding new light on an enigmatic class of stellar powerhouses.

Study suggests alien civilisations similar to Earth’s are few and very far between

16 June 2020 Astronomy Now

A new study, using Earth as a model, suggests alien civilizations should exist, but they would be few and very far between, making detection and communication extremely difficult.

Curiosity Mars rover spots Earth and Venus in bright twilight sky

15 June 2020 Astronomy Now

The Curiosity Mars rover looks up from the martian surface to capture images of Earth and Venus in a bright twilight sky, showing humanity’s home as a tiny speck of light.

Hubble’s ‘before’ and more recent ‘after’ image of M100

15 June 2020 Astronomy Now

Before-and-after images of the spiral galaxy M100 were used in early 1994 to prove the Hubble Space Telescope’s flawed optics had been successfully repaired. More recent views with more powerful instruments show how Hubble has improved with age.