Archive – Page 82 – Astronomy Now

New technique touted for spotting elusive black hole mergers

18 November 2019 Astronomy Now

Black holes merging in the accretion disc of a supermassive black hole like the one at the core of the Milky Way might generate a visible signature, astronomers say.

See Mercury at its best meet Mars in the dawn sky

18 November 2019 Ade Ashford

Innermost planet Mercury puts on its best morning display of the year for Northern Hemisphere observers from late November to early December. Skywatchers in the British Isles should find a location offering an unobstructed view of the southeast horizon about 45 minutes before sunrise to get the best views, with the Red Planet and star Spica – the brightest in Virgo – also nearby.

Magnetized plasma jets likely mechanism for heating Sun’s corona

17 November 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found evidence for a complex mechanism that may explain how the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, is driven to such extreme temperatures.

Moonlight challenges Leonid meteor shower maximum on 18 November

15 November 2019 Ade Ashford

The maximum of the annual Leonid meteor shower is predicted for 11pm GMT (23h UT) on Monday, 18 November 2019. However, the famously swift, bright Leonids — some leaving persistent trails — will have to contend with the glare of a 21-day-old waning gibbous Moon close by visible from 9:30pm GMT to dawn on the 19^th.

Will you see the Moon hide naked-eye star Eta (η) Geminorum on 15 November?

13 November 2019 Ade Ashford

Lucky observers with clear skies who also happen to live on a line drawn between Porthcawl on the Welsh coast through just south of Birmingham and on to the Lincolnshire Wolds can witness a grazing lunar occultation of naked-eye star Eta (η) Geminorum by the rising 18-day-old waning gibbous Moon just before 10pm GMT on 15 November 2019.

Milky Way’s central black hole flings star out of galaxy

13 November 2019 Astronomy Now

A star has been spotted racing out of the Milky Way at more than 6 million kph after a close encounter with the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole.

Juno peers into the depths of a titanic jovian storm system

12 November 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured a jaw-dropping down-the-throat view of a huge storm swirling in Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere earlier this month, a 2,000-kilometre-wide cyclonic system in the giant planet’s northern hemisphere.

The first stars may have formed even earlier than first thought

10 November 2019 Astronomy Now

Analysis of light passing through an ancient gas cloud indicates the the first generation of stars began shining sooner than previously thought.

NICER spots thermonuclear flash from pulsar detonation

8 November 2019 Astronomy Now

The NICER X-ray telescope array aboard the International Space Station has witnessed a brilliant Type 1 X-ray burst from a pulsar 11,000 light years away.

How to safely observe Mercury crossing the Sun on 11 November

7 November 2019 Ade Ashford

On Monday, 11 November 2019 just after 12:30pm GMT, suitably equipped observers in the British Isles can witness the start of a 3.7-hour spectacle that hasn’t been seen for three-and-a-half years — the silhouette of innermost planet Mercury crossing the face of the Sun. Here’s our online guide to observing this fascinating and comparatively rare event in complete safety.