Archive

New computer simulation brings black holes to life

26 September 2019 William Harwood

A new computer simulation shows how a black hole’s titanic gravity warps space and bends the light emitted by super-heated debris in a surrounding accretion disc.

Watch Comet Africano (C/2018 W2) pass closest to Earth in late September

23 September 2019 Ade Ashford

At around magnitude +9, C/201 W2 (Africano) is the brightest comet currently on show, passing closest to Earth on 27 September slightly less than half an astronomical unit away. Speeding through the constellations of Pegasus, Pisces and Aquarius, Comet Africano also lies within a binocular field of view of outermost planet Neptune on the night of 3–4 October.

Colourful clouds of star-forming gas and dust host stellar nurseries

23 September 2019 Astronomy Now

A massive young star in a molecular cloud in Scorpius features a surrounding disc of dusty material and a supersonic jet blowing out into space, both contrary to expectations for high-mass suns.

Study shows Venus may have once enjoyed a temperate climate

23 September 2019 Astronomy Now

Computer simulations indicate Venus may have been a temperate, possibly habitable, planet for two to three billion years before evolving into the hellish hothouse seen today.

Bouncing boulders and collapsing cliffs on comet 67P

20 September 2019 Astronomy Now

Sifting through images from ESA’s Rosetta mission, researchers are learning more about the properties of comet 67P by studying where boulders fall and cliffs collapse.

Caught in the act: galaxies turning into quasars

19 September 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have caught normally mild-mannered galaxies in the process of turning into quasars, a faster-than-expected transition that flies in the face of current theory.

Junocam captures stunning view of Io’s shadow during Jovian eclipse

18 September 2019 Astronomy Now

From its perch in orbit around Jupiter, NASA’s Juno spacecraft routinely provides stunning views of the giant planet’s turbulent atmosphere and the Great Red Spot. But a jaw-dropping close-range look at Io’s shadow during an eclipse is yet another show stopper.