Archive – Page 90 – Astronomy Now

ESA assesses ExoMars parachute tears

13 August 2019 Astronomy Now

With launch a year away, engineers are working to overcome problems with the ExoMars 2020 parachute system.

OSIRIS-REx candidate sample collection sites identified

13 August 2019 Astronomy Now

Researchers with NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission have selected four possible sample collection sites on the asteroid Bennu. The team plans to narrow that down to two in December.

Curiosity captures panoramic view of ‘Teal Ridge’

12 August 2019 Astronomy Now

The Curiosity Mars rover, now halfway across a clay-bearing region on the slopes of Mount Sharp, has captured a detailed panorama showing terrain once shaped by water in the distant past.

Observatories resume operations amid protests

12 August 2019 Astronomy Now

After a month-long shutdown due to protests and demonstrations, observatories in Hawaii hope to resume observations.

IAU approves more names for features on Pluto

10 August 2019 Astronomy Now

The International Astronomical Union has approved a second set of names for features on the surface of Pluto.

A fine Perseid meteor shower peak on 13 August despite a waxing Moon?

9 August 2019 Ade Ashford

It’s the time of year when Northern Hemisphere skywatchers turn their attention to the Perseids, the favourite meteor shower of many an observer. The peak of the Perseids is predicted for moonset on 13 August 2019, bringing dark skies to watch these bright, fast shooting stars — the more explosive examples leaving persistent trails in the sky.

Rivalling Juno, Hubble snaps stunning views of Jupiter

8 August 2019 Astronomy Now

While it cannot rival the Juno spacecraft’s images of Jupiter, the Hubble Space Telescope still manages to amazes with its global views.

Don’t miss Mercury in the eastern sky at dawn during August 2019

8 August 2019 Ade Ashford

Mercury attains a greatest elongation 19 degrees west of the Sun late on 9 August 2019, hence the innermost planet is a morning object. This means that early risers in the British Isles with clear skies have several opportunities to view Mercury between the first and third weeks of this month.

ALMA finds previously unseen ancestors of elliptical galaxies

7 August 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using the ALMA radio telescopes have found a population of galaxies not seen in the deepest views of the Hubble Space Telescope.

A cosmic seagull soaring through space on wings of ionised gas

7 August 2019 Astronomy Now

The European Southern Observatory’s VLT Survey Telescope caught the Seagull Nebula in flight on the border between Canis Major and Monoceros 3,700 light years away, a vast assembly of hot gas and dust giving birth to new stars.