Archive – Page 92 – Astronomy Now

Asteroid with shortest year spotted

15 July 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have spotted an unusual asteroid with the shortest “year” known for any asteroid. The rocky body, dubbed 2019 LF6, is about a kilometre in size and circles the Sun roughly every 151 days.

Don’t miss Tuesday night’s partial lunar eclipse

15 July 2019 Mark Armstrong

A partial eclipse of the Moon will be visible from across the UK on the evening of 16/17 July, with the Moon rising already partially immersed in Earth’s deep umbral shadow.

India seeks to join exclusive company with ambitious moon mission

14 July 2019 Stephen Clark

India’s ambitious $142 million Chandrayaan 2 moon mission, comprising a orbiter, lander and rover, is set for liftoff Sunday to begin a nearly two-month transit culminating in a touchdown near the lunar south pole in September.

Russia launches international X-ray astronomy mission

14 July 2019 Stephen Clark

A Proton rocket and Block DM upper stage climbed into space Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Spektr-RG, an astronomical observatory with dual X-ray telescopes developed by Russian and German scientists on the hunt for the signature of dark energy.

Curiosity Mars rover spotted from orbit

13 July 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover can be seen in this image taken from space on 31 May 2019, by the high resolution camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

Japanese spacecraft snags second sample from asteroid

11 July 2019 Stephen Clark

Scientists celebrated another success with Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft late Wednesday (U.S. time), when the robot explorer accomplished a second pinpoint touch-and-go landing on asteroid Ryugu, this time to collect a sample of pristine dust and rock excavated by an explosive impactor earlier this year.

Totality over the observatory domes

7 July 2019 Astronomy Now

The path of totality of a solar eclipse touched the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla Observatory on 2 July 2019. This rare astronomical event occurred as the observatory celebrated its 50th year of operation.

Hayabusa 2 cleared for second touchdown on asteroid

5 July 2019 Stephen Clark

Ground teams have approved plans for Japan’s Hayabusa 2 sample return mission to briefly land on asteroid Ryugu for the second time on 11 July, aiming for a targeted touch-and-go to gather material exposed by an explosive impactor released by the robot explorer in April.

Planet-hunting TESS spacecraft finds exoplanet smaller than Earth

30 June 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s planet-hunting TEST spacecraft has discovered three planets orbiting a small star 35 light years from Earth that may provide insight into solar system evolution.

A Warhol-like look at the Whirlpool, courtesy of Spitzer

30 June 2019 Astronomy Now

Combining visible-light and multi-wavelength infrared views of the Whirlpool galaxy reveals a Warhol-like series of images highlighting the dust lanes and star-forming regions of the glorious spiral and the relatively featureless nature of the smaller companion.