Astronomy Now – Page 117

Approaching Jupiter

6 May 2017 Astronomy Now

This enhanced colour view of Jupiter’s south pole was created by citizen scientist Gabriel Fiset using data from the JunoCam instrument on NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

Moon causes double disappearance

4 May 2017 Astronomy Now

The best UK lunar occultation this month occurs tonight when the dark limb of an eight-day-old Moon occults the star 49 Leonis.

Spiral galaxy pair NGC 4302 and NGC 4298

4 May 2017 Astronomy Now

In celebration of the 27th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on April 24, 1990, astronomers used the legendary telescope to take a portrait of a stunning pair of spiral galaxies. This starry pair offers a glimpse of what our Milky Way galaxy would look like to an outside observer.

Is dark matter “fuzzy”?

2 May 2017 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have used data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to study the properties of dark matter, the mysterious, invisible substance that makes up a majority of matter in the universe. The study, which involves 13 galaxy clusters, explores the possibility that dark matter may be more “fuzzy” than “cold,” perhaps even adding to the complexity surrounding this cosmic conundrum.

Ripples in cosmic web measured using rare double quasars

28 April 2017 Astronomy Now

Astronomers believe that matter in intergalactic space is distributed in a vast network of interconnected filamentary structures known as the cosmic web. Nearly all the atoms in the universe reside in this web, vestigial material left over from the Big Bang.

New survey hints at ancient origin for Cold Spot

27 April 2017 Astronomy Now

A supervoid is unlikely to explain a ‘Cold Spot’ in the cosmic microwave background, according to the results of a new survey, leaving room for exotic explanations like a collision between universes.

Keck Observatory captures rare high-resolution images of exploded star

26 April 2017 Astronomy Now

Scientists will now be able to measure how fast the universe is truly expanding with the kind of precision not possible before. This, after an international team of astronomers led by Stockholm University, Sweden, captured four distinct images of a gravitationally lensed Type Ia supernova, named iPTF16geu.

The arrhythmic beating of a black hole heart

21 April 2017 Astronomy Now

At the center of the Centaurus galaxy cluster, there is a large elliptical galaxy called NGC 4696. Deeper still, there is a supermassive black hole buried within the core of this galaxy.

Our home world framed by the rings of Saturn

21 April 2017 Astronomy Now

A new view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows planet Earth as a point of light between the icy rings of Saturn.

Potentially habitable super-Earth is a prime target for atmospheric study

20 April 2017 Astronomy Now

The study of alien worlds is entering its next phase as astronomers amass the best planets outside our Solar System to look for signs of life. A newly discovered “super-Earth” orbiting in the habitable zone of a nearby small star, has catapulted itself to the top of that list.