Astronomy Now – Page 19

Ripples in innermost rings show Saturn’s ‘fuzzy’ core wobbles

16 August 2021 Astronomy Now

Ripples in Saturn’s innermost rings indicate the planet’s core is a thick “soup” of material that sloshes about slightly, creating detectable gravitational fluctuations.

Targeted rock, not Mars rover, to blame for failed sample collection try

12 August 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA engineers say the Perseverance Mars rover’s failed attempt collect a borehole sample was due to the nature of the targeted rock, not a problem with the rover.

Superflares may be less threatening than originally thought

11 August 2021 Astronomy Now

Superflares from red dwarf stars, long thought to be a threat to orbiting exoplanets, may not be as dangerous as previously thought, researchers say.

Dinosaur-killing impactor likely came from outer asteroid belt

9 August 2021 Astronomy Now

Modelling suggests the impactor believed to have triggered the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs likely originated in the outer asteroid belt.

Rings around a black hole from X-ray echoes off interstellar dust

8 August 2021 Astronomy Now

An X-ray outburst from a binary black hole system creates spectacular “light echoes” as the radiation bounces off intervening dust clouds, shedding light on the hole’s activity and the nature of the smoke-like dust grains.

Engineers troubleshoot Mars rover sample collection failure

7 August 2021 Astronomy Now

Engineers are assessing an initial, unsuccessful attempt by the Perseverance Mars rover to collect its first rock sample from the floor of Jezero Crater.

Erosion in a Martian crater carves buttes and stair-like layers

4 August 2021 Astronomy Now

The powerful HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captures an intriguing view of eroded rock formations on a crater floor carved billions of years ago.

Jupiter’s high temperature traced to planet’s powerful auroras

4 August 2021 Astronomy Now

A 50-year-old mystery solved: a detailed analysis shows Jupiter’s intense auroras heat the atmosphere on a global scale.

“Mountains” on neutron stars just fractions of a millimetre tall

28 July 2021 Astronomy Now

Computer modelling suggests neutron stars are gravitationally compressed into near-perfect spheres.

Perseverance surveys the magnificent desolation of Jezero Crater

27 July 2021 Astronomy Now

The Perseverance Mars rover’s cameras capture the stark, desert-like beauty of Jezero Crater where a now-vanished lake once sparkled and where traces of ancient microbial life may preserved in lakebed sediments.