Astronomy Now – Page 21

Earth detectable, in theory, from more than 2,000 nearby star systems

24 June 2021 Astronomy Now

More than 2,000 star systems found within 326 light years that have been or will be in position to detect Earth as it transits the Sun.

A galactic mystery: The case of the missing dark matter

23 June 2021 Astronomy Now

Astronomers find an unusual “oddball” galaxy with much less dark matter that would be expected based on current ideas about galaxy formation.

NASA optimistic about Hubble repair, but more time needed

20 June 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA managers are optimistic about fixing a computer glitch and restoring the Hubble Space Telescope to operation, but say it could take several weeks.

16 Psyche may not be as metallic as previously thought

11 June 2021 Astronomy Now

Lab-based experiments suggest the asteroid 16 Psyche may be more rubble pile than metallic remnant of a dense planetary core.

Another look at the densely packed stars of Omega Centauri

11 June 2021 Astronomy Now

The magnificent Omega Centauri globular cluster is a riveting sight in even small telescopes, but it takes the Hubble Space Telescope to provide the jaw-dropping vista seen here.

Jupiter’s moon Ganymede seen up close for first time in 21 years

9 June 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew by Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon, Monday on the first close-up visit to the icy world since 2000. The first images from the flyby show Ganymede’s cratered, icy surface in “remarkable detail,” NASA said.

Engineers ‘sandblast’ InSight lander to clear dust from solar arrays

7 June 2021 Astronomy Now

Engineers come up with a novel way to clear light-obscuring dust from the InSight Mars lander’s solar panels: sandblasting.

After a 30-year hiatus, NASA is returning to Venus with two new probes

4 June 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA is funding two new missions to Venus, one an orbiting radar mapper and another that will drop a small probe into the cloud-shrouded planet’s churning atmosphere.

Hubble Space Telescope captures intriguing view of lopsided galaxy

4 June 2021 Astronomy Now

The Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies features more than 300 galaxies exhibiting an unusual appearance, including NGC 2276, seen here in a spectacular photo from the Hubble Space Telescope.e

Galactic light rays

29 May 2021 Astronomy Now

Bands of light and dark shine out from the shrouded core of the active galaxy IC 5063, which is a lenticular (disc) galaxy located 156 million light years away in the Southern Hemisphere constellation of Indus.