Astronomy Now – Page 226

First evidence of volcanic activity on a super-Earth?

5 May 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have detected wildly changing temperatures on a super-Earth — the first time any atmospheric variability has been observed on a rocky planet outside the Solar System — and believe it could be due to huge amounts of volcanic activity, further adding to the mystery of what had been nicknamed the ‘diamond planet.’

NASA’s Chandra suggests black holes gorging at excessive rates

4 May 2015 Astronomy Now

A group of unusual giant black holes may be consuming excessive amounts of matter, according to a new study using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. This finding may help astronomers understand how the largest black holes were able to grow so rapidly in the early universe.

The dark matter conspiracy

3 May 2015 Astronomy Now

A new study finds that elliptical galaxies maintain a remarkably constant circular speed out to large distances from their centres, in the same way that spiral galaxies do. In these very different types of galaxies, stars and dark matter somehow conspire to redistribute themselves to produce this effect, or does modified Newtonian dynamics offer an explanation?

Pillars of Creation revealed in 3-D

3 May 2015 Astronomy Now

The iconic 20-year-old Hubble image of the Pillars of Creation is reinterpreted in three dimensions by the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, suggesting that the Pillars of Destruction might be an equally apt name.

High school researchers discover pulsar with widest orbit ever detected

2 May 2015 Astronomy Now

Discovered by a team of high school students analysing data from the Green Bank Telescope, pulsar PSR J1930-1852 has the widest orbit ever observed around another neutron star and is part of only a handful of double neutron star systems.

Jodrell Bank to be headquarters for world’s largest radio telescope

1 May 2015 Astronomy Now

At their 29th April meeting, members of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Organisation decided that negotiations should start with the UK government to locate the permanent headquarters of the SKA project at the University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank site.

Lava lake of Io’s volcano Loki viewed with Large Binocular Telescope

30 April 2015 Astronomy Now

With the first detailed observations through imaging interferometry of a lava lake on Io, Jupiter’s innermost Galilean moon, the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory places itself as the forerunner of the next generation of extremely large telescopes.

New crater names as MESSENGER prepares to crash on Mercury

30 April 2015 Astronomy Now

As five impact craters on Mercury receive names, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft is about to create another, since it has run out of propellant and is predicted to impact on the surface of the planet at 8:26 pm BST today.

New Horizons detects features and possible polar cap on Pluto

30 April 2015 Astronomy Now

For the first time, images from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft are revealing bright and dark regions on the surface of faraway Pluto — the primary target of the New Horizons close flyby in mid-July.

Was water abundant in the first billion years of the universe?

29 April 2015 Astronomy Now

Bok globules are dark knots of gas and dust in larger molecular clouds that we see today. New theoretical work shows that similar islands of gas enriched in heavy elements in the early universe could have held as much water vapour as we find in our galaxy today.