Astronomy Now – Page 70

Hardware problem knocks Hubble camera off line

9 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Engineers are troubleshooting a hardware problem with the Wide Field Camera 3, one of the Hubble Space Telescope’s premier science instruments.

TESS on track to revolutionise exoplanet astronomy

8 January 2019 Astronomy Now

In just three months, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, discovered three confirmed worlds, 280 candidates and six supernovae.

Most detailed view yet of M33 captured in Hubble mosaic

7 January 2019 Astronomy Now

A stunning mosaic made up of 54 Hubble Space Telescope images resolves nearly 25 million stars in the most detailed view yet of M33.

Caught in the act, a young star lights up surrounding nebula in veil of glory

5 January 2019 Astronomy Now

A hot young star about 15 times more massive than the Sun, nearing the translation to main sequence maturity, lights up its parent nebula in a blaze of ionised hydrogen.

The Sun expected to ride out a looming galactic merger

4 January 2019 Astronomy Now

A collision between the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud in about 1.5 billion years likely will re-energize the supermassive black hole lurking in our galaxy’s core.

OSIRIS-REx slips into record-close orbit around asteroid

2 January 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft slipped into a record-close orbit of the asteroid Bennu on New Year’s Eve, setting the stage for exceedingly close-range observations.

Video: Queen guitarist Brian May discusses his song celebrating Ultima Thule flyby

1 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Queen guitarist and contributing New Horizons scientist Brian May wrote a song celebrating the spacecraft’s New Year’s flyby with Ultima Thule, a supposed block of ice and rock in the Kuiper Belt beyond the orbit of Pluto.

Video: New Horizons phone home will confirm health of spacecraft

1 January 2019 Astronomy Now

New Horizons Mission Operations Manager (MOM) Alice Bowman describes how New Horizons will turn to Earth and ‘phone home’ to confirm if the flyby of Ultima Thule was a success.

Supernovae not needed for at least some heavy isotopes

31 December 2018 Astronomy Now

New research suggesgs low-mass stars can cook up heavy elements, helping explain the observed abundance of some heavy isotopes.

New Horizons closing in for historic flyby of Ultima Thule

29 December 2018 Astronomy Now

Covering 1.2 million kilometres per day, NASA’s New Horizons probe is on course for a high-speed New Year’s Day flyby of the Kuiper Belt body known as Ultima Thule.