Astronomy Now – Page 76

Foundation takes shape for Extremely Large Telescope

4 November 2018 Astronomy Now

The foundation of the European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope is taking shape atop a mountain in Chile’s Atacama Desert, home to what will be the world’s largest optical instrument, a gargantuan telescope with a segmented primary mirror 39 metres (128 feet) across.

Data indicate Milky Way smash up 10 billion years ago

4 November 2018 Astronomy Now

Data from ESA’s Gaia spacecraft indicate a large galaxy collided with the Milky Way about 10 billion years ago, leaving identifiable stars strewn in its wake to help astronomers piece together our galaxy’s history.

OSIRIS-REx captures first clear images of asteroid Bennu

3 November 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, closing in on asteroid Bennu, has sent back photos showing a body remarkably similar in appearance to the asteroid Ryugu being studied by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft.

Chinese photographer captures Insight competition’s ‘best newcomer’ award

1 November 2018 Astronomy Now

Chinese photographer Tianhong Li won “best newcomer” honours in the 2018 Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition for this captivating view of the Milky Way and the vast clouds of stars, gas and dust making up the core and the galactic plane stretching skyward.

NASA’s Dawn mission comes to an end in orbit around Ceres

1 November 2018 Astronomy Now

Like its cousin the Kepler space telescope, NASA’s Dawn mission to the asteroids Vesta and Ceres has run out of gas, ending a remarkably successful 11-year mission to the two largest members of the asteroid belt.

Scientists say observations confirm black hole at Milky Way’s core

31 October 2018 Astronomy Now

New Observations of infrared flares at the heart of the Milky Way confirm the presence of a 4-million-solar-mass black hole lurking in the dust-shrouded core of Earth’s galaxy, scientists say.

Planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft out of fuel, ending mission

30 October 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s exoplanet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has final run out of fuel, forcing its retirement after an extended 9.5-year mission that saw the discovery of 2,681 confirmed planets to date and 2,899 more candidates.

Aurora provides spectacle, and Insight photography award

30 October 2018 Astronomy Now

France’s Nicolas Lefaudeux won top honours in the 2018 Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition’s aurorae category with this view of a gossemar-like auroral band above Sirkka, Finland, a view that lasted about one minute and gave the impression of speeding toward a greenish horizon.

Parker probe now closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft

30 October 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is now closer to the Sun than any spacecraft ever built as it moves in for the first of seven dips into the star’s outer atmosphere, or corona, for unprecedented close-range observations.

IAU recommends renaming Hubble’s law to include Lemaître

29 October 2018 Astronomy Now

The International Astronomical Union has voted to recommend renaming Hubble’s law to the Hubble-Lemaître law to honour the cosmological contributions of Belgian astronomer Georges Lemaitre.