Astronomy Now – Page 97

Funding approved for sensitive dark matter detector

8 May 2018 Astronomy Now

The U.S. Department of Energy has approved funding for construction of the most sensitive detector ever built, located in a Canadian mine a mile down, to search for evidence of weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs, a leading dark matter candidate.

UK astronomers find exoplanets with sodium, helium in atmospheres

7 May 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers at the University of Exeter have found helium in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-class exoplanet – a first – and sodium in the atmosphere of another, an indicator of a cloud-free sky.

NASA hails now-departed Rossi X-ray observer

7 May 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, decommissioned in 2012, fell back into the atmosphere and burned up 30 April, finally bringing a remarkably successful mission to study black holes and neutron stars to a fiery end.

Solar Dynamics Observatory captures magnetic spectacle

4 May 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory routinely sends back stunning images of the sun, including this view of a currently active region showing a tapestry of magnetic field lines shining in ultraviolet light.

Stephen Hawking’s final thoughts about the big bang

2 May 2018 Astronomy Now

In a paper billed as Stephen Hawking’s final theory on the origin of the universe, the famed physicist and co-author Thomas Hertog argue that the widely held concept of “eternal inflation” is incorrect.

Mars orbiter sees bedrock on the floor of an ancient crater

2 May 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captures a spectacular enhanced colour image of an ancient crater on the red planet showing rippling sand dunes and eroded bedrock.

Old IMAX projectors simulate Sun in key test for Parker Solar Probe

1 May 2018 Astronomy Now

Scientists used four vintage IMAX projectors to simulate the blazing light from the Sun that a key instrument on NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will experience when flying closer to Earth’s star than any other spacecraft.

Cassini’s view of Saturn’s rings still dazzling

1 May 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft plunged into the atmosphere of Saturn in 2017, concluding a hugely successful mission to explore the planet, its rings and icy moons. The spacecraft’s close-up images of Saturn’s ring system likely will remain unmatched for decades to come.

With luck, James Webb may spot first-generation stars

26 April 2018 Astronomy Now

With gravitational lensing, patience and a bit of luck, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope may be able to directly image some of the first stars to light up in the wake of the big bang birth of the universe.

Uranus stinks. No, really, it does

26 April 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using a powerful spectrometer attached one of the world’s largest telescopes have discovered that Uranus smells like rotten eggs thanks to hydrogen sulphide in its upper atmosphere.