Book Reviews

The Astronomy Bible

Small, chunky and handy enough to be stuffed in a rucksack for quick facts and tips on the go, six of the book’s eight chapters cover the Solar System, the remainder being devoted to all that lies beyond. An easy-reading book that won’t swamp the reader with complicated terminology and a waffling narrative, writes reviewer Kerry Hebden.

News

Briny seas maybe lurking on Europa

A decade-long question about the nature of dark spots on Europa’s surface has potentially been solved, with scientists suggesting that these spots are likely signs of irradiated sea salt from a subsurface ocean, deposited onto the surface through interactions with its rocky seafloor. If this is indeed the case, then these findings are an important consideration for assessing the habitability of the planet and whether it could support life or not.

News

Galactic death by strangulation

Astronomers have long wondered how galaxies die and by what means. Now a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Royal Observatory Edinburgh have found that the primary cause of galactic death is by the cut off of material needed to make new stars – a process known as strangulation.

Picture This

Getting close to Iapetus

This two-tone, almost yin-yang like image of Iapetus, Saturn’s third largest moon, is the view Cassini was privilege to when it did its second closest approach of the satellite earlier this year.