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Crescent Saturn and Titan seen by Cassini

7 November 2014 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft — in its 11th year orbiting Saturn — has spotted the gas giant and its haze-covered moon Titan suspended in the blackness of space like diamonds in the rough.

Planet-forming disc around young star revealed in unprecedented detail

6 November 2014 Astronomy Now

A new image from ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, reveals extraordinarily fine detail that has never been seen before in the planet-forming disc around a young star.

Philae’s comet landing site named Agilkia

4 November 2014 Astronomy Now

With just over a week to go before touchdown, the landing site for Rosetta’s Philae probe has been named Agilkia, after an island on the Nile River in southern Egypt.

Hubble sees a galaxy on the edge

3 November 2014 Astronomy Now

This spectacular edge-on view of the galaxy NGC4762, and a number of other distant galaxies, was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Taurid meteors put on celestial fireworks show this month

3 November 2014 Mark Armstrong

The Taurids meteor shower is active throughout November with a double radiant and a double peak. Observers can usually expect around 10 meteors per hour from dark sky locations.

Curiosity rover shows off its tattoo

1 November 2014 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured an image of the ‘tattoo’ on its arm, with the rocks at the base of Mount Sharp as a backdrop.

Cassini sees sunny seas on Titan

31 October 2014 Astronomy Now

This near-infrared, colour mosaic from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows the sun glinting off of Titan’s north polar seas.

Mercury’s morning show

30 October 2014 Mark Armstrong

If you’ve never seen the Solar System’s innermost planet before, now is your chance, as long as early morning starts don’t worry you!

If it were possible to breath in space, one would smell a pungent aroma of rotten eggs, ammonia, vinegary sulphur dioxide and toxic hydrogen cyanide coming from comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, according to sensors on the Rosetta mission.

Spooky shadow play gives Jupiter a giant eye

28 October 2014 Astronomy Now

Just in time for Halloween, the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed a spooky view of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot staring back at Earth.