News – Astronomy Now

25 May 2022

Milky Way’s supermassive black hole shines in stunning first portrait

12 May 2022 Keith Cooper

The black hole in the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy has been imaged for the first time, showing a ring of gas encircling the event horizon, beyond which no light can escape.

Webb optical alignment complete and virtually perfect

9 May 2022 Astronomy Now

NASA says the James Webb Space Telescope’s optical system is now in virtually perfect alignment, setting the stage for instrument commissioning and science operations later this summer.

Ingenuity zooms over Mars rover’s discarded parachute and backshell

2 May 2022 Astronomy Now

The Ingenuity Mars helicopter captures intriguing images of the Perseverance rover’s discarded parachute and backshell.

The largest comet ever seen has been measured – and it’s a whopper

14 April 2022 Keith Cooper

The nucleus of the largest known comet in the Solar System, C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli–Bernstein), has been measured by the Hubble Space Telescope to be 129 kilometres across.

Webb optics alignment achieves near perfect focus

21 March 2022 Astronomy Now

In another milestone, the 18 segments of the James Webb Space Telescope’s primary mirror have been aligned with near-flawless precision.

Webb primary mirror alignment proceeding smoothly

7 March 2022 Astronomy Now

Engineers continue making good progress aligning the 18 segments making up the James Webb Space Telescope’s primary mirror.

NASA opening a 50-year-old vacuum-sealed moon sample

6 March 2022 Astronomy Now

NASA is in the process of carefully opening a vacuum-sealed rock-and-soil sample collected during the Apollo 17 mission 50 years ago.

Webb mirror segments repositioned as alignment proceeds

24 February 2022 Astronomy Now

Engineers are making steady progress aligning the 18 segments making up the Webb space telescope’s 6.5-metre primary mirror.

M77 sheds light on differences between active galactic nuclei

22 February 2022 Astronomy Now

New observations support the idea that active galactic nuclei, despite their different appearances, share the same basic structure.

NASA pleased with initial Webb images as mirror alignment begins

13 February 2022 Astronomy Now

In another major milestone, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured first-light images of a star to help engineers align the 18 segments making up its primary mirror.