News – Astronomy Now

24 January 2021

Researchers spot whirlwind marking possible exoplanet in the making

21 January 2021 William Harwood

Astronomers have spotted an intriguing concentration of warm, dusty debris around a nearby star that may indicated a planet in the making.

NASA InSight’s ‘Mole’ no longer digging the red planet

14 January 2021 Astronomy Now

Engineers have given up trying to coax a German “mole,” deployed by NASA’s InSight Mars lander, to hammer a heat probe into red planet’s soil.

Most distant quasar – and youngest supermassive black hole – identified

13 January 2021 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have discovered the youngest supermassive black hole to date, challenging theories about how such monsters grow.

Researchers find strong hints of background ‘sea’ of gravity waves

12 January 2021 Astronomy Now

By measuring subtle changes in the timing of millisecond pulsar flashes, researchers are close to confirming the presence of a background “sea” of gravity waves.

Review board recommends extending Juno and Insight missions

8 January 2021 Astronomy Now

An independent review board has recommended that NASA extend the Juno and InSight missions now studying Jupiter and Mars.

Galaxy collisions highlight another year in space for Hubble

7 January 2021 Astronomy Now

Galaxy mergers provide spectacular targets for the Hubble Space Telescope as it enters new year in space.

NASA approves preliminary design of SPHEREx space telescope

5 January 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA presses ahead with SPHEREx space telescope to search for evidence of inflation, to chart galactic history and map organic compounds.

Perseverance landing another “7 minutes of terror” for NASA

28 December 2020 Astronomy Now

Following in Curiosity’s footsteps, NASA’s Perseverance rover will attempt a daring high-speed descent to the surface of Mars on 21 February, depicted in an animation showing what flight controllers refer to as “seven minutes of terror.”

Most distant known galaxy surprises astronomers with heavy elements, gamma ray burst

22 December 2020 Astronomy Now

Astronomers confirm a galaxy 13.4 billion light years away is the most distant object yet found, raising new questions about how soon galaxies appeared in the wake of the Big Bang.

Scientists thrilled with asteroid treasure returned by Japanese spacecraft

16 December 2020 Stephen Clark

Japanese space agency officials said they found a “large number” of pitch black rock and dust particles after opening a capsule returned to Earth earlier this month by the Hayabusa 2 mission, giving eager scientists their first significant specimens ever brought back from an asteroid.