News

30 May 2020

Heat blast is smoking gun for how the Galaxy’s most extreme stars form

22 May 2020 Keith Cooper

A powerful wave of thermal radiation caught rippling through an accretionary disc of gas surrounding a distant protostar could be the strongest evidence yet for how the most massive stars in the Universe form.

Perseverance Mars rover making steady progress toward July launch

11 May 2020 Astronomy Now

Despite coronavirus work restrictions, engineers at the Kennedy Space Center are on track readying the Perseverance Mars rover for launch in July

Astronomers find closest black hole yet in ‘nearby’ star system

8 May 2020 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have stumbled on the closest black hole to Earth discovered to date, an unseen body in a triple star system 1,000 light years away.

SpaceX to debut satellite-dimming sunshade on next Starlink launch

5 May 2020 Stephen Clark

A new sunshade, or visor, designed to reduce the brightness of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband Internet satellites will debut on the company’s next launch, a measure intended to alleviate astronomers’ concerns about impacts on observations through ground-based telescopes, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said.

Scientists optimistic planetary probes won’t face coronavirus launch delays

3 May 2020 Stephen Clark

Launches of interplanetary missions can only depart Earth when the positions of the planets are just right, and officials managing the development of probes set for launch in 2021 and 2022 to explore asteroids and Jupiter says construction milestones and reviews are proceeding to keep the projects on schedule despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Hubble captures dramatic images of comet flying apart

29 April 2020 Astronomy Now

The Hubble Space Telescope captures dramatic images of comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) breaking apart into as many as 30 house-size chunks.

NASA narrows design for rocket to launch samples off of Mars

29 April 2020 Stephen Clark

After years of studies, test-firings and a survey of U.S. industry in preparation for launch of a Mars Sample Return mission in 2026, NASA has settled on a solid-fueled design for a miniature rocket with a first-of-its-kind purpose: Launching a payload from Mars for a trip back to Earth.