News – Page 126 – Astronomy Now

Solving the mystery of how comets are born

29 July 2016 Astronomy Now

Detailed analysis of data collected from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft show that comets are the ancient leftovers of early solar system formation, and not younger fragments resulting from subsequent collisions between other, larger bodies.

White dwarf lashes red dwarf with mystery ray

28 July 2016 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have discovered a new type of exotic binary star. In the system AR Scorpii a rapidly spinning white dwarf star powers electrons up to almost the speed of light. These high energy particles release blasts of radiation that lash the companion red dwarf star, and cause the entire system to pulse dramatically every 1.97 minutes with radiation ranging from the ultraviolet to radio.

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot heats planet’s upper atmosphere

27 July 2016 Astronomy Now

Astronomers from Boston University have discovered that Jupiter’s Great Red Spot (GRS) may provide the mysterious source of energy required to heat the planet’s upper atmosphere to the unusually high values observed. Heating in Jupiter’s atmosphere 500 miles above the GRS is thought to be caused by gravity waves and acoustic waves creating turbulent atmospheric flows.

The case of the missing Ceres craters

27 July 2016 Astronomy Now

Ceres is covered in countless small, young craters, but none are larger than 175 miles (280 kilometres) in diameter. To scientists, this is a huge mystery, given that the dwarf planet must have been hit by numerous large asteroids during its 4.5 billion-year lifetime. Where did all the large craters go?

Ancient eye in the sky reveals galaxies

26 July 2016 Astronomy Now

A gravitational lens system has been discovered by undergraduate students examining images from the 8.2-metre Subaru Telescope’s Hyper Suprime-Cam. Dubbed the “Eye of Horus” due to the system’s uncanny resemblance to the sacred eye of the ancient Egyptian goddess, it is formed by a galaxy 7 billion light-years from the Earth bending the light from two more galaxies directly behind it.

Astronomers discover dizzying spin of the Milky Way’s “Halo”

26 July 2016 Astronomy Now

Researchers have discovered that the hot gas in the halo of the Milky Way galaxy is spinning at about 400,000 mph in the same direction as the galaxy’s disc. For comparison, the disc of the Milky Way, which contains our stars, planets, gas and dust, is spinning at around 540,000 mph.

Newly discovered distant solar system objects resonate with Neptune

22 July 2016 Astronomy Now

The search for distant solar system objects has found two more small worlds far outside the orbit of Neptune, beyond the Kuiper Belt. The new objects, 2014 FZ₇₁ and 2015 FJ₃₄₅, are in resonance with Neptune’s orbit, implying that these worlds either have interacted with Neptune in the past or are continuing to do so.

Hubble makes first atmospheric study of Earth-sized exoplanets

21 July 2016 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have conducted the first search for atmospheres around temperate, Earth-sized planets beyond our solar system. They found indications that increase the chances of habitability on two exoplanets known as TRAPPIST-1b and TRAPPIST-1c orbiting a red dwarf star approximately 40 light-years away.

Moon’s Imbrium Basin formed by protoplanet-sized asteroid impact

20 July 2016 Astronomy Now

Around 3.8 billion years ago, an asteroid more than 150 miles across slammed into the Moon and created the Imbrium Basin — the right eye of the fabled Man in the Moon. New research suggests an Imbrium impactor that was two times larger in diameter and 10 times more massive than previous estimates.

X marks the spot at the centre of the Milky Way

20 July 2016 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have uncovered the strongest evidence yet that an enormous X-shaped structure made of stars lies within the central bulge of the Milky Way. Previous computer models, observations of other galaxies, and observations of our own Galaxy have suggested that the X-shaped structure existed, but no one had observed it directly.