News

IAU approves more names for features on Pluto

10 August 2019 Astronomy Now

The International Astronomical Union has approved a second set of names for features on the surface of Pluto.

Rivalling Juno, Hubble snaps stunning views of Jupiter

8 August 2019 Astronomy Now

While it cannot rival the Juno spacecraft’s images of Jupiter, the Hubble Space Telescope still manages to amazes with its global views.

ALMA finds previously unseen ancestors of elliptical galaxies

7 August 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using the ALMA radio telescopes have found a population of galaxies not seen in the deepest views of the Hubble Space Telescope.

A hot planet, shaped like a football, spews heavy metals

5 August 2019 William Harwood

The Hubble Space Telescope has detected iron and magnesium gas spewing from a hellish exoplanet being gravitationally warped by its nearby host star.

Iron-poor star hints at nature of first-generation suns

2 August 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found an exceptionally iron-poor star that may represent second-generation suns born in the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang

LightSail team declares success in solar sail experiment

1 August 2019 Stephen Clark

The gentle push of sunlight is slowly changing the orbit of the Planetary Society’s crowd-funded LightSail 2 satellite after it unfurled a thin solar sail the size of a boxing ring last week, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Mars 2020 rover on track for launch next July

31 July 2019 Stephen Clark

The launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 rover is less than a year away, and the steady pace of work inside the craft’s pristine assembly hall in California is keeping the mission on schedule for liftoff from Cape Canaveral next July, despite growing costs, according to mission managers.