News – Page 2 – Astronomy Now

Israeli probe crashes in attempt to become first privately-funded Moon lander

11 April 2019 Stephen Clark

An Israeli-built spacecraft seeking to become the first privately-developed probe to land on the Moon crashed on descent Thursday, but the mission was widely lauded as a breakthrough for the commercial space industry, and Israeli prime minster Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would try again.

Privately-funded Israeli probe set for daring Moon landing attempt

11 April 2019 Stephen Clark

An Israeli-built spacecraft financed through donations from billionaire philanthropists is set to make history Thursday when it tries to become the first privately-funded probe to land on the Moon.

‘Virtual’ telescope captures first direct image of black hole

10 April 2019 Astronomy Now

For the first time, astronomers have captured a direct view of the environment just outside the event horizon of a supermassive black hole.

BepiColombo ready for long cruise to Mercury

10 April 2019 Astronomy Now

The European Space Agency’s ambitious BebiCololmbo probe has completed commissioning and is now clear for the long voyage to Mercury

Dust-choked doughnut detected around gargantuan black hole

5 April 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have made the first direct observation of a dust-choked torus surrounding a supermassive black hole powering an active galactic nucleus.

Israeli lunar lander slips into orbit around the moon

4 April 2019 Astronomy Now

Israel’s Beresheet lunar lander carried out a critical rocket firing 4 April to brake into orbit around the moon, setting the stage for landing 11 April.

Parker Solar Probe makes second close pass by Sun

4 April 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is making its second close flyby of the Sun this week, passing within a scant 24 million km (15 million miles) of Earth’s star.

Upgrades to gravity wave detectors promise more discoveries

3 April 2019 Astronomy Now

After major upgrades to improve sensitivity, the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories are set to begin a year of joint observations.

Astronomers spot asteroid in a debris-spewing suicidal spin

1 April 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have spotted a ‘smoking gun’ example of an unstable asteroid spun up by the subtle effects of solar radiation and infrared emissions.

Mars Helicopter shows it has ‘right stuff’ for red planet

31 March 2019 Astronomy Now

A small helicopter that will be delivered by NASA’s Mars 2020 rover has successfully completed initial test flights in a simulated martian environment.