News – Page 204 – Astronomy Now

31 August 2026

Rosetta glimpses its own shadow on comet 67P

4 March 2015 Stephen Clark

The sharp-eyed science camera on Europe’s Rosetta comet orbiter caught a view of the probe’s fuzzy shadow when controllers guided the spacecraft just a few miles over its subject’s nucleus last month.

Wind-distorted wave creates huge Y-shaped features in Venusian clouds

3 March 2015 Astronomy Now

When observed in the ultraviolet, Venus’ atmosphere is covered by dark Y-shaped structures whose origin and evolution has been a mystery since their discovery more than half a century ago. Now astronomers in Spain and Portugal have described the mechanism that sustains this phenomenon.

NASA spacecraft nears historic arrival at dwarf planet Ceres

2 March 2015 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has returned new images captured on approach to entering orbit around Ceres on Friday, March 6th — the first mission to successfully visit a dwarf planet.

An old-looking, dusty galaxy in a young universe

2 March 2015 Astronomy Now

One of the most distant galaxies ever observed, A1689-zD1, has provided astronomers with the first detection of dust in such a remote star-forming system and tantalising evidence for the rapid evolution of galaxies after the Big Bang.

MUSE looks deeper into the universe than Hubble in 3-D

2 March 2015 Astronomy Now

The MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope has given astronomers the best ever three-dimensional view of the deep universe. The new observations of the Hubble Deep Field South reveal the distances, motions and other properties of far more galaxies than ever before in this tiny piece of the sky.

Life ‘not as we know it’ possible on Saturn’s moon Titan

1 March 2015 Astronomy Now

Liquid water is a requirement for life on Earth, but on much colder worlds life might exist beyond the bounds of water-based chemistry. Researchers at Cornell University offer a template for life that could thrive in the cryogenic seas of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

Curiosity rover drills rock sample at Mount Sharp

28 February 2015 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has used its drill to collect sample powder from inside a rock target called “Telegraph Peak.” Examining rock samples like these will help scientists understand how the ancient wet environment of Mars dried up.

Astronomers find newborn stars at the edge of the Galaxy

28 February 2015 Astronomy Now

Using survey images from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, astronomers have discovered two clusters of stars forming thousands of light-years below the galactic disc — a stellar nursery in what seems to be the middle of nowhere.

Calm regions protect organic molecules around a supermassive black hole

27 February 2015 Astronomy Now

Researchers using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) have discovered zones where certain organic molecules somehow endure the intense X-rays and ultraviolet radiation near the supermassive black hole at the centre of galaxy Messier 77.

Are volcanoes responsible for twin bright spots on Ceres?

26 February 2015 Astronomy Now

As NASA’s Dawn spacecraft heads for its historic rendezvous with dwarf planet Ceres next week, further mysteries unfold on the small world. Now seen in higher resolution, a volcano-like bright spot has a nearby companion.