News – Page 215 – Astronomy Now

Comet lander powered up after electronics glitch

11 November 2014 Stephen Clark

Europe’s Philae lander — still latched inside its mothership — has been activated and should be ready for release Wednesday to begin a daring first-ever descent to a comet, the mission’s flight director said Tuesday.

Active main-belt asteroid 62412 (2000 SY178) develops a tail

11 November 2014 Ade Ashford

Scott Sheppard and Chadwick Trujillo of Carnegie’s Gemini Observatory present recent observations revealing that main-belt Hygeia-family asteroid 62412 (2000 SY178) has a tail.

All is ready for historic comet landing

11 November 2014 Stephen Clark

This week marks the pinnacle of the professional careers of many scientists, when the European Space Agency plans to put down a three-legged robotic lander on a comet, a risky first-of-a-kind endeavor that could rewrite textbooks on the history of the solar system.

Cassini sounds the depths of Kraken Mare, Titan’s largest sea

10 November 2014 Ade Ashford

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft provides scientists with further radar and spectoscopic data during its 21st August 2014 flyby of Saturn’s largest moon, revealing depths of Kraken Mare, Titan’s largest liquid methane sea, and further evidence of transient islands.

Comet dust ionises Mars’ atmosphere

10 November 2014 Keith Cooper

A comet that flew close to Mars showered the red planet with fine cometary dust, according to observations by a trio of spacecraft.

Rosetta’s camera captures new ‘atmospheric’ view of comet

8 November 2014 Astronomy Now

Images of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko from Rosetta’s navigation camera have taken on a darker, more “atmospheric” tone in recent days and the latest view is no exception.

Planet-forming disc around young star revealed in unprecedented detail

6 November 2014 Astronomy Now

A new image from ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, reveals extraordinarily fine detail that has never been seen before in the planet-forming disc around a young star.

Curiosity Mars rover sees Comet Siding Spring pass by

6 November 2014 Astronomy Now

An animation of comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring captured by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover as the comet passed near the red planet.

Exozodiacal light presents challenge for direct imaging of exo-Earths

6 November 2014 Astronomy Now

An international team of astronomers has discovered exozodiacal light close to the habitable zones around nine nearby stars using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer.

Curiosity Mars rover finds mineral match with orbiter

5 November 2014 Astronomy Now

Reddish rock powder from the first hole drilled into a Martian mountain by the Curiosity rover has yielded the mission’s first confirmation of a mineral mapped from orbit.