News – Page 29 – Astronomy Now

Facing another launch delay, work resumes on James Webb Space Telescope

10 June 2020 Astronomy Now

After weeks of downtime during the COVID-19 pandemic, engineers are pressing ahead with work to ready the James Webb Space Telescope for launch

Astronomers find possible near-Earth-like planet in archived Kepler data

9 June 2020 Astronomy Now

Researchers find evidence for an intriguing exoplanet in archived Kepler data, a “mirror-image” Earth-like world in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star.

Titan moving away from Saturn faster than expected

8 June 2020 Astronomy Now

Analysis of Cassini data shows Titan is moving away from Saturn faster than previously thought, shedding new light on solar system dynamics.

Hubble data suggest first stars formed even earlier than previously thought

5 June 2020 Astronomy Now

Astronomers find no signs of first-generation population III stars in gravitationally lensed galaxies dating back to within 500 million years of the Big Bang.

Second Proxima Centauri planet confirmed in 25-year-old Hubble data

3 June 2020 Astronomy Now

Reviewing 25-year-old data from the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have confirmed the presence of a second planet orbiting Proxima Centauri

Heat blast is smoking gun for how the Galaxy’s most extreme stars form

22 May 2020 Keith Cooper

A powerful wave of thermal radiation caught rippling through an accretionary disc of gas surrounding a distant protostar could be the strongest evidence yet for how the most massive stars in the Universe form.

Perseverance Mars rover making steady progress toward July launch

11 May 2020 Astronomy Now

Despite coronavirus work restrictions, engineers at the Kennedy Space Center are on track readying the Perseverance Mars rover for launch in July

Astronomers find closest black hole yet in ‘nearby’ star system

8 May 2020 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have stumbled on the closest black hole to Earth discovered to date, an unseen body in a triple star system 1,000 light years away.

SpaceX to debut satellite-dimming sunshade on next Starlink launch

5 May 2020 Stephen Clark

A new sunshade, or visor, designed to reduce the brightness of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband Internet satellites will debut on the company’s next launch, a measure intended to alleviate astronomers’ concerns about impacts on observations through ground-based telescopes, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said.

Scientists optimistic planetary probes won’t face coronavirus launch delays

3 May 2020 Stephen Clark

Launches of interplanetary missions can only depart Earth when the positions of the planets are just right, and officials managing the development of probes set for launch in 2021 and 2022 to explore asteroids and Jupiter says construction milestones and reviews are proceeding to keep the projects on schedule despite the coronavirus pandemic.