News – Page 32 – Astronomy Now

Forecast for extreme exoplanet: windy and hot, with a chance of iron

16 March 2020 Astronomy Now

Iron vapour in the atmosphere of a particularly hellish exoplanet condenses on the somewhat cooler night side and falls as a rain of iron droplets.

ESA, Roscosmos delay launch of ExoMars 2020 lander to late 2022

12 March 2020 Astronomy Now

ESA and Roscosmos have delayed launch of the ExoMars 2020 lander and rover from July to late 2022 to resolve technical issues.

Fossil shows days were a half hour shorter during age of dinosaurs

12 March 2020 Astronomy Now

Studying growth rings in a fossilised clam shell, scientists found the length of a day 70 million years ago was a half hour shorter than today.

Cosmic dust up may best explain dimming of Betelgeuse

8 March 2020 Astronomy Now

Taking the temperature of Betelgeuse, astronomers say the supergiant’s recent dimming likely caused by thrown-off gas obscuring the view.

ESO studies impact of mega-satellite constellations on astronomy

5 March 2020 Astronomy Now

A new study by the European Southern Observatory provides a preliminary look at the potential astronomical impact of mega-satellite constellations.

GAIA data indicates ongoing collision causing Milky Way’s warp

4 March 2020 Astronomy Now

Data from ESA’s Gaia satellite suggests an ongoing collision with a dwarf galaxy may be responsible for distorting the Milky Way’s disc.

Chandra finds Jekyll and Hyde binary; also detects signs of record blast

1 March 2020 Astronomy Now

The Chandra X-ray Observatory examines an intriguing X-ray binary and, much farther from home, the most powerful explosion yet detected in deep space.

Car-size asteroid found in orbit around Earth; Musk jokes ‘it’s not mine’

27 February 2020 Astronomy Now

A car-size asteroid found orbiting Earth like a mini moon was captured three years ago and will soon escape the planet’s gravitational embrace.

Small black holes in colliding dwarf galaxies may be source of gravity waves

27 February 2020 Astronomy Now

Merging low-mass dwarf galaxies in the distant past could lead black hole collisions that would generate the sort of gravity waves detected to date.

Massive exoplanet in hellish 18-hour orbit faces tidal destruction

24 February 2020 Astronomy Now

A massive exoplanet is found in an 18-hour orbit around its host star, one of the shortest-period exoplanets discovered to date.