News

NASA funds Pluto orbiter concept study

31 October 2019 Astronomy Now

One of 10 studies sponsored by NASA to explore possible planetary missions includes one for a Pluto orbiter that also would venture into the Kuiper Belt.

5,000 electronic “eyes” poised to map the effects of dark energy

30 October 2019 Astronomy Now

The DESI instrument’s 5,000 fiber optic detectors and positioning elements are undergoing tests before starting an ambitious dark energy survey of 35 million galaxies.

Heavy element creation confirmed in neutron star merger

29 October 2019 Astronomy Now

For the first time, astronomers have identified a specific heavy element – strontium – created in the wake of a cataclysmic neutron star merger.

VLT images suggest fourth-largest asteroid may be a dwarf planet

29 October 2019 Astronomy Now

New observations of the asteroid Hygiea reveal a nearly spherical shape, indicating the body meets the basic qualifications for dwarf-planet status.

Mars 2020 rover stands on its own in pre-launch milestone

27 October 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s 2020 Mars rover has been stood up on its six wheels for the first time in a major milestone on the road to launch next year and landing in Jezero Crater in 2021.

“Tension” increases with different measurement of Hubble constant

24 October 2019 Astronomy Now

The first use of adaptive optics to measure the Hubble constant appears to confirm a discrepancy in cosmologists’ understanding of how fast the universe is expanding.

British-built solar probe shipping to Florida launch site before Brexit

24 October 2019 Stephen Clark

The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft — assembled in Britain and set for liftoff in February — has completed environmental testing in Germany and is scheduled to ride a cargo plane to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin launch preparations 31 October, several weeks earlier than planned to avoid complications stemming from Brexit.