News – Page 46 – Astronomy Now

22 August 2026

Going out with a bang, not a whimper, Eta Carinae continues to amaze

30 July 2019 Astronomy Now

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured another remarkable view of Eta Carinae, finding magnesium where it wasn’t expected and shedding new light on the “Great Eruption.”

Star orbiting supermassive black hole again confirms relativity

29 July 2019 Astronomy Now

In yet another validation of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, precise measurements of a star’s light as it orbits the black hole at the center of the Milky Way show the predicted gravitational redshift.

TESS completes first year of operation; begins mapping northern sky

28 July 2019 Astronomy Now

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite – TESS – mapped the southern sky during its first year of operation and is now imaging the northern sky in search of exoplanets and other phenomena.

India launches robotic mission to land on the Moon

22 July 2019 Stephen Clark

Seeking to become the fourth nation to successfully land on the moon, India launched an ambitious robotic lunar mission named Chandrayaan 2 on Monday, targeting a touchdown near the lunar south pole Sept. 6.

Asteroid with shortest year spotted

15 July 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have spotted an unusual asteroid with the shortest “year” known for any asteroid. The rocky body, dubbed 2019 LF6, is about a kilometre in size and circles the Sun roughly every 151 days.

India seeks to join exclusive company with ambitious moon mission

14 July 2019 Stephen Clark

India’s ambitious $142 million Chandrayaan 2 moon mission, comprising a orbiter, lander and rover, is set for liftoff Sunday to begin a nearly two-month transit culminating in a touchdown near the lunar south pole in September.

Russia launches international X-ray astronomy mission

14 July 2019 Stephen Clark

A Proton rocket and Block DM upper stage climbed into space Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Spektr-RG, an astronomical observatory with dual X-ray telescopes developed by Russian and German scientists on the hunt for the signature of dark energy.

Japanese spacecraft snags second sample from asteroid

11 July 2019 Stephen Clark

Scientists celebrated another success with Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft late Wednesday (U.S. time), when the robot explorer accomplished a second pinpoint touch-and-go landing on asteroid Ryugu, this time to collect a sample of pristine dust and rock excavated by an explosive impactor earlier this year.

Hayabusa 2 cleared for second touchdown on asteroid

5 July 2019 Stephen Clark

Ground teams have approved plans for Japan’s Hayabusa 2 sample return mission to briefly land on asteroid Ryugu for the second time on 11 July, aiming for a targeted touch-and-go to gather material exposed by an explosive impactor released by the robot explorer in April.

Planet-hunting TESS spacecraft finds exoplanet smaller than Earth

30 June 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s planet-hunting TEST spacecraft has discovered three planets orbiting a small star 35 light years from Earth that may provide insight into solar system evolution.