News – Page 52 – Astronomy Now

Shattering an in-bound asteroid may be tougher than thought

4 March 2019 Astronomy Now

A new computer model indicates it may be tougher to break up a large asteroid on a collision course with Earth than previously believed.

Intermediate mass black hole found near galactic centre

28 February 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers studying a swirling cloud of gas near the centre of the Milky Way have found what appears to be an intermediate mass black hole.

Cataclysmic neutron star merger generates powerful jet

27 February 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers studying the aftermath of the merger of two neutron stars have found what appears to be a powerful jet blasting through a shell of debris.

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Israeli moon lander

24 February 2019 Astronomy Now

A small privately-funded Israeli spacecraft is on its way to the moon, the first non-superpower attempt to land on the surface of another world.

Japanese probe lands on asteroid to capture sample

24 February 2019 Stephen Clark

Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft briefly landed on an asteroid Thursday more than 200 million miles from Earth and fired a bullet to scoop up a rocky sample, successfully accomplishing one of the mission’s most challenging manoeuvres before returning the asteroid specimen to scientists on the ground in December 2020.

New Horizons returns best view yet of Ultima Thule

23 February 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s New Horizons probe has sent back its best view yet of Ultima Thule, taken just 6.5 minutes before closest approach on New Year’s Day.

NASA orbiter spots Chinese lander on the Moon

21 February 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted China’s Chang’e 4 lander and rover on the far side of the Moon in new images, as the Chinese robots explore the floor of Von Kármán crater.

How’s the weather on Mars? Cold, with a chance of dust devils

19 February 2019 Astronomy Now

Weather data from NASA’s InSight Mars lander is now posted daily, allowing armchair astronauts to better appreciate conditions on the red planet.

New radio map reveals huge number of previously unseen galaxies

19 February 2019 Astronomy Now

A new radio map showing a small portion of the northern sky gives researchers a powerful new tool for studying galaxy clusters and supermassive black holes.

Gravity waves may help resolve Hubble constant conundrum

16 February 2019 Astronomy Now

Over the next 10 years, researchers say, gravitational waves from merging neutron stars may resolve discrepancies in the value of the Hubble constant.