News – Page 56 – Astronomy Now

Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 expected back on line soon

10 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Engineers are optimistic they can safely return the Wide Field Camera 3 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope to normal operation after a fault 8 January.

Direct evidence of white dwarf crystallisation found

10 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Using data collected by ESA’s Gaia spacecraft, researchers have found direct evidence that white dwarfs eventually crystallise as they slowly cool after running out of fuel.

Habitable worlds orbiting dwarf stars may not be commonplace after all

9 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope and ESO’s Very Large Telescope indicate processes that may limit the habitability of planets orbiting dwarf stars.

Hardware problem knocks Hubble camera off line

9 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Engineers are troubleshooting a hardware problem with the Wide Field Camera 3, one of the Hubble Space Telescope’s premier science instruments.

TESS on track to revolutionise exoplanet astronomy

8 January 2019 Astronomy Now

In just three months, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, discovered three confirmed worlds, 280 candidates and six supernovae.

Most detailed view yet of M33 captured in Hubble mosaic

7 January 2019 Astronomy Now

A stunning mosaic made up of 54 Hubble Space Telescope images resolves nearly 25 million stars in the most detailed view yet of M33.

The Sun expected to ride out a looming galactic merger

4 January 2019 Astronomy Now

A collision between the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud in about 1.5 billion years likely will re-energize the supermassive black hole lurking in our galaxy’s core.

Ultima Thule comes into focus with latest New Horizons image

3 January 2019 William Harwood

New images of Ultima Thule, the small chunk of primordial debris NASA’s New Horizons probe zoomed past on New Year’s Day, came into much sharper focus on Wednesday, revealing a snowman-shaped object.

OSIRIS-REx slips into record-close orbit around asteroid

2 January 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft slipped into a record-close orbit of the asteroid Bennu on New Year’s Eve, setting the stage for exceedingly close-range observations.

New Horizons scientists elated as Ultima Thule’s shape comes into view

1 January 2019 Stephen Clark

A fresh image from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft released Tuesday showed the mission’s distant flyby target a billion miles beyond Pluto — nicknamed Ultima Thule — has an elongated shape like that of a peanut shell or a bowling pin, and the prospect of higher-resolution pictures arriving on Earth later in the day had scientists salivating for more.