News – Page 63 – Astronomy Now

Chandra X-ray Observatory to resume observations after gyro swap

15 October 2018 William Harwood

The Chandra X-ray Observatory should be out of ‘safe mode’ and back in operation soon after engineers traced a recent problem to one of the telescopes gyroscopes. A backup has been activated that should resolve the matter.

Opaque voids in early universe tied to galaxy scarcity

14 October 2018 Astronomy Now

New research indicates vast voids in the extremely early universe did not contain large amounts of gas, blocking light from background galaxies. They actually contain little mass, with fewer nearby galaxies than expected.

Chandra X-ray Observatory joins Hubble in protective safe mode

12 October 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory entered protective safe mode 10 October, the second of NASA’s “Great Observatories” to be sidelined in one week by a technical issue. Engineers are studying telemetry to pinpoint the problem.

Astronomers see birth of rare binary neutron star

12 October 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found an “ultra-stripped supernova” that created a second neutron star in a tight binary system, matching theoretical predictions for how such binaries are formed in otherwise disruptive blasts.

ALMA helps solve an astronomical cold case

10 October 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers say an apparent nova that appeared in the constellation Cygnus 348 years ago likely was caused by a collision between a compact white dwarf and a ‘failed star’ known as a brown dwarf.

Hubble Space Telescope sidelined by gyro problem

9 October 2018 Astronomy Now

The Hubble Space Telescope has been sidelined in the wake of problems with two of its four remaining gyroscopes. Engineers are hopeful they can restore one of the units to operation. If not, backup plans are in place.

Are we there yet? Voyager 2 nears the boundary of interstellar space

5 October 2018 Astronomy Now

Six years after the Voyager 1 spacecraft moved into interstellar space, Voyager 2 is detecting an increase in cosmic ray strikes indicating the probe is nearing the edge of the protective bubble defined by the Sun’s influence.

IAU names two lunar craters in honour of Apollo 8

5 October 2018 Astronomy Now

The International Astronomical Union, marking the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission that carried humans into lunar orbit for the first time in 1968, has named to craters to honour the historic mission.

First evidence of ‘exomoon’ found in Kepler data

3 October 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers reviewing data collected by the planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft have found evidence for a large exomoon orbiting a gas giant 8,000 light years away. If confirmed, it would mark the first detection of a moon in another solar system.

Hayabusa2 drops European MASCOT lander onto asteroid Ryugu

3 October 2018 Astronomy Now

A small lander built by the German and French space agencies tumbled to a successful low-gravity landing on the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu after release from Japan’s Hayabusa2 sample return spacecraft.