News – Page 64 – Astronomy Now

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.

Extreme dwarf planet – ‘The Goblin’ – influenced by Planet X?

2 October 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers searching the outer solar system for signs of a super Earth-size world beyond Pluto have found another small body in an orbit consistent with the presumed gravitational influence of the presumed Planet X.

Where are they? Searching for laser beams from ET

2 October 2018 Astronomy Now

A mostly student-run project is studying the Andromeda Galaxy, taking repeated before-and-after photos with relatively small telescopes in hopes of detecting any civilizations using powerful lasers to signal their presence.

Vast clouds of hydrogen aglow in early cosmos

1 October 2018 Astronomy Now

Vast clouds of atomic hydrogen in the early universe glow an ultraviolet blue in unexpected results indicating Lyman-alpha emissions across the entire sky.

Galaxies leave a trail as they plunge into massive cluster

28 September 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory captures a detailed view showing a small group of galaxies being pulled into a massive galactic cluster trailing a long stream of hot gas in their wake.