News – Page 66 – Astronomy Now

Neutron star merger generated illusion of superluminal jet

10 September 2018 Astronomy Now

The merger of two neutron stars, observed in August, created two powerful jets streaming away into space at nearly the speed of light, in agreement with theoretical predictions and shedding new light on gamma ray bursts.

Dawn probe nears end of successful mission to Vesta, Ceres

8 September 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, almost out of fuel for maintaining its orientation and aiming its antenna toward Earth, is nearing the end of its life after a trail-blazing 11-year mission orbiting the asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres.

Two galaxies collide leaving luminous ring of collapsed stars

7 September 2018 Astronomy Now

Observations of a ring galaxy, the result of a cosmic collision with another galaxy more than 300 million years ago, reveal a necklace-like ring of ultraluminous X-ray sources powered by black holes, neutron stars or both.

Fierce molecular winds slow runaway starbirth in early galaxy

6 September 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have detected a powerful molecular wind being blasted away from a starburst galaxy in the early universe, the earliest example yet of a mechanism thought to prevent galaxies from growing too large too fast.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell earns £2.3 million prize for pulsar discovery

6 September 2018 Astronomy Now

Jocelyn Bell Burnell has been awarded a £2.3 million Breakthrough Prize for her discovery of periodic radio pulses that signaled the discovery of pulsars. She plans to donate the money to help women and minority astronomy students.

U.S. National Academies recommend imaging exoplanet telescope

6 September 2018 Astronomy Now

An influential panel of senior U.S. scientists and administrators recommends that NASA build a large exoplanet imaging telescope to answer fundamental questions how common Earth-like planets – and life – might be across the galaxy.

New database helps identify potentially ‘life friendly’ stars

4 September 2018 Astronomy Now

A new database lists the chemical compositions of more than 6,000 nearby stars and the abundances of elements from hydrogen to lead, giving astronomers a guide to stars that may host potentially habitable planets.

ALMA reveals dusty anatomy of an ancient starburst galaxy

3 September 2018 Astronomy Now

New observations of a starburst galaxy using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array resolve vast, unstable clouds thousands of light years apart that are thought to be sites for rapid-fire star formation.

To bring a dead star back to life, first get a black hole

1 September 2018 Astronomy Now

Computer simulations show an intermediate-mass black hole pulling in a white dwarf could trigger a brief burst of fusion, seeding space with heavy elements.

New Horizons catches sight of Kuiper Belt target ‘Ultima Thule’

29 August 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has finally caught sight of its post-Pluto target, a Kuiper Belt body nicknamed Ultima Thule. If all goes well, New Horizons will make a close flyby of the distant body on 1 January.