News – Page 67 – Astronomy Now

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.

Surprisingly rapid magnetic field reversals pose risks to Earth

28 August 2018 Astronomy Now

About 100,000 years ago, Earth’s magnetic field reversed polarity in just two centuries or so, a surprisingly rapid reversal that, if it happened today, could cost trillions in damage to power and communications systems, researchers say.

Meteorite data indicate Jupiter underwent distinct growth phases

27 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Analysis of isotopes in meteorites shows Jupiter underwent distinct growth phases, rapidly accreting small particles to build a core and then slowing as it pulled in larger planetesimals that generated enough heat to slow gas accretion.

OSIRIS-REx captures its first images of asteroid Bennu

25 August 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has captured its first images of asteroid Bennu at a range of 2.2 million kilometres (4.1 million miles); the probe will slip into orbit around Bennu on New Year’s Eve to kick off a sample-return mission

An aurora by any other name? Not if it goes by STEVE

22 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Scientists studying an unusual atmospheric “skyglow” phenomenon known as STEVE events have determined they are not generated by the same processes responsible for more familiar auroral displays.