News – Page 68 – Astronomy Now

Ice deposits confirmed near Moon’s poles, confirming earlier indications

21 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Data from a NASA instrument aboard India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft has directly observed ‘definitive’ evidence of ice in shadowed craters at the Moon’s south polar region and with more sparsely distributed ice near the north pole.

Closing a loophole in Bell’s theorem with light from ancient quasars

21 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Using light from ancient quasars, researchers probing quantum entanglement have virtually closed one possible loophole in a key theorem of quantum physics, finding strong support for what Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance.’

InSight lander now halfway to Mars, on track for November landing

20 August 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s InSight spacecraft has passed the halfway point to Mars and remains on track for a 26 November landing in the Elysium Planitia region where it will become the first probe to study the red planet’s deep interior.

Putting a young exoplanet on the scales for the first time

20 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Using data from ESA’s Gaia and Hipparcos satellites, astronomers have managed to deduce the mass of a giant exoplanet orbiting Beta Pictoris by studying subtle changes in the star’s motion over a quarter of a century.

Nothing special about ingredients making up our Solar System

19 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Analysis of more than two dozen relatively nearby solar systems shows the elements that went into their construction are broadly similar to what is found in Earth’s solar family, increasing confidence that Earth-like exoplanets may be common.

NASA stands by for Mars Opportunity wake up as dust storm abates

18 August 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA has not heard from the Opportunity Mars rover since it fell silent 10 June as a global dust storm blanketed the red planet, but engineers are hopeful the long-lived robot will wake up soon as the storm abates.

Molecules ripped apart in giant close-orbiting exoplanet

17 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Computer simulations and spectroscopic analysis show molecular bonds in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-class exoplanet orbiting so close to its star that temperatures reach some 4,000 degrees Celsius (7,200 F) are ripped asunder.

Hundreds of galaxies hidden in quasar’s 46-billion-sun glare

17 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers discover a huge cluster of galaxies ‘hidden in plain sight’ in the glare of a quasar and its voracious central black hole, raising the possibility the universe contains more mass than previously suspected

Excavation begins for Giant Magellan Telescope observatory

14 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Construction crews have begun excavating an estimated 5,000 cubic metres (13,300 tons) of rock – 330 dump truck loads – atop a mountain in the Atacama Desert in Chile to make way for the foundation supporting the Giant Magellan Telescope.

Protons may play outsized role in neutron star behaviour

13 August 2018 Astronomy Now

Protons make up only about 5 percent of the particles making up a ultra-compact neutron star, but a new analysis indicates they may play an outsize role in how the dense stars cool and even how they merge in cataclysmic collisions.