News

Planck confirms standard Big Bang model – but ‘tensions’ remain

21 July 2018 Astronomy Now

The European Space Agency’s Planck spacecraft’s final data release confirms the standard model of the Big Bang in unprecedented detail, but disagreement on how fast the cosmos is expanding remains

X-rays indicate collision of young planets may explain star’s dimming

20 July 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers struggling to understand why an unusual stars periodically fades and brightens have collected X-ray observations indicating it may be due to the catastrophic collision of two infant planets.

Adaptive optics ‘tomography’ provides Hubble-class images

19 July 2018 Astronomy Now

A new adaptive optics system being tested on ESO’s Very Large Telescope provides a level of image sharpness that rivals or exceeds the Hubble Space Telescope in narrow fields of view.

A dozen new moons found orbiting Jupiter, pushing total to 79

17 July 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers searching for a hypothesised large planet in the outer solar system far beyond Pluto stumbled across 12 previously undetected moons orbiting Jupiter, pushing the giant planet’s total to a record 79.

Black hole-neutron star mergers could resolve Hubble constant conflict

16 July 2018 Astronomy Now

MIT researchers say gravitational waves from black hole-neutron star mergers may allow astronomers to more accurately measure how fast the Universe is expanding, resolving currently conflicting measurements of the Hubble constant.

MeerKAT radio telescope images Milky Way’s blazing heart

15 July 2018 Astronomy Now

South Africa’s newly inaugurated 64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope, a precursor to the Square Kilometre Array, has imaged the heart of the Milky Way in unprecedented detail, revealing long, magnetised filaments and the blazing core where a supermassive black hole lurks unseen at optical wavelengths.

Planck confirms standard Big Bang model – but ‘tensions’ remain

X-rays indicate collision of young planets may explain star’s dimming

Adaptive optics ‘tomography’ provides Hubble-class images

A dozen new moons found orbiting Jupiter, pushing total to 79

Black hole-neutron star mergers could resolve Hubble constant conflict

MeerKAT radio telescope images Milky Way’s blazing heart

A new volcano on Io? Juno data indicate ‘hot spot’ on active moon

Cosmic mystery deepens with conflicting measurements of Hubble constant

Astronomers trace cosmic ray neutrino back to remote blazar

Cassini ‘hears” plasma waves connecting Saturn to Enceladus