News – Page 76 – Astronomy Now

30 July 2026

With fuel running low, Kepler begins 18th observing campaign

27 May 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope began its 18th observing campaign on 12 May, an 82-day run focusing on star clusters, galaxies and a handful of solar system bodies as the spacecraft nears the end of its life. Among its targets is 99942 Apophis, an asteroid expected to pass close by Earth in 2029.

Evidence found for ‘giant comet’ theory of Pluto’s origin

26 May 2018 William Harwood

Data collected by NASA’s New Horizons probe and ESA’s Rosetta mission suggest Pluto might have formed from the accretion of a billion or so smaller bodies similar to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and other Kuiper Belt objects.

Jets seen by Rosetta caused by comet’s strange shape

25 May 2018 Astronomy Now

ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft observed unusual jets of gas and dust spewing from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko every morning as the sun came up. A new study shows those jets formed as a result of the comet’s strange topography.

Curiosity once again drilling into Mars rocks after long hiatus

24 May 2018 Astronomy Now

The drill at the end of the Curiosity Mars rover’s robot arm is back in action after being sidelined for more than a year by a mechanical problem. A new technique was successfully tested 20 May after months of engineering tests on Earth.

Interstellar asteroid captured by Sun in distant past

23 May 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers analyzing the retrograde motion of an asteroid orbiting the Sun at Jupiter’s distance shows the body most likely originated in another star system and was captured by the gravity of the Sun and its planets at some point in the distant past.

Computer simulations suggest reason for strange moon shapes

22 May 2018 William Harwood

Computer simulations show how some of Saturn’s small inner moons might have acquired their unique pasta-like shapes thanks to low-velocity near head-on impacts of smaller bodies in the presence of extremely strong tidal forces.

Hubble catalogues star-forming regions in nearby galaxies

19 May 2018 Astronomy Now

To learn more about the processes behind star formation, the Hubble Space Telescope has examined 50 relatively nearby galaxies to compile the most comprehensive ultraviolet-light look at active star-birth regions.

TESS planet hunter snaps test photo showing 200,000 stars

18 May 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s planet-hunting TESS satellite has completed a gravity assist flyby of the moon and sent back an initial test image from one of its four cameras showing about 200,000 stars. Science operations are expected to begin in mid June.

Multiverse more hospitable than previously thought?

18 May 2018 Astronomy Now

A new computer analysis suggests much higher levels of dark energy would not, as many believe, prevent the formation of stars and planets, implying life might be more common across the Multiverse – assuming it exists – than previously believed.

Star formation underway 250 million years after Big Bang

17 May 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array have observed a galaxy 13.3 billion light years away that includes stars that must have been shining just 250 million years after the Big Bang.