News – Page 79 – Astronomy Now

23 August 2026

Uranus stinks. No, really, it does

26 April 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using a powerful spectrometer attached one of the world’s largest telescopes have discovered that Uranus smells like rotten eggs thanks to hydrogen sulphide in its upper atmosphere.

NASA’s new planet-hunting satellite begins climb into science orbit

25 April 2018 Stephen Clark

Looping back near Earth for the first time since its launch one week ago, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite fired its thrusters early Wednesday to begin boosting its orbit toward the moon for a May 17 gravity assist maneuver that will help catapult the probe into its unique science orbit.

Gaia data pins down 1.7 billion suns in most detailed star catalogue ever

25 April 2018 Astronomy Now

The second data release from the European Space Agency’s hard-working Gaia spacecraft reveals the position and brightness of nearly 1.7 billion stars in the most detailed star catalogue ever developed.

Large galaxies may host multiple supermassive black holes

24 April 2018 William Harwood

Many, if not all, large galaxies host supermassive black holes, including the Milky Way. A new study predicts such galaxies likely host more than one, far from the galactic core, the result of earlier mergers.

The search for uncharted asteroids and comets continues

24 April 2018 Astronomy Now

NASA’s NEOWISE spacecraft has been hard at work the past four years, charting asteroids and comets across the solar system, helping astronomers identify near-Earth objects as well as more distant asteroids and comets.

After “terrific” launch, TESS nears first major orbit-raising burn

23 April 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s new planet-hunting TESS observatory completed its first post-launch thruster firing Saturday, setting up for a big boost Wednesday that will send the spacecraft toward the moon for a flyby next month, the next maneuvers in a two-month process to reach the mission’s final science orbit in mid-June.

Astronomers collect spectra in search for Sun’s lost siblings

20 April 2018 William Harwood

Australian astronomers are in the process of collecting the spectra of a million stars across the Milky Way in a project to study galactic evolution. In the process, they hope to track down at least some of the sun’s lost siblings.

Mars moons likely formed from more modest impact

19 April 2018 Astronomy Now

Sophisticated computer modeling indicates Mars’ two small moons likely formed as the result of a relatively modest-size impactor, not a much larger body as previously theorized.

All-sky surveyor launched from Cape Canaveral on the hunt for exoplanets

19 April 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, built to find planets around other stars that are close enough for detailed follow-ups by future telescopes, launched Wednesday into a unique high-altitude orbit on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral.

Powerful new camera developed to directly image exoplanets

16 April 2018 Astronomy Now

Physicists are testing a powerful new camera known as DARKNESS that is designed to directly image exoplanets orbiting nearby stars. The camera is being tested with the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Mount Palomar.