X-Headlines – Page 19 – Astronomy Now

27 August 2026

Gravitational wave testbed repurposed as comet dust detector

26 April 2017 Stephen Clark

In the final months of Europe’s LISA Pathfinder mission, scientists have found an unexpected use for the trailblazing testbed for a future gravitational wave observatory by tracking the tiny dings made by microscopic particles that strike the spacecraft in deep space, exploiting the impacts to learn about the population of dust grains cast off by comets and asteroids across the solar system.

Cassini sails by Saturn’s moon Titan for last time

24 April 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sped by the moon Titan on Saturday, using the hazy world’s gravity to slingshot the probe on a trailblazing trajectory to explore the region between Saturn’s hydrogen-helium atmosphere and the planet’s famous rings for the first time.

The arrhythmic beating of a black hole heart

21 April 2017 Astronomy Now

At the center of the Centaurus galaxy cluster, there is a large elliptical galaxy called NGC 4696. Deeper still, there is a supermassive black hole buried within the core of this galaxy.

Potentially habitable super-Earth is a prime target for atmospheric study

20 April 2017 Astronomy Now

The study of alien worlds is entering its next phase as astronomers amass the best planets outside our Solar System to look for signs of life. A newly discovered “super-Earth” orbiting in the habitable zone of a nearby small star, has catapulted itself to the top of that list.

With an eye on growing cost, NASA aims for 2025 launch of next ‘great observatory’

19 April 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA managers say the WFIRST mission, the next in the agency’s line of powerful observatories after the Hubble and James Webb telescopes, could cost around $3.2 billion after budgeting for a novel first-of-its-kind instrument to probe the make-up of planets around nearby stars and a bigger-than-expected launch vehicle.

ALMA investigates ‘DeeDee,’ a distant, dim member of our Solar System

17 April 2017 Astronomy Now

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, astronomers have revealed extraordinary details about a recently discovered far-flung member of our Solar System, the planetary body 2014 UZ224, more informally known as DeeDee.

Saturn’s disc-shaped moon Atlas spotted by Cassini

16 April 2017 Stephen Clark

One of Saturn’s peculiar moons has received an up-close look from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which sent back the best-ever pictures of Atlas, an object shaped like a flying saucer orbiting just outside the planet’s rings.

Keck Observatory achieves first light with new instrument

14 April 2017 Astronomy Now

W. M. Keck Observatory has captured the very first successful science data from its newest, cutting-edge instrument, the Keck Cosmic Web Imager.

New discoveries raise prospects for life on moons of Jupiter and Saturn

13 April 2017 Stephen Clark

Scientists announced Thursday that measurements from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft detected hydrogen gas, a key energy source for microbial life, in a plume gushing from a vast liquid water ocean buried beneath the icy shell of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Possible Venus twin discovered around dim star

11 April 2017 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using NASA’s Kepler space telescope have found a planet 219 light-years away that seems to be a close relative to Venus. This newly discovered world is only slightly larger than Earth and orbits a low-temperature star called Kepler-1649 that’s one-fifth the diameter of our Sun.