26 March 2023
Astronomy Now
  • Home
  • The Magazine
    • About
    • Current Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Renew Subscription
      • March last issue
      • April last issue
      • May last issue
  • AstroFest 2023
  • News
  • Observing
    • UK Sky Chart
    • Almanac
    • Scope Calc
    • DSLR Calc
  • Reviews
    • Equipment
    • Book Reviews
  • Spaceflight Now
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
    • Subscriptions
    • Your Views
    • Ask Astronomy Now
    • Editorial
    • Advertising
Latest News
  • [ 23 March 2023 ] A simpler, more mundane explanation for ‘Oumuamua’s strange behaviour News
  • [ 22 March 2023 ] Japanese Hakuto-R moon lander slips into lunar orbit News
  • [ 21 March 2023 ] Analysis of Magellan data shows apparent volcanic activity on Venus News
  • [ 23 February 2023 ] Webb images M92, one of the Milky Way’s oldest globular clusters News
  • [ 20 February 2023 ] The Eskimo: observe one of winter’s best planetary nebulae News
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Crater

Observing

Seek out 1998 OR2, the brightest predicted near-Earth asteroid encounter of 2020

12 April 2020 Ade Ashford

A near-Earth object (NEO) and potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) with the catchy official name of 52768 (1998 OR2) passes just 16.4 lunar distances (6.3 million kilometres) from Earth at 09:56 UT on Wednesday, 29 April 2020. Here’s our guide to locating this fascinating asteroid in 15-cm (6-inch) aperture telescopes and smaller from the UK this month.

Observing

See a lunar occultation bonanza on the night of 5—6 November

2 November 2017 Ade Ashford

Many will be looking skyward to see terrestrial pyrotechnics this Bonfire Night, but if you own a small telescope and can escape the light pollution, you can see the waning gibbous Moon hide three naked-eye stars in Taurus on the night of 5—6 November, culminating in first-magnitude star Aldebaran in the small hours of Monday morning.

News

Clues to ancient 15-mile-wide asteroid impact found in Western Australia

18 May 2016 Astronomy Now

An international team of scientists has found evidence of a major asteroid impact that occurred approximately 3.5 billion years ago. Tiny glass beads called spherules formed from vaporised material from the asteroid impact were found in a drill core from Australia in some of the oldest known sediments on Earth.

News

Moon impact! NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter finds new craters

17 March 2015 Astronomy Now

On 17th March 2013, an object hit the Moon’s surface in Mare Imbrium and exploded in a flash of light nearly 10 times as bright as anything ever recorded before. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has found the new 19-metre-wide crater plus more than two-dozen others.

Picture This

Polar scars on Saturn’s moon Mimas

29 December 2014 Astronomy Now

This image from the Cassini probe of Saturn’s moon Mimas shows the scars of numerous impacts near the north pole.

News

Carnegie hosts Mercury crater-naming contest

16 December 2014 Astronomy Now

To celebrate MESSENGER’s highly successful ten-year mission, you’re invited to immortalise five famous artists, composers or writers by naming craters on Mercury in their honour — but hurry, the contest closes 15th January 2015!

News

Moon probe’s impact crater found

30 October 2014 Astronomy Now

NASA’S Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has spied a new crater on the lunar surface; one made from the impact of NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission.

Picture This

Mercury orbiter captures crater in colour

2 October 2014 Astronomy Now

This image from NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft is a colour view of the impact crater Sor Juana on the planet Mercury.

Astronomy Now NewsAlert

Get the latest astronomical news and stargazing tips delivered to your inbox.

News Headlines

  • A simpler, more mundane explanation for ‘Oumuamua’s strange behaviour
    23 March 2023
  • Japanese Hakuto-R moon lander slips into lunar orbit
    22 March 2023
  • Analysis of Magellan data shows apparent volcanic activity on Venus
    21 March 2023
  • Webb images M92, one of the Milky Way’s oldest globular clusters
    23 February 2023
  • The Eskimo: observe one of winter’s best planetary nebulae
    20 February 2023
  • Home
  • The Magazine
    • About
    • Current Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Renew Subscription
      • March last issue
      • April last issue
      • May last issue
  • AstroFest 2023
  • News
  • Observing
    • UK Sky Chart
    • Almanac
    • Scope Calc
    • DSLR Calc
  • Reviews
    • Equipment
    • Book Reviews
  • Spaceflight Now
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
    • Subscriptions
    • Your Views
    • Ask Astronomy Now
    • Editorial
    • Advertising

© 2019 Pole Star Publications Limited

Astronomy Now