radar – Astronomy Now

Arecibo radar captures revealing images of Comet 45P

16 February 2017 Stephen Clark

Though not visible to the naked eye or even with binoculars, the green-tailed Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova did not escape the gaze of the world-renowned Arecibo Observatory.

Cassini finds flooded canyons on Saturn’s moon Titan

10 August 2016 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has found deep, steep-sided canyons on Saturn’s moon Titan that are flooded with liquid hydrocarbons. The finding represents the first direct evidence of the presence of liquid-filled channels on Titan, as well as the first observation of canyons hundreds of metres deep.

What lies beneath – Venus’ surface revealed through the clouds

18 July 2016 Astronomy Now

Using observations from ESA’s Venus Express satellite, scientists have shown for the first time how weather patterns seen in Venus’ thick cloud layers are directly linked to the topography of the surface below. Rather than acting as a barrier to our observations, Venus’ clouds may offer insight into what lies beneath.

Scientists find evidence of ice age at Mars’ north pole

27 May 2016 Astronomy Now

Using radar data collected by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, researchers have found evidence of an ice age recorded in the polar deposits of Mars. Measurements show that about 87,000 cubic kilometres of ice have accumulated at the poles since the end of the last ice age about 370,000 years ago; the majority of the material accumulated at the Martian north pole.

Radar images provide new details on Halloween asteroid

4 November 2015 Astronomy Now

The highest-resolution radar images of 600 metre-wide asteroid 2015 TB₁₄₅‘s safe flyby of Earth have been processed. NASA scientists used giant, Earth-based radio telescopes to bounce radar signals off the asteroid as it flew past Earth on 31 October at 17:00 UTC (~5pm GMT) at about 1.3 lunar distances (302,500 miles, or 486,800 kilometres) from Earth.

Peanut-shaped near-Earth asteroid 1999 JD6 imaged by radar

3 August 2015 Astronomy Now

NASA scientists have used two giant, Earth-based radio telescopes to bounce radar signals off a passing asteroid and produce images of the peanut-shaped body as it approached close to Earth on 25 July. The asteroid appears to be a contact binary — an asteroid with two lobes that are stuck together.

New imaging technique reveals Titan in unprecedented detail

13 February 2015 Astronomy Now

A new way to process radar data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft gives researchers much clearer and easier to interpret views of the surface of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.