very long baseline interferometry

Best ever image of another star’s surface and atmosphere

26 August 2017 Astronomy Now

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer astronomers have constructed the most detailed image ever of a star — the red supergiant star Antares. They have also made the first map of the velocities of material in the atmosphere of a star other than the Sun, revealing unexpected turbulence in Antares’s huge extended atmosphere.

NASA explains why 30 June received an extra ‘leap second’

30 June 2015 Astronomy Now

Although we are unaware of it in our everyday lives, the Earth’s rotation is slowing down, so each mean solar day is about 0.002 seconds longer than the last. NASA explains why Tuesday, 30 June 2015, will have an extra second, or “leap” second, added.

Planet-sized telescope gives a sharp view into black holes

21 April 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers building an Earth-sized virtual telescope capable of photographing the event horizon of the black hole at the centre of our Milky Way have extended their instrument to the South Pole.