Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope for the first time have spotted a star system that later produced an unusual supernova explosion of a white dwarf, the stripped-down core of an ordinary star at the end of its life.
Examining archived Hubble images taken before the supernova, astronomers say they have detected the blue companion star of the white dwarf. … Read the rest of this article
AAVSO Alert Notice 503Current magnitude 12 -12.5.
Dr. Margarita Karovska (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) and colleagues have requested AAVSO observer assistance in their campaign on the symbiotic variable RT Cru. Weekly or more frequent monitoring beginning now is requested in support of upcoming Chandra observations still … Read the rest of this article
If you missed the live Rosetta rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko this morning, the above video is a replay of the event, including interviews with various scientists and engineers. Just be aware that the replay is about 3 hours long! … Read the rest of this article
Stunning close up detail focusing on a smooth region on the ‘base’ of the ‘body’ section of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image was taken by Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera and downloaded today, 6 August. The image clearly shows a range of features, including boulders, craters and steep cliffs. The image was taken from a distance of 130 km and the image … Read the rest of this article
After a decade-long journey chasing its target, ESA’s Rosetta has today become the first spacecraft to rendezvous with a comet, opening a new chapter in Solar System exploration.
Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko and Rosetta now lie 405 million kilometres from Earth, about half way between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars, rushing towards the inner Solar System at nearly 55 000 kilometres … Read the rest of this article
Tomorrow morning at 8:00AM GMT (4AM EST), The ESA’s Rosetta probe will rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will be the first mission in history to rendezvous with a comet, escort it as it orbits the Sun, and deploy a lander to its surface. Watch the rendezvous live here.
Below is a timeline of the most crucial steps leading to … Read the rest of this article
NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover, which landed on the Red Planet in 2004, now holds the off-Earth roving distance record after accruing 25 miles (40 kilometers) of driving. The previous record was held by the Soviet Union’s Lunokhod 2 rover.
“Opportunity has driven farther than any other wheeled vehicle on another world,” said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas, of … Read the rest of this article
ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft has climbed to a new orbit following its daring aerobraking experiment, and will now resume observations of this fascinating planet for at least a few more months.
The orbit-raising followed a month of aerobraking that saw the spacecraft surf in and out of the atmosphere at altitudes typically between 131 km and 135 km for a … Read the rest of this article
The spiral galaxy M33, also known as the Triangulum Galaxy, is one of our closest cosmic neighbours, just three million light-years away. Home to some forty billion stars, it is the third largest in the Local Group of galaxies after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and our own Milky Way.
M33 is popular with astrophotographers and from exceptionally dark sites it … Read the rest of this article
NASA is taking steps to protect its Mars orbiters, while preserving opportunities to gather valuable scientific data, as Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring heads toward a close flyby of Mars on Oct. 19.
The comet’s nucleus will miss Mars by about 82,000 miles (132,000 kilometers), shedding material hurtling at about 35 miles (56 kilometers) per second, relative to Mars and … Read the rest of this article
The Sun Now (Visible light)
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The Sun Now (H-Alpha light)
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Aurora Oval
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Aurora Oval
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