A 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko update by Melanie Davies FRAS In September 2019, at a major planetary sciences conference (EPSC-DPS), scientists lead by Jean-Baptiste Vincent presented evidence of curious bouncing boulders on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. EPSC-DPS is the joint meeting of the European Planetary Science Congress and the Division of Planetary Sciences, and last year was held in […]
Using data captured by the Cassini spacecraft, scientists working at the University of Leicester have recently detected a high-altitude hexagonal feature, towering high above the clouds. As part of a long-term study, they discovered a North Polar Stratospheric Vortex (NPSV). This newly discovered detail, abundant in hydrocarbons, could be influenced by a much larger feature […]
A group of research scientists led by Ryo Ando from the University of Tokyo have peered into the starburst galaxy, NGC 253 – also known as the Sculptor Galaxy – to reveal a collection of diverse molecules in never-seen-before resolution. Starburst galaxies like NGC 253 are active star-forming galaxies, and have been major players in […]
Similar to the Asteroid Belt and Kuiper Belt, astronomers using the ALMA Observatory in Chile – part of the European Southern Observatory – have found rings of cold dust orbiting the closest star to the Solar System, Proxima Centauri (or Proxima for short). Proxima – a red dwarf star – is just over four lightyears […]
Supernova pairs have been used to accurately measure cosmological distances. Within the last 20 years, astronomers have discovered that the Universe is expanding at an ever increasing rate due to dark energy. One technique used to detect this increase is to measure the distances to bright supernovae. Only a Type 1a supernova is used for […]
Researchers have found the remains of a planetary system orbiting a white dwarf star. Researchers from the University of Warwick have acquired the first direct image of a debris disc in orbit around the core of a burnt out star. The white dwarf star, SDSS1228+1040, lies about 463 lightyears away in the constellation of Virgo. Although […]
Astronomers using gravity maps from NASA’s twin GRAIL (Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory) satellites have discovered that the Moon’s upper crust – the megaregolith – is highly porous. The GRAIL satellites, Ebb and Flow, determined the Moon’s gravity field by measuring tiny movements of the spacecraft due to the push and pull of gravity upon […]
An enormous magnetic binary star system has been discovered by Canadian PhD student, Matt Shultz of Queen’s University, Ontario. The object is unusual because giant stars rarely have magnetic fields; and giant binary stars with magnetism are even less common, accounting for only about 2% of stars in the Milky Way. The discovery was made using […]