Astronomy News

Spacecraft controllers have been executing a series of manoeuvres to gradually bring Venus Express closer to its host planet. In its modified orbit, the spacecraft will be able to observe unexplored regions and investigate phenomena that were not within its reach before. The operational manoeuvres to bring the spacecraft closer will be executed through the month of July, settling it into its new orbit by 4 August.Manoeuvres Bring Venus Express Closer to Its Host Planet

Instead, the star that exploded is now understood to have collapsed into a black hole, producing a weak jet, typical of much more violent events, the so-called gamma-ray bursts.

The Pinwheel galaxy is gussied up in infrared light in a new picture from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

A team of European scientists working with COROT have discovered an exoplanet orbiting a star slightly more massive than the Sun. After just 555 days in orbit, the mission has now observed more than 50 000 stars and is adding significantly to our knowledge of the fundamental workings of stars. The latest discovery, COROT-exo-4b is an exoplanet of about the same size as Jupiter. It takes 9.2 days to orbit its star, the longest period for any transiting exoplanet ever found. Corot Finds a Planet Orbiting a Star Like the Sun

Scientists and engineers are preparing ESA's Mars Express for several close fly-bys of the Martian moon Phobos. Passing within 100 km of the surface, Mars Express will conduct some of the most detailed investigations of the moon to date. The series of fly-bys will take place between 12 July and 3 August. During the second encounter, the spacecraft will fly within 273 km of the surface. Six days later, Mars Express will close to within just 97 km. Mars Express to Rendezvous with Martian Moon Phobos.

High Cliffs Surrounding Echus Chasma on Mars Credit: G. Neukum et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA Explanation: What created this great cliff on Mars? Did giant waterfalls once plummet through its grooves? With a ...

A European spacecraft is making its closest ever pass by the Martian moon Phobos today to scan never-before-seen regions of the small, rocky satellite.

Spiral galaxies NGC 5426 and NGC 5427 are passing dangerously close to each other, but each is likely to survive this collision. What will become of these galaxies? Spiral galaxies NGC 5426 and NGC 5427 are ...

On Oct. 9, 2007, XMM-Newton was turning from one target to another when it passed across a bright source of X-rays that no one was expecting. The source was not listed in any previous X-ray catalog, yet the mysterious object was lighting up XMM-Newton’s view of the cosmos.

The first robotic mission to return samples to Earth from Mars took a further step toward realisation, with the recent publication of a mission design report by the iMARS Working Group. The report defines key elements of the future internationally-funded mission, involving the cooperation of ESA, NASA and other national agencies. iMARS, which stands for the International Mars Architecture for the Return of Samples is a committee of the International Mars Exploration Working Group made up of scientists, engineers, strategic planners, and managers. The report, which comes after months of deliberation, outlines the scientific and engineering requirements of such an international mission to be undertaken in the timeframe 2020-2022. Mars Sample Return Mission: iMARS Working Group Report

Repair of Launch Pad 39A's flame trench is right on schedule. All materials needed for the refurbishment have arrived and fireproofing begin this week, with the application of Fondu Fyre, a heat resistant concrete developed during the Apollo space program. The STS-125 flight is the final shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA astronauts will install new instruments, gyros, batteries and other components crucial to the telescope's continued success through the year 2013. STS-125, Atlantis, Hubble Servicing Mission 4: Preparations Continue

Big moniker ... an artist's impression of the fourth dwarf planet. Richard Macey THERE is a new name in our solar system.

XMM-Newton has discovered an exploding star in the Milky Way. Usually that would be important in itself, but this time there is a special twist. Calculations show that the explosion must have been clearly visible to the unaided eye but was missed by the legions of star watchers around the planet. On 9 October 2007, ESA's orbiting X-ray observatory XMM-Newton was turning from one target to another. As it did so, it passed across a bright source of X-rays that no one was expecting. The source was not listed in any previous X-ray catalogue, yet XMM-Newton was receiving some 50 X-rays every second from this mysterious object. XMM-Newton Finds Unnoticed Exploding Star in Milky Way

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write! Friday, July 18, 2008 The Arecibo Observatory.

A composite image from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope shows the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 4649.

A newly developed nano-sized electronic device is an important step toward helping astronomers see invisible light dating from the creation of the universe.

There's a dramatic scene in George Lucas' original "Star Wars: A New Hope" in which Luke Skywalker is standing in the desert on his home planet Tatooine staring off into the distance at a vision unfamiliar to ...

Jupiter's third spot may not be around for long. Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope show the third spot, the smallest of the three, recently passed under the Great Red Spot and now is a pale version of ...

Could the television image of the Greenland ice cap crumbling into the ocean because of global warming somehow - indirectly and psychologically - be partly responsible for high oil and other commodity prices? ...

By measuring a peak in the temperature of hot gas in the center of the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 4649, scientists have determined the mass of the galaxy's supermassive black hole.