News

comparison of the sizes of small stars to the largest planets in our Solar System. EBLM J0555-57Ab, the newly found star, is only slightly larger than Saturn.
Credit: Amanda Smith, University of Cambridge

Smallest known star discovered

CALTECH Planet Nine

Is Planet Nine tilting our Solar System?

first-black-hole-discovered

First image of black hole captured

web1_heavy_metal_planet

Heavy metal planet found around dead star

Several sites have been shortlisted as potential homes for a new spaceport. Credit: UK Space Agency

New laws start exciting era for UK space industry

Not all galaxies are neatly shaped, as this new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 6240 clearly demonstrates. Hubble previously released an image of this galaxy back in 2008, but the knotted region, shown here in a pinky-red hue at the centre of the galaxies, was only revealed in these observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys. NGC 6240 lies 400 million light-years away in the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Holder). This galaxy has an elongated shape with branching wisps, loops and tails. This mess of gas, dust and stars bears more than a passing resemblance to a butterfly and, though perhaps less conventionally beautiful, a lobster. This bizarrely-shaped galaxy did not begin its life looking like this; its distorted appearance is a result of a galactic merger that occurred when two galaxies drifted too close to one another. This merger sparked bursts of new star formation and triggered many hot young stars to explode as supernovae. A new supernova was discovered in this galaxy in 2013, named SN 2013dc. It is not visible in this image, but its location is indicated here. At the centre of NGC 6240 an even more interesting phenomenon is taking place. When the two galaxies came together, their central black holes did so too. There are two supermassive black holes within this jumble, spiralling closer and closer to one another. They are currently only some 3000 light-years apart, incredibly close given that the galaxy itself spans 300 000 light-years. This proximity secures their fate as they are now too close to escape each other and will soon form a single immense black hole. Links Images of Hubble

Secrets of galactic butterfly revealed

The annual bluedot festival is three days of music and science at Jodrell Bank Observatory in rural Cheshire.
Credit: Jody Hartley

Helen Sharman to appear at bluedot 2019

PHOTO DATE: 06-16-15
LOCATION: Bldg. 7 - SSATA Chamber
SUBJECT: Expedition 46/47 crew member and ESA astronaut Tim Peake during SSATA Chamber dry run.
PHOTOGRAPHER: BILL STAFFORD

Zero gravity changes astronauts’ minds

3D printing technology is making it possible for companies like Orbex to offer low cost space launches
Credit: Orbex

3D-printed rocket headed for space

web1_missing_link_space_rock_miyako_main

Missing link of planetary formation discovered

Curiosity inadvertantly recreated an experiment that was first run by the Apollo 17 astronauts using the Lunar buggy.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity measures Mount Sharp’s gravity

OddSupernovaMAIN_0

‘Chameleon’ supernova observed

Credit: Jody Hartley

Bluedot 2019 lineup announced

he existance of Planet Nine was first suggested by Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown in 2016. Several surveys have since launched to search for the planet, but it has not been found.
Credit: Caltech/R Hurt (IPAC)

Is there no Planet Nine after all?

titan_cassini_main HEADER

Summer arrives late on Saturn’s moon Titan