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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Asteroid 2018 VP₁ may be heading for Earth. But there’s no need to worry

    August 25, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The orbit of asteroid 2018 VP₁ intersects Earth’s orbit once every two years. NASA / JPL

    Social media around the world lit up over the weekend, discussing the possibility that an asteroid (known as 2018 VP₁) could crash into Earth on November 2. But you can rest easy. The asteroid does not pose a threat to life on Earth. Most likely, it will sail harmlessly past our planet. At worst, it will burn up harmlessly in our atmosphere and create a firework show for some lucky Earthlings.

    So, what’s the story?

    Our story begins a couple of years ago, on November 3, 2018. That night, the Zwicky Transient Facility at Palomar Observatory in Southern California discovered a faint new “near-Earth asteroid”—an object whose orbit can approach, or cross, that of our planet.

    At the time...

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    Image: Hubble captures Supernova Host Galaxy

    August 24, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features the spectacular galaxy NGC 2442, nicknamed the Meathook galaxy owing to its extremely asymmetrical and irregular shape.

    This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features the spectacular galaxy NGC2442, nicknamed the Meathook galaxy owing to its extremely asymmetrical and irregular shape.

    This galaxy was host to a supernova explosion spotted in March 2015, known as SN2015F, that was created by a white dwarf star. The white dwarf was part of a binary star system and siphoned mass from its companion, eventually becoming too greedy and taking on more than it could handle.

    This unbalanced the star and triggered runaway nuclear fusion that eventually led to an intensely violent supernova explosion.

    The supernova...

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    Hubble snaps close-up of Celebrity Comet NEOWISE

    August 24, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This ground-based image of comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was taken from the Northern Hemisphere on July 16, 2020. The inset image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on Aug. 8, 2020, reveals a close-up of the comet after its pass by the Sun. Hubble’s image zeroes in on the comet’s nucleus, which is too small to be seen. It’s estimated to measure no more than 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) across. Instead, the image shows a portion of the comet’s coma, the fuzzy glow, which measures about 11,000 miles (18,000 kilometers) across in this image. Comet NEOWISE won’t pass through the inner solar system for another nearly 7,000 years.
    Credits: NASA, ESA, STScI, Q. Zhang (Caltech); ground-based image copyright © 2020 by Zoltan G. Levay, used with permission

    NASA Hubble Space Telescope images ...

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    Mystery Gas discovered near Center of Milky Way

    August 21, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Credit: ESO/B. Tafreshi/ TWAN

    An international team of researchers have discovered a dense, cold gas that’s been shot out from the centre of the Milky Way “like bullets.”

    Exactly how the gas has been ejected is still a mystery, but the research team, including Professor Naomi McClure-Griffiths from The Australian National University (ANU), say their findings could have important implications for the future of our galaxy.

    “Galaxies can be really good at shooting themselves in the foot,” Professor McClure-Griffiths said.

    “When you drive out a lot of mass, you’re losing some of the material that could be used to form stars, and if you lose enough of it, the galaxy can’t form stars at all anymore.

    “So, to be able to see hints of the Milky Way losing this star forming gas is kin...

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