This page is used to pass on any "hot off the press" news about YAS, or Astronomy in general. It is a rolling 1 year history, so look back and see what has been happening in the world of Space and Astronomy for the past year.
31st May 2008 - NASA's space shuttle Discovery has successfully launched at 10:02PM BST this eveing from Cape Kennedy on a 14 day mission to the ISS to install Japan's science main module. For full coverage of this mission, keep an eye on NASA TV at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
10th April 2008 - NASA's Mars Reconaissance Orbiter has taken close up images of Phobos, the larger of Mar's two small moons. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature pages at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7340670.stm
26th March 2008 - Space shuttle Endeavour has landed safely at the Kennedy SPace Centre after it's record breaking 16 day mission which included 5 separate EVAs to carry out work on the ISS. During the mission, a new Japanese Space Agency laboratory module was added to the station, a new robotic device, called DEXTRE, to perfrom remote maintenance around the outside of the ISS was assembeled and tested, and fianlly some thermal tile repair material was tested for possible future use on any damaged Shuttle protective tiles. The next Shuttle launch is sheduled for May 2008.
10th March 2008 - Europe's new ATV space truck is up and running following Sunday's launch, although one propulsion glitch means a back-up system is currently being used. The freighter is sitting in a 260km high orbit and is due to deliver just under five tonnes of supplies to the space station on 3rd April. The anomaly has shut down seven of the 28 attitude control jets and one of the space truck's four main engines. Engineers are now investigating with a view to getting them all back online. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature pages at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7287417.stm
7th March 2008 - The world's most powerful optical telescope has opened both of its eyes. Astronomers at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona have released the first images taken using its two giant 8m diameter mirrors. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7282385.stm
3rd March 2008 - Creating a "phone-book for ET". "There are 200 billion stars in our galaxy and at least half of them probably have planets," ponders Dr Seth Shostack, chief astronomer at Seti, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. For scientists like Seth Shostack, the scale of the Universe means it is nearly impossible that human beings are alone. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7275370.stm
28th January 2008 - UK astronomers will lose access to two of the world's finest telescopes in February, as administrators look to plug an £80m hole in their finances. Observation programmes on the 8.1m telescopes of the Gemini organisation will end abruptly because Britain is cancelling its subscription. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7210342.stm
18th January 2008 - Mercury's unseen side is revealed The first pictures taken by the Messenger probe as it passed Mercury on Monday have started to arrive at Earth. They include images that show parts of the surface missed by the Mariner 10 spacecraft when it flew by the planet in the 1970s. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7192479.stm
14th January 2008 - The first spacecraft to visit Mercury in more than 30 years passes the planet on Monday at a distance of just 200km. The fly-by is the first of three the Messenger probe will make in the coming years as it slows itself to enter into orbit around the small world in 2011. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7183846.stm
13th January 2008 - A giant cloud of hydrogen gas is racing towards a collision with the Milky Way, astronomers have announced. Dubbed "Smith's Cloud", it may set off spectacular fireworks when it smacks into our galaxy in 20-40 million years. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7184521.stm
3rd January 2008 - Telescope spies newborn planet. Astronomers have discovered a newborn planet in a solar system that is still in the process of forming - the first example of this ever found. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7168517.stm
29th December 2007 - The YAS web site has had a facelift. A new front page with a simplifed and plainer styling. All the old pages are still accessible from the new front page, but I hope you will find it less clutered and more pleasing on the eye. Send any feedback via the usual e-mail address from the contact YAS page.
23rd December 2007 - A probable active glacier has been identified for the first time on Mars. The icy feature has been spotted in images from the European Space Agency's (Esa) Mars Express spacecraft. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7151190.stm
13th December 2007 - The Geminnid Meteor Shower should be a good one this year.
You should be able to see meteors anywhere in the sky from darkness onwards on Thursday night/Friday morning, although the activity will really only pick up after midnight. The peak activity is expect in the hours before dawn, so earl yrisers be prepared. Typical rates are 80 to 100 meteors per hour, although on some occassions rates as high as 140 to 150 have been reported which is 2 or 3 meteors every minute or so. The radient in in the constelation of Gemini, although meteors will be observed anywhere in the sky. Geminid meteors are know as relatively slow moving and bright.
If you are planing on going out observing this shower, make sure you are well wrapped up and ready for cold temperatures. Hats gloves, warm coats etc are essential because it will get very cold very quickly if the skies are clear.
4th December 2007 - With this week's launch of the Columbus space laboratory, Europe will make the transition from a part-time tenant to full-time owner of an outpost in orbit. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7126867.stm
22nd November 2007 - Moons like the Earth's - which are formed in catastrophic collisions - are extremely rare in the Universe, a study by US astronomers suggests. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7104558.stm
25th October 2007 - Astronomers in the US say they have found a new planet in orbit around a star 41 light years from Earth. The discovery brings to five the number of planets orbiting the star, 55 Cancri, the most found to date in a single solar system outside our own. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7082257.stm
25th October 2007 - MAJOR COMET OUTBURST By Robin Scagell.
A faint comet has amazed observers by brightening up by one million times greater than normal, bringing it well up to naked-eye visibility. The comet, known as P/Holmes, was expected to be about 17th magnitude on 24 October when a Spanish amateur, Juan Antonio Henr'edquez Santana, discovered that it had brightened up to 10th magnitude. Latest reports from Japan show that it has now brightened to third magnitude, looking like an additional star in Perseus. The comet is currentlly visible all night in a dark sky from the UK, and anyone with clear skies should be able to find it using the map at:
http://popastro.c.topica.com/maaipbyabCdvScke3JKb/
The comet currently has a small coma less than 2 arc minutes across, and no tail. It is possible, however, that the comet will fade over a matter of days. Comet Holmes was discovered in 1892 when it underwent a similar outburst, followed by a subsequent decline in brightness. Observations should be sent to the Comet Section director, Jonathan Shanklin.
Bulletin compiled by Clive Down (c) 2007 the Society for Popular Astronomy
23rd October 2007 - Space Shuttle Discovery launches on Tuesday on a mission that will mark the beginning of an intense period of space activity for Europe. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7056539.stm
18th October 2007 - Europe is on the cusp of a renaissance in space, with its first permanently tended orbital laboratory, a cargo transporter and other gear about to make their debuts. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7044884.stm
9th October 2007 - New parllax studies have revealed the famous Orion Nebula is much closer to us than previously thought. Full details of this story can be found on the Space.com web site at :- http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/071008-orion-distance.html
28th September 2007 - Nasa's Dawn space probe has begun an eight-year journey to the Solar System's asteroid belt. The US spacecraft, which will visit the small worlds of Ceres and Vesta, blasted-off at 1134 GMT (1234 BST) from the Cape Canaveral Airforce Station. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7015259.stm
16th September 2007 - A computer model of the early Universe indicates the first stars could have formed in spectacular, long filaments. These structures, which may have been thousands of light-years across, would have been shaped by "dark matter". Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6993870.stm
1st September 2007 - A torrent of water-ice cascading down on an embryonic star system may shed light on how a key ingredient for life makes its way into planets. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6968724.stm
16th August 2007 - A distant star that hurtles through space at extraordinary speeds has a huge, comet-like tail trailing in its wake, astronomers say. The appendage, which measures a colossal 13 light years in length, was spotted by Nasa's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (Galex) space telescope. The researchers said that nothing like it had ever been spotted around a star. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6947607.stm
1st August 2007 - A colossal 28-wheel truck that will help build a major telescope array in the Chilean Andes has successfully passed a series of tests. The giant vehicle will heave antennas - each weighing 115 tonnes - up a mountainside to the site of the array, a plateau 5,000m above sea level. The Alma telescope will study the night sky at sub-millimetre wavelengths. Astronomers say Alma will illuminate one half of the Universe that has hitherto been shrouded in darkness. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6922967.stm
16th July 2007 - The 'Jules Verne' cargo ship has been packed up ready for despatch to the European spaceport in French Guiana. The vehicle - the biggest, most complex spacecraft ever built in Europe - will launch in January with up to 7.5 tonnes of supplies for the space station. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6898269.stm
3rd July 2007 - Industrial groups in Europe are about to look in detail at ideas for a new launch system to put humans in space. The meetings have been convened by the European Space Agency (ESA) under a development study that involves Russia - with Japan also eager to contribute. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6260724.stm
26th June 2007 - Scientists have identified a possible crater left by the biggest space impact in modern times - the Tunguska event. The blast levelled more than 2,000 sq km of forest near the Tunguska River in Siberia on 30 June 1908. A comet or asteroid is thought to have exploded in the Earth's atmosphere with a force equal to 1,000 Hiroshima bombs. Now, a University of Bologna team says a lake near the epicentre of the blast may be occupying a crater hollowed out by a chunk of rock that hit the ground. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6239334.stm
25th May 2007 - A short video showing the splendid YAS Observatory opening ceremony and evening BBQ/Observing held on the 19th May 2007 has been placed on YouTube. To see it simply click on the following link :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVbAyMszBWU
22nd May 2007 - A futuristic planetarium built as a part of the five year redevelopment of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, south London has been unveiled. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6679335.stm
17th May 2007 - Astronomers have found one of the best pieces of evidence for the existence of dark matter, a mysterious quantity that pervades our Universe. They have identified what appears to be a ghostly ring in the sky which is made up of this enigmatic substance. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, the scientists have established that the ring formed long ago after a colossal smash-up between two galaxy clusters. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6657271.stm
11th May 2007 - The US space agency Nasa has unveiled a model of a space telescope that scientists say will be able to see to the farthest reaches of the universe. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is intended to replace the ageing Hubble telescope. It will be larger than its predecessor, sit farther from Earth and have a giant mirror to enable it to see more. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6645179.stm
8th May 2007 - A Supernova observed last September has been confirmed as being about 5 times the absolute brightness than any previously observed supernova. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's Science and Nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6633609.stm
3rd May 2007 - The new Corot space telescope which was launched in December has sucessfully detected its first exoplant. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC News web site's science and nature page at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6611557.stm
25th April 2007 - The First "Earth like" exo-planet has been detected orbiting a star only 20.5 lightyears away from us. At about 1.5 times the diameter of the Earth it lies in the "Goldilocks zone" when liquid ater could exist on the sufrace. Full details of this story can be found on the BBC New's science web pages at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6589157.stm
and also at :- http://www.world-science.net/othernews/070425-habitable-planet.htm
19th April 2007 - The rings around the planet Uranus may have been spotted 180 years before the accepted date for their discovery, according to a theory. According to the orthodox view, the rings around Uranus were detected during an experiment in 1977. Now, a scientist has re-evaluated a claim made in 1797 by astronomer Sir William Herschel that he saw rings around the seventh planet. For full details of this story see the following link to the BBC news web site's science pages :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6569849.stm
11th April 2007 - Water has been identified on an exo-planet for the first time. For full details of this story see the following link to the BBC news web site's science pages :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6544257.stm
10th April 2007 - The 5th space tourist has reached the ISS on board a Soyuz spacecraft. For full details of this story see the following link to the BBC news web site :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6539901.stm
29th MArch 2007 - Russia and China have proposed a joint mission to Mars which is expected to alunch in 2009. for more details see :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6506539.stm
9th March 2007 - The constant bombardment of billions of tiny particles from the Sun is shaping the Solar System, studies have shown. For full details see :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6423977.stm
1st March 2007 - Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft has sent back images of a huge volcanic eruption on Jupiter's moon Io as it make a close fly-by of the Jovian system on its way to Pluto. For more details see :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6406721.stm
23rd February 2007 - A spacecraft that aims to land on a comet may also establish whether there is a thin ring of debris around the Red Planet this week. For more details see :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6375717.stm
12th February 2007- Mars' moon Phobos could be the target for a technology trial that would seek to return rock samples to Earth. For more details see :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6324923.stm
29th January 2007- A frozen sea found on Mars is one of the most promising places to look for life on the Red Planet, scientists say. For full details see :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6310173.stm
19th January 2007 - A recently discovered Kuiper belt object could become a future comet due to a impending close pass with Neptune. Full details can be found at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6268799.stm
15th January 2007 - Comet McNaught is now fully visible on images for the SOHO spacecraft. See the SOHO web site for more details and images at :- http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime-images.html
Specifically the last 48 hour animation shows the very bright comet moving relative to the Sun, at :- http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/mpeg/
10th January 2007 - Further to BAA e-bulletin 262 this comet is now a spectacular object in the early evening twilight. Denis Buczynski reports that he saw the comet tonight (9th Jan), from a site north of Inverness. In the evening twilight he estimated that the comet was as bright as Jupiter and a tail of several degrees was visible with the naked eye.
Over the next few nights the comet will be best seen in the evening sky. You will need a clear western horizon and should start looking as soon as the Sun sets. The comet should be obvious at an azimuth of around 240 degrees and the tail will be pointing almost straight up from the horizon. The comet is also visible in the morning sky at an azimuth of around 110 degrees around 30 mins before sunrise but circumstances are not as good as in the evening.
By perihelion on January 12th the comet could be brighter than Venus. It has been seen through gaps in the cloud so make an effort even if the weather
prospects look poor. This is a rare opportunity to see a very bright comet.
Please send all observations to the Comet Section director, Jonathan Shanklin (jds@ast.cam.ac.uk).
5th January 2007 - A black hole has been found inside a compact group of ancient stars known as a globular cluster. Astronomers say the discovery is interesting because many doubted black holes could exist in such locations. Full details at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6231623.stm
1st January 2007 - The French-led Corot mission has taken off from Kazakhstan on a quest to find planets outside our Solar System. Full setails can be found at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6203161.stm
10th December 2006 - The Space Shuttle Discovery has made a successful night time launch on its 12 day mission to the ISS. Full details can be found at :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6165395.stm