Basic Information What is this? An artist’s impression of the disc of material around the star TW Hydrae Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Hydra the water snake How big is it? The star itself is smaller than the Sun, being around two thirds the mass, but the disc of material …
Author archives: chrisnorth
Herschel-ATLAS Gravitational Lenses
Basic Information What is this? Thousands of distant galaxies, including some which have been gravitationally lensed Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Hydra the Water Snake How big is it? The image is around 4 degrees across How far away is it? Some of the galaxies are seen when the Universe …
The Herschel ATLAS
The first data set from Herschel-ATLAS has been released to the astronomical community. This represents the largest public release of Herschel data so far and will be a powerful data-set for studies of galaxy evolution. H-ATLAS have released images of a region of sky more than 60 times the area of the full moon (16 square degrees) …
Comet Hartley 2
Basic Information What is this? Comet Hartley 2 Where is it in the sky? Orbiting the Sun about once every 6.5 years How big is it? The nucleus of the comet is just 2 km in diameter but its atmosphere, or coma, is much larger How far away is it? The comet passed just 16.4 …
Herschel science papers published
The first Herschel science papers have been published in a special issue of the scientific journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. A total of 152 papers, each around 4 pages long, are freely available on the Astronomy & Astrophysics Herschel Special Issue website, with six describing the mission and its instruments, and the rest describing scientific results. The results, many …
CW Leonis
Basic Information What is this? The red giant carbon star CW Leonis Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Leo the Lion How big is it? The star is about 500 times the diameter of our Sun, and is ejecting is outer layers How far away is it? About 500 light years …
Herschel teams up with Rosetta
On 10th July, the Rosetta spacecraft will pass by the asteroid Lutetia at a distance of a mere 3162km. It will study the asteroid’s surface, dust environment, exosphere, magnetic field, mass and density. Because Rosetta is speeding past at 15km/s – on its way to a 2014 encounter with comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko – it will only get a …
Abell 2218
Basic Information What is this? A massive cluster of galaxies whose immense gravity is focussing light from much more distant galaxies Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Draco the Dragon How big is it? The cluster contains thousands of galaxies How far away is it? The cluster is about 2 billion …
Herschel and Planck win Grand Prize
The teams behind Herschel and Planck have been awarded the “Grand Prix 2010” by the French Association for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AAAF), to acknowledge their “outstanding space endeavours”. The prize was awarded on 9th June 2010 in Paris, and senior members of the teams behind both of these groundbreaking missions were there to collect the award on behalf of …
The Lockman Hole
Basic Information What is this? A view of thousands of distant galaxies, in a patch of sky called the Lockman Hole Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear How big is it? The image is around 4 degrees across How far away is it? The galaxies are …