Neutron-star merger yields new puzzle for astrophysicists | Newsroom - McGill University
http://www.mcgill.ca/...m/channels/news/neutron-star-merger-yields-new-puzzle-astrophysicists-283948

The afterglow from the distant neutron-star merger detected last August has continued to brighten – much to the surprise of astrophysicists studying
the aftermath of the massive collision that took place about 138 million light years away and sent gravitational waves rippling through the universe.

New observations from NASA’s orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory, reported in Astrophysical Journal Letters, indicate that the gamma ray burst unleashed
by the collision is more complex than scientists initially imagined.

“Usually when we see a short gamma-ray burst, the jet emission generated gets bright for a short time as it smashes into the surrounding medium –
then fades as the system stops injecting energy into the outflow,” says McGill University astrophysicist Daryl Haggard, whose research group led
the new study. “This one is different; it’s definitely not a simple, plain-Jane narrow jet.”

Asteroid 2018 BD missed Earth by just 0.10 LD on January 18
https://watchers.news/2018/01/18/asteroid-2018-bd-missed-earth-by-just-0-10-ld-on-january-18/

A newly discovered asteroid designated 2018 BD flew past Earth at a very close distance of 0.10 LD / 0.00026 AU (~38 895 km / 24 168 miles) at 15:43 UTC on January 18, 2018,
some 7 hours after it was discovered. This is the fourth closest approach to our planet since 2017 EA on March 02, 2017, 2017 GM on April 4, 2017, and 2017 UJ2 on Oct 20, 2017.

Crater Neukum named after Mars Express founder / Mars Express / Space Science / Our Activities / ESA
http://www.esa.int/...ties/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Crater_Neukum_named_after_Mars_Express_founder

A fascinating martian crater has been chosen to honour the German physicist and planetary scientist, Gerhard Neukum, one of the founders of ESA’s Mars Express mission.

he International Astronomical Union named the 102 km-wide crater in the Noachis Terra region “Neukum” in September last year after the camera’s leader, who died in 2014.
Professor Neukum inspired and led the development of the high-resolution stereo camera on Mars Express, which helped to establish the regional geology and topography of Mars.

ESOcast 146 Light: Odd Behaviour of Star Reveals Black Hole in Giant Star Cluster (4K UHD)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa3-kD4mf0k


Podivné chování hvězdy prozradilo černou díru skrytou v nitru hvězdokupy | ESO Česko
http://www.eso.org/public/czechrepublic/news/eso1802/?lang

Astronomové využívající přístroj MUSE, který pracuje ve spojení s dalekohledem ESO/VLT na observatoři Paranal v Chile, objevili v nitru hvězdokupy NGC 3201
stálici s velmi podivným chováním. Zdá se, že obíhá kolem černé díry asi čtyřikrát hmotnější než Slunce, která by tak mohla být první neaktivní černou dírou
nalezenou v kulové hvězdokupě a první objevenou na základě přímého pozorování gravitačního působení. Tento významný objev má zásadní dopad na naše chápání
formování tohoto typu hvězdokup, černých děr a původu jevů doprovázených emisí gravitačních vln.

Kulové hvězdokupy (Globular star clusters) jsou mohutnými sférickými uskupeními desetitisíců hvězd a vyskytují se ve většině galaxií. Patří k nejstarším známým
systémům hvězd ve vesmíru a jejich vznik je datován do samotných počátků vývoje galaxií. V současnosti je v naší Galaxii známo více než 150 kulových hvězdokup.

https://www.nasa.gov/...-feature/goddard/2018/hubble-weighs-in-on-mass-of-three-million-billion-suns

In 2014, astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope found that this enormous galaxy cluster contains the mass of a staggering three million billion suns —
so it’s little wonder that it has earned the nickname of “El Gordo” (“the Fat One” in Spanish)! Known officially as ACT-CLJ0102-4915, it is the largest, hottest,
and brightest X-ray galaxy cluster ever discovered in the distant Universe.

This image was taken by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide-Field Camera 3 as part of an observing program called RELICS (Reionization Lensing Cluster
Survey). RELICS imaged 41 massive galaxy clusters with the aim of finding the brightest distant galaxies for the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope to study.

Scientists have created a mini gamma-ray burst in the lab for the first time
http://www.sciencealert.com/...sts-have-created-a-mini-gamma-ray-burst-in-the-lab-for-the-first-time

Gamma ray bursts, intense explosions of light, are the brightest events ever observed in the Universe –
lasting no longer than seconds or minutes.

Now we have for the first time managed to recreate a mini version of a gamma ray burst in the laboratory –
opening up a whole new way to investigate their properties. Our research is published in Physical Review Letters.

Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 185002 (2017) - Experimental Observation of a Current-Driven Instability in a Neutral Electron-Positron Beam
https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.185002

How To Keep Orbits Around The Triple Asteroid System 2001SN263? – Science Trends
https://sciencetrends.com/keep-orbits-around-triple-asteroid-system-2001sn263/

Many spacecraft have visited asteroids and brought meaningful information about those complex objects. However, no one has explored a triple system
of asteroids such as that one discovered in 2008 by scientists from the radio astronomy station of Arecibo, in Puerto Rico, and named 2001SN263. Such
system is composed of a central body (Alpha), with 1.25 km of radius, and two smaller bodies (Beta and Gamma), with a radius of 0.39 and 0.22 km,
respectively. Beta has an orbital period of 6.23 days while Gamma orbits Alpha with a period of 0.69 days. It is notorious that the investigation,
from close distances, of such systems can be of high scientific importance. In this sense, a partnership between Brazilian and Russian space institutes
has proposed the ASTER mission with the objective of exploring the asteroid 2001SN263.

ESA Science & Technology: JUICE ground control gets green light to start development of Jupiter operations
http://sci.esa.int/...ce-ground-control-gets-green-light-to-start-development-of-jupiter-operations/

ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer passed an important milestone, the ground segment requirements review, with flying colours, demonstrating
that the teams are on track in the preparation of the spacecraft operations needed to achieve the mission's ambitious science goals.

A new look at Venus with Akatsuki | The Planetary Society
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2018/0116-a-new-look-at-venus-with-akatsuki.html

Akatsuki (also known as PLANET-C and Venus Climate Orbiter) is a Japanese mission that launched almost eight years ago, in 2010. It missed its first attempt
to orbit Venus on December 7, 2010 due to the failure of its orbital insertion rocket. It was only on December 7, 2015, after several years of wandering around
the Sun, that Akatsuki succeeded in placing itself in orbit around the enigmatic planet. Even though the new orbit of Akatsuki is distant and highly elongated,
a large portion of the original science objectives may still be achieved.

In this view, individual layers of haze can be distinguished in the upper atmosphere of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Titan’s atmosphere features a rich
and complex chemistry originating from methane and nitrogen and evolving into complex molecules, eventually forming the smog that surrounds the moon.

This natural color image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on March 31, 2005, at a distance of approximately 20,556 miles
(33,083 kilometers) from Titan. The view looks toward the north polar region on the moon’s night side. Part of Titan’s sunlit crescent is visible at right.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/hubble-yields-new-discoveries-at-the-winter-aas-meeting

Astronomers gathering at the 231st meeting of the American Astronomical Society at National Harbor in Washington, D.C., will have a chance to learn
about groundbreaking new research with +Hubble Space Telescope. The new science discoveries with the Earth-orbiting observatory stretch from nearby
star-forming regions, to the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, to the horizon of the observable universe. All of these findings exploit the telescope’s
extraordinary resolution, sensitivity, and broad wavelength capabilities to gather information about the universe from space-based observations.

Flight Through Orion Nebula in Visible and Infrared Light
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCFg5udYbAg

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/webb-telescope-s-houston-highlights

With NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s approximately nine-month stay in Texas coming to an end, now is a good time to reflect on the memories
it made in the Lone Star State. NASA has created a timelapse video that chronicles Webb’s time at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Webb Telescope's Houston Highlights Time Lapse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLGDkhp28rI


Secondary Mirror Squeezing Below Top of Chamber A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDcpxocRcD8

ASU astronomers to build space telescope to explore nearby stars | ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact
https://asunow.asu.edu/...110-discoveries-asu-astronomers-build-space-telescope-explore-nearby-stars

In 2021, a spacecraft the size of a Cheerios box will carry a small telescope into Earth orbit on an unusual mission. Its task
is to monitor the flares and sunspots of small stars to assess how habitable the space environment is for planets orbiting them.

The spacecraft, known as the Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat, or SPARCS for short, is a new NASA-funded space telescope.
The mission, including spacecraft design, integration and resulting science, is led by Arizona State University's School of Earth
and Space Exploration (SESE).