Astronaut posts immense picture of London from space
Italian astronaut Sam Cristoforetti has one of the best views of anyone at the moment. Orbiting above our heads at 17,500 mph on the International Space Station, she can see up to 16 sunsets and sunrises in a single day. She also gets a unique view on the rest of us...
Cassini spies tiny moon Epimetheus next to Saturn’s rings
Saturn is a lot of people's favourite planet due to its resplendent rings. Some of those rings - made of house-sized chunks of ice - have recently been snapped by the Cassini space probe alongside the planet's diminutive moon Epimetheus (just 113 kilometres across)....
Beautiful new Hubble image of NGC 7714
The Hubble Space Telescope is the gift that keeps on giving. For more than 20 years now it has been churning out spectacular views of the cosmos. And this latest image of the galaxy NGC 7714 is no exception. It beautifully illustrates how, over time, gravity...
Jawdropping new image of mystery gas cloud
Astronomers have used the Very Large Telescope in Chile to image the ethereal gas cloud known as CG4. It is an example of a 'cometary globule' - long, stretched out clouds of gas that are reminiscent of comets. They were first discovered in 1976 and their exact...
Moon revealed around asteroid that recently buzzed past Earth
NASA has released new data from yesterday's cosmic fly-past when asteroid 2004 BL86 zoomed past the Earth at a slightly greater distance than our Moon. Those observations appear to reveal the asteroid has a moon of its own. The main asteroid is 325 metres across and...
First ring system found beyond solar system may hide exomoons
Back in 2012, astronomers uncovered the first ring system in another solar system. Now they have released details of its dimensions and possible evidence of alien moons nestled within. The rings encircle the planet J1407b. As the planet orbits its star, its set of...
Review: The Edge of The Sky by Roberto Trotta
As a science writer I am very fortunate that English is such a beautiful language with a wide and varied vocabulary. It allows me to describe the fascinating - and often complex - world of modern astronomy. But in an intriguing thought experiment, astrophysicist...
Beautiful new Rosetta image of comet 67P
It was the hottest news in astronomy in 2014 - the arrival of Rosetta and the landing of Philae on comet 67P stole the show. The scientists behind the amazing mission are busy analysing the data acquired so far. We are now waiting to see if Philae can be roused from...
Revived Kepler telescope spies first multiple planet system
In very encouraging news, the Kepler planet-hunting telescope seems to be relishing its new setup - so much so that it has spotted its first exoplanetary system with more than one planet. This comes hot on the heels of the news before Christmas that the mission -...
Stunning new infrared image of Eagle Nebula
In the 1990s it adorned mugs, mousemats and bedroom walls. Now the Eagle Nebula has been revisited by the Hubble Space Telescope - the observatory that first brought it to worldwide attention. The original iconic image was taken at visible wavelengths - the same light...