The latest Mercury, July / August 2020, is now available

The latest Mercury newsletter is now available, the July / August 2020 issue can be downloaded from the Digital media | Mercury page.

In this issue:

Coordinators Report
The Romans’ pre-Julian calendar
Dates for your diary
Noctilucent Cloud Season Arrives!
Members Photos
Mount Tufley Observatory

Next Meeting

The next four meetings will take place as virtual meetings using Zoom. Members will be notified of the meeting details by email.

12 September 2020 - Pete Williamson: "Whirlpools in Space - The Birr Telescope (Earl of Rosse)"

10th October 2020 - Mike Frost - Land of the Mid-Day Dusk

14th November 2020 - Jana Horak - An Introduction to Meteorites

12th December 2020 - Xmas (Members) Meeting

9th January 2020 - Mark Gibbons - Neutrinos

Full list of meetings...

When things return to 'normal'...
Our monthly meetings take place at Shurdington Social Centre, Shurdington, Cheltenham. Visitors are welcome!

Astronomy News Feeds

Astronomy
Radio Astronomy
Space
Dark Matter

Astronomers Have Discovered a Surprise Asteroid Orbiting Closer to The Sun Than Venus

19 September 2020

Astronomers have fastidiously constructed designs of the asteroid population, and those designs forecast that there will be ~ 1 km sized asteroids that ... [...]

Astronomers capture stellar wind in unprecedented detail

19 September 2020

Astronomers at the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) have provided an explanation for the shape of planetary nebulae. The discovery is ... [...]

IIA study shows how black holes rip stars apart

19 September 2020

Astronomers study them by watching for their effects on nearby stars and gases. ... Their research was published in the New Astronomy (2020). [...]

Mount Wilson Observatory Survives a Trial by Fire

19 September 2020

Mount Wilson Observatory, where astronomers a century ago first described the ... “It's not over yet,” Rebecca Oppenheimer, astronomy curator at the ... [...]

Five wellbeing benefits of taking up stargazing

19 September 2020

“From a health and wellbeing perspective, we've seen a huge increase in interest in astronomy in lockdown, as people have felt like they're stuck at ... [...]

First direct distance measurement to magnetar within our Milky Way Galaxy

19 September 2020

Now, astronomers used the National Science Foundation's Very Long ... Walter Brisken, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, said, “A key to ... [...]

Closing In on Source of Fast Radio Bursts: VLBA Makes First Direct Distance Measurement to ...

19 September 2020

In December of 2018, it resumed emitting bright radio pulses. A team of astronomers used the VLBA to regularly observe XTE J1810-197 from January to ... [...]

First direct distance measurement to magnetar within our Milky Way Galaxy

19 September 2020

Walter Brisken, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, said, “A key to answering this question will be to get more distances to magnetars, so we ... [...]

Vijnana Bharati

19 September 2020

We have lost doyen of Indian radio astronomy and founder of the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) 'Prof Govind Swarup' yesterday. [...]

VLBA makes first direct distance measurement to magnetar

18 September 2020

Date: September 18, 2020; Source: National Radio Astronomy Observatory; Summary: Using the VLBA, astronomers have made the first direct ... [...]

VLBA makes first direct distance measurement to magnetar

18 September 2020

A team of astronomers used the VLBA to regularly observe XTE J1810-197 ... The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National ... [...]

Development of high-sensitivity, wide-IF band heterodyne receiver in THz frequency range

18 September 2020

... environment measurement, and radio astronomy as basic technology in the THz frequency domain, which is an undeveloped frequency domain. [...]

Space Shuttle Disasters: List Of 10 Horrifying Space Shuttle Disasters; Read More

19 September 2020

Holding so many mysteries and truths, space is filled with several questions and numerous answers. Astronomers and scientists are trying their best to ... [...]

Four Kleos Satellites to Launch in Early November 2020

19 September 2020

Check out more news and information on the Space on Science Times. Share This Story. facebooktwittergoogle+rss. Related Stories ... [...]

After a tantalizing discovery at Venus, what could an astrobiology mission look like?

19 September 2020

It's not that scientists haven't wanted to explore Venus more thoroughly, ... a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, ... [...]

Why is space a vacuum?

19 September 2020

First, forget the vacuum cleaner as an analogy to the vacuum of space, Jackie Faherty, a senior scientist in the Department of Astrophysics at the ... [...]

Design for a Space Habitat With Artificial Gravity That Could Be Grown Larger Over Time to Fit ...

19 September 2020

The alternative is to build our own habitats. These could be located anywhere in the solar system, could be of any size that material science allows, and ... [...]

Space science and tech take centre stage in Fujian

19 September 2020

At the opening ceremony yesterday, Chinese researchers announced 10 most challenging subjects in space science and technology such as ... [...]

Dicebound Launches a Kickstarter for Gorgeous Handmade Dice

19 September 2020

If you're lucky enough to be one of the first 80 backers, you'll have a chance of also getting a set of Dicebound's Dark Matter Dice before Christmas. [...]

PDF, Dark matter detection capabilities of a large multipurpose Liquid Argon Time Projection ...

19 September 2020

Neutrons are a dangerous background for direct dark matter detectors, because they can induce nuclear recoils that mimic the expected signal from ... [...]

Dark matter detection capabilities of a large multipurpose Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber

19 September 2020

Over 900 students have so far started their careers in the field of mathematics, physics and neuroscience research at SISSA. Visit www.sissa.it . Dark ... [...]

PDF, Precision calculations of dark matter relic abundance

19 September 2020

We start by setting up the generic Boltzmann equations for the dark matter annihilation problem in section 2. We then review the derivation of the ... [...]

Boltzmann hierarchies for self-interacting warm dark matter scenarios

19 September 2020

Boltzmann hierarchies for self-interacting warm dark matter scenarios. Rafael Yunisa,b, Carlos R. Argüellesc and Diana López Nacird. Published 18 ... [...]

UO physicist Tien-Tien Yu receives New Horizons prize

18 September 2020

“Light dark matter has become kind of a hot topic over the last few years,” Yu said. “The field has really taken off.” While Yu, Essig and Volansky have ... [...]