The Cassini probe in orbit around Saturn is going to picture the ringed planet in a special photo that also includes a distant Earth.(author unknown)

On July 19th, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will photograph Earth through the rings of Saturn.(author unknown)

As the closest planet to Earth, Venus is a relatively easy object to observe. However, many mysteries remain, not least the super-rotation of Venus' atmosphere, which enables high altitude winds to circle the planet in only four days. Now images of cloud features sent back by ESA's Venus Express orbiter have revealed that these remarkably rapid winds are becoming even faster.(author unknown)

NASA might not be able to save its damaged space telescope Kepler, but it could begin a second career spotting new worlds with a gravitational lens    

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NASA's Cassini spacecraft, now exploring Saturn, will take a picture of our home planet from a distance of hundreds of millions of miles on July 19.(author unknown)

Controllers sever all communications with Europe's billion-euro Herschel space telescope, formally bringing to a close the observation phase of the mission.(author unknown)

Assembly of the backbone of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the primary mirror backplane support structure, is a step closer to completion with the recent addition of the backplane support frame, a fixture that will be used to connect all the pieces of the telescope together.(author unknown)

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Nearly 900 extrasolar planets have been confirmed to date, but now for the first time astronomers think they are seeing compelling evidence for a planet under construction in an unlikely place, at a great distance from its diminutive red dwarf star.

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If the latest models are to be believed, Earth isn't in the midst of the sun's Goldlilocks zone, but on the brink of becoming Venus    

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Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found compelling evidence of a planet forming 7.5 billion miles away from its star, a finding that may challenge current theories about planet formation.(author unknown)

The smallest galaxy known, Segue 2, is either an impossible runt or a battered companion of the Milky Way    

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Astronomers point X-ray telescopes at a galaxy's central black hole, last seen snacking on a cloud of gas - but it seems to have fallen dormant.(author unknown)

Astronomers using the Swiss 1.2-metre Euler telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile have found a new type of variable star. The discovery was based on the detection of very tiny changes in brightness of stars in a cluster. The observations revealed previously unknown properties of these stars that defy current theories and raise questions about the origin of the variations.(author unknown)

Astronomy: Trap holds protoplanet dust

Nature 498, 7453 (2013). doi:10.1038/498141a

Dust particles spotted around a young star support an idea about how planets are born.Planet formation is a paradox: according to standard theory, dust grains orbiting newborn stars should spiral into those stars rather than accrete to form planets. Astronomers have suggested that there

The module carrying the telescope and scientific instruments of ESA's Euclid 'dark Universe' mission is now being developed by Astrium in Toulouse, France.(author unknown)

The Kepler space telescope's search may be at an end, but Didier Queloz, who found the first world around a sunlike star, says more planet hunts are afoot    

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Lumps of atomic nuclei shaped like spaghetti could be what keep some fast-spinning neutron stars from slowing their pace    

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Wisps of matter from an exploded star float through a nebula glowing with newborns in the latest view from a pair of NASA space telescopes    

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Some juvenile galaxies in the early universe may have grown abnormally big, finally forming gigantic stars that exploded to create massive black holes    

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Know a talented astronomer or geophysicist? Nominate them for an RAS award, medal or prize. The deadline is 31 July. https://www.ras.org.uk/news-and-press/224-news-2013/2287-call-for-nominations-for-2014-medals-and-prizes


Call for nominations for 2014 medals and prizes
www.ras.org.uk
Nominations are now being invited for RAS Medals and Prizes to be awarded in January 2014. The deadline for nominations is 31 July 2013 for most awards, with the exception of the Patrick Moore Medal which has a deadline of 27 September 2013.