Astronomy

New study links black holes to the expansion of universe, dark energy

This experiment is likely to bring us closer to discovering dark energy's nature. The scientists believe it will also get us closer to understanding the true nature of black holes

October Full Moon Day 2024: Spiritual significance, when and where to watch

A phenomenal celestial event, Hunter Moon, is waiting for all the sky gazers, offering a rare spectacle with this October full moon day as it is closer than any other moon this year

US delays mission to land humans on moon until Sep 2026, says Nasa

Despite the delay, Nasa said the fall 2026 timeframe for Artemis III is still "very aggressive"

The $42 mn clock set to tick once a year, keep time for next 10,000 years

Being built inside a mountain in Texas, the century hand of the 10,000-year clock advances once every 100 years, and the cuckoo will come out on the millennium

Stars align for astrotech: Astro startups' revenues get festival fillip

Despite an apparent dip in investments, several firms have reportedly been in talks to raise fresh capital this festival season

UK, India scientists to collaborate in astronomy, bio-imaging technology

United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) has embarked on a collaboration with India's Department of Atomic Energy to explore opportunities to set up super computing facilities to process data from the observations made by the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope. The Science and Technology Facilities Council of the UKRI also announced initiatives to harness technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, bio-imaging and accelerator development to augment scientific research and have a tangible impact in areas such as cancer treatment. "The challenge with Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is that it produces vast amounts of data and you have to apply super computing techniques to turn that data very rapidly into things that astronomers can use. That is an area where we intend to collaborate," Mark Thomson, Executive Chairman of Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), told PTI at an event here to mark 15 years of the UKRI-India partnership. Department of ..

International Astronomy Day 2023: History, Importance and interesting facts

International Astronomy Day is observed two times every year. This Day falls on or close to the first quarter moon. One is celebrated in Spring and the other one in Autumn

After Moon, Sun, Isro readies mission to enhance understanding in Astronomy

After the launch of Chandrayaan-3 Moon lander and Aditya-L1 ventures, ISRO has readied a mission aimed at enhancing cutting edge scientific understanding in Astronomy. XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite) is India's first dedicated polarimetry mission to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions. The spacecraft will carry two scientific payloads in a low earth orbit. The primary payload POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) will measure the polarimetry parameters (degree and angle of polarization) in medium X-ray energy range of 8-30 keV photons of astronomical origin. The XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing) payload will give spectroscopic information in the energy range of 0.8-15 keV, according to ISRO. "XPoSat is ready for launch," an official of the national space agency headquartered here said on Saturday. According to ISRO, the emission mechanism from various astronomical sources such as blackholes, neutron stars, active galactic

Bengaluru experiences its second 'zero shadow day' this year on August 18

At 12:24 pm, the sun was directly above Bengaluru, leading to an intriguing phenomenon where shadows almost seem to vanish

How did scientists hear humming from the Universe and why is it significant

This marks the first time India's largest telescope, the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, was used for the detection of gravitational waves

Astronomers detect ultra-low freq waves using pulsar and radio telescopes

This is the first time data from an Indian telescope has been used to hunt for gravitational waves

Rare five-planetary alignment: When and where to observe in India

Keep an eye on the night sky to catch a glimpse of five planets coming together for a rare planetary alignment on Saturday, June 17

Scientists find a solar eruption that has maintained its temp for six yrs

This phenomenon in space can impact the Earth's ground and space technologies and has been known to disrupt radio transmissions, this observation may help astronomers understand why this happens

NASA's Chandra observatory helps dig out black holes previously buried

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has helped discover hundreds of black holes previously buried, which will help astronomers get a more accurate census of black holes in the universe

NASA mission spots 2nd Earth-size world within 'habitable zone' of its star

NASA mission has discovered a second Earth-sized, rocky planet within the habitable zone of its star -- the range of distances where liquid water could occur on a planet's surface

Four eclipse events this year, two would be visible in India: Astro expert

Four eclipse events including a total solar eclipse would occur in 2023 and two of them would be visible in India, an astronomy expert said here on Wednesday. There would be two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses, said Dr Rajendra Prakash Gupt, Superintendent of Ujjain's Government Jiwaji Observatory. The celestial events will start with a total solar eclipse on April 20. "But it will not be visible from India," Dr Gupt said. It will be followed by a 'penumbral' lunar eclipse on the intervening night of May 5-6 which will be visible in India, he said. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through penumbra or lighter part of Earth's shadow, and sunlight falling on the Moon appears to be partially cut off. The Moon remains visible, but with less-than-usual brightness. The only 'annular solar eclipse' will take place on the intervening night of October 14 and 15, but it would not be visible in the country as it would happen at night. A partial lunar eclipse wou

Closest known black hole to Earth spotted, just 1,600 light-years away

Astronomers have discovered the closest known black hole to Earth, just 1,600 light-years away. Scientists reported Friday that this black hole is 10 times more massive than our sun. And it's three times closer than the previous record-holder. It was identified by observing the motion of its companion star, which orbits the black hole at about the same distance as Earth orbits the sun. The black hole was initially identified using the European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft, said Kareem El-Badry of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics. El-Badry and his team followed up with the International Gemini Observatory in Hawaii to confirm their findings, which were published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The researchers are uncertain how the system formed in the Milky Way. Named Gaia BH1, it's located in the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer.

Astronomers discover heaviest element in an exoplanet atmosphere barium

Astronomers have discovered the heaviest element ever found in an exoplanet atmosphere barium. They were surprised to discover barium at high altitudes in the atmospheres of the ultra-hot gas giants WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b two exoplanets, planets which orbit stars outside our Solar System. This unexpected discovery raises questions about what these exotic atmospheres may be like."The puzzling and counterintuitive part is: why is there such a heavy element in the upper layers of the atmosphere of these planets?" says Tomas Azevedo Silva, a PhD student at the University of Porto and the Instituto de Astrofisica e Ciencias do Espaco (IA) in Portugal who led the study published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics.WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b are no ordinary exoplanets. Both are known as ultra-hot Jupiters as they are comparable in size to Jupiter whilst having extremely high surface temperatures soaring above 1000°C. This is due to their close proximity to their host stars, which also ...

Nasa to use SpaceX's Dragon to boost Hubble telescope to higher orbit

The deal signed by NASA and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. called for collaborating on a feasibility study of such a mission, though NASA has yet to commit to such a flight.

Astronomers map distances in the largest-ever catalog to 56,000 galaxies

Astronomers have assembled the largest-ever compilation of high-precision galaxy distances, called Cosmicflows-4.Galaxies, such as the Milky Way, are the building blocks of the universe, each comprised of up to several hundred billion stars. Galaxies beyond our immediate neighborhood are rushing away, faster if they are more distant, which is a consequence of the expansion of the universe that began at the moment of the Big Bang. Measurements of the distances of galaxies, coupled with information about their velocities away from us, determine the scale of the universe and the time that has elapsed since its birth."Since galaxies were identified as separate from the Milky Way a hundred years ago, astronomers have been trying to measure their distances," said Tully. "Now by combining our more accurate and abundant tools, we are able to measure distances of galaxies, and the related expansion rate of the universe and the time since the universe was born with a precision of a few per ...