A comet may become visible to the unaided eye in the coming weeks. Here’s how you can see it

A comet may become visible to the unaided eye in the coming weeks. Here’s how you can see it

There’s a new comet in the sky that has gained a lot of attention lately over its potential to become visible to the naked eye. Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) was discovered by observatories in China and South Africa in early 2023. Believed to have originated from the Oort Cloud — a giant spherical shell that … Read more

Earth will get a ‘mini-moon’ this month, but it’s only visiting

Earth will get a ‘mini-moon’ this month, but it’s only visiting

There’s a lot of debris in our solar system, and every so often we get to see it — meteors streaking against a starry sky, a bright comet or a passing asteroid. And sometimes, Earth temporarily grabs hold of one of these asteroids and keeps it around a little bit longer. That’s what’s happening later this … Read more

The moon has an atmosphere (sort of). Now, astronomers have nailed down why and how

The moon has an atmosphere (sort of). Now, astronomers have nailed down why and how

The moon may be our constant companion, but there’s still a lot we have yet to understand about it. For example, it was only during the Apollo missions in the 1960s and ’70s that we discovered it has an atmosphere, tenuous as it is. “People do not even know that the moon has an atmosphere,” said Nicole … Read more

Tata Power Solar System launches nationwide solar power drive from Jodhpur

Tata Power Solar System launches nationwide solar power drive from Jodhpur

Tata Power Jodhpur: Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd (TPSSL), India’s leading Rooftop Solar company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL), on Monday launched its ‘#GharGharSolar, Tata Power ke Sangh’ national campaign from Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The city has earned a sobriquet of Sun City Jodhpur due to the large number … Read more

Recent solar storm and eclipse are reminders we live in the sun’s embrace

Recent solar storm and eclipse are reminders we live in the sun’s embrace

The colourful auroras that treated skywatchers across the country last weekend and the total solar eclipse last month are reminders that the Earth is in direct line of fire from activities on the surface of the sun. The Space Weather division of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been issuing warnings for … Read more

New evidence suggests possible existence of ‘Planet Nine’ beyond Neptune

New evidence suggests possible existence of ‘Planet Nine’ beyond Neptune

NEW DELHI: Recent studies have introduced compelling evidence supporting the existence of a hypothetical ‘Planet Nine‘ in the outer reaches of our solar system, challenging previous skepticism around the topic. This potential planet, first hypothesized in 2016 by Caltech researchers Konstantin Batygin and Michael Brown, is thought to influence the orbits of distant icy bodies … Read more

Ingenuity Mars Helicopter down but definitely not out

Ingenuity Mars Helicopter down but definitely not out

Last January, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made its final flight with a landing that damaged at least one of its rotor blades and left it permanently grounded. But while it can no longer fly, it will continue to operate as a stationary Martian weather station. Ingenuity landed on Mars on February 18, 2021, under the belly of the … Read more

No planet comes close to the life-giving properties of planet Earth — at least not yet

No planet comes close to the life-giving properties of planet Earth — at least not yet

With the discovery of more than 5,600 planets orbiting other stars and images from robots we have sent to all the planets in our solar system, it is becoming abundantly clear that Earth is unique among worlds. Almost all of the exoplanets scientists have discovered since the 1990s fall into four main types: gas giants like Jupiter … Read more

Nasa’s new frontier: Hubble telescope to probe secrets of small asteroids

Nasa’s new frontier: Hubble telescope to probe secrets of small asteroids

Nasa‘s Hubble Space Telescope, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), has initiated a novel mission targeting small asteroids within the main belt. This effort seeks to deepen our understanding of these celestial objects, which are considered crucial to unraveling the mysteries of the early solar system. Managed by Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center … Read more

Engineers attempt to fix a computer glitch on Voyager 1

Engineers attempt to fix a computer glitch on Voyager 1

Last November, the Voyager 1 spacecraft began sending gibberish radio signals back to Earth. Engineers have now identified the problem, but trying to repair a 46-year-old device on a craft 24 billion kilometres from Earth is not easy. Voyager 1 and its twin Voyager 2 were both launched in 1977 on a reconnaissance mission to … Read more