Science

NASA’s Hubble telescope is known to capture spectacular glimpses of spatial objects as it is placed strategically and has an unrestricted view of the universe. It recently released an image of a group of three galaxies, collectively known as NGC 7764A. Placed in the constellation Phoenix, these galaxies are about 425 million light-years from the Earth.

Wildlife films, as seen and experienced by people on TV, are captured with the help of extremely sophisticated and expensive equipment. These cool cameras and gadgets are operated by some of the world’s best cinematographers, but this does not mean you cannot get into the amazing world of wildlife filmmaking. By making the right gear

A “close encounter” is set to happen between the Moon and Mars tonight (September 29) as they will just be just a little over 2 degrees apart. In India, this celestial event will be at its pinnacle at 8:34pm. The two celestial bodies will share the same right ascension, with the Moon passing to the

While Elon Musk-founded SpaceX has an ambitious plan to execute 52 launches in 2022, its start to the year seems sketchy. The commercial space company had planned to launch an Italian satellite on Thursday (January 27) evening but it is yet to take off due to bad weather. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was originally

Elon Musk’s commercial space exploration company SpaceX plans to launch 52 missions in 2022. If the company is successful, it would mark the most launches it has ever conducted in a single year. SpaceX is a major partner for NASA, especially for its human spaceflight programme. It is responsible for ferrying astronauts and cargo to

NASA said Thursday it aims to survey the crater formed when the remains of a SpaceX rocket are expected to crash into the Moon in early March, calling the event “an exciting research opportunity.” The rocket was deployed in 2015 to put a NASA satellite into orbit and its second stage, or booster, has been

Mars today is marked by its endless red desert plains. But it was not always like that. There was water and it flowed on its surface longer than previously estimated, a new research by NASA says. The Red Planet rippled with rivers and ponds just like Earth billions of years ago, providing a potential habitat

Toyota is working with Japan’s space agency on a vehicle to explore the lunar surface, with ambitions to help people live on the moon by 2040 and then go live on Mars, company officials said Friday. The vehicle being developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is called Lunar Cruiser, whose name pays homage to

Mars has often been described as Earth’s closest companion in the solar system, having a similar size, inclination, and structural composition. Mars is even believed to have had water on its surface, giving rise to the belief that one day the Red Planet could support life. Colonising Mars is fast becoming a preoccupation among many humans

A chunk of a SpaceX rocket that blasted off seven years ago and was abandoned in space after completing its mission will crash into the Moon in March, experts say. The rocket was deployed in 2015 to put into orbit a NASA satellite called the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR). Since then, the second stage

Saturn, the second-largest planet in the Solar System after Jupiter, has always attracted the attention of not just scientists but also amateur astronomers. Given the prominent rings around it, it is easily recognisable. But it has another outstanding feature: more than 60 moons. One of these moons has got scientists particularly interested recently. According to

Exactly a month after it was launched, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has reached a position in space from where it will quietly observe the many intriguing events of the cosmos. The Lagrange Point 2, as it’s known, is located 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth on its nightside. The telescope was put into this

Hubble Space Telescope provides astronomers with breathtaking images of the cosmos for deeper studies. Recently, the telescope shared yet another strikingly beautiful image. This time, it captured the NGC 3318 galaxy, which lies in the constellation Vela, located about 115 million light-years away from the Earth. The image was shared by the European Space Agency

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is set to orbit the Lagrange point 2 in relation to the Earth and the Sun. But, what does it really mean? Where is Lagrange point 2 located and why is it of note? Explaining the intricacies, the space agency recently tweeted about the orbit that the telescope will follow

Sun’s surface is marked by electrically charged gases that keep generating powerful magnetic forces. Their area of influence is called magnetic fields. As these gases are dynamic, they continuously stretch and twist the magnetic fields. Sometimes, this tangling of magnetic fields causes a sudden explosion of energy called solar flares. These flares, if strong enough,

A recent research based on Hubble Space Telescope findings showed that black holes could go against their all-absorbing nature at times and may aid creation. The research showed a supermassive black hole at the centre of a dwarf galaxy, some 30 million light-years away, creating stars rather than swallowing it. The black hole is apparently

Researchers on Thursday reported the latest in a surprising string of experiments in the quest to save human lives with organs from genetically modified pigs. This time around, surgeons in Alabama transplanted a pig’s kidneys into a brain-dead man — a step-by-step rehearsal for an operation they hope to try in living patients possibly later

NASA said it has completed deploying all the hexagonal mirror segments of its James Webb Space Telescope. The delicate operation to move the $10-billion (roughly Rs. 74,500 crore) space observatory’s individual mirror segments out of their launch positions took nearly a week, during which the motors made over a million revolutions. The space agency said

Space Entertainment Enterprise (SEE) is planning to launch what it claims is the world’s first entertainment studio and multi-purpose arena in zero gravity. The company is co-producing Tom Cruise’s upcoming space movie. SEE has unveiled plans to build a space station module that contains a sports and entertainment arena as well as a content studio by

A Chinese satellite had a near collision with one of the many chunks of debris left by the fallout of a recent Russian anti-satellite missile test, state media reported. Moscow blew up one of its old satellites in November in a missile test that sparked international anger because of the space debris it scattered around

NASA said its Curiosity rover, looking for signs of life on Mars’ Gale Crater, has found intriguing carbon signatures. While this is no definite suggestion that Curiosity has found proof of ancient microbial life, it does, however, suggest its possibility. The rover has been collecting powdered rock samples on the Red Planet’s surface. When scientists

An asteroid bigger than the tallest building on Earth safely flew by on January 19. The giant rock, named 7482 (1994 PC1), zipped past our planet, nearly 1.93 million kilometres away. That’s more than five times the distance between Earth and Moon. It has been classified as “potentially hazardous” because of its size and its

ExoMars — a joint project of European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia’s Roscosmos — has moved a step closer to landing on the Red Planet after it rehearsed how to drive off its Kazachok landing platform on the Martian surface. The simulation involved the UK-built Rosalind Franklin rover making a carefully choreographed move on the

The race for space exploration is heating up with major powers focussing on having a base on the Moon, to help operate beyond the International Space Station (ISS). As the US is realigning its strategy to return humanity to the Moon, China is not far behind. Its scientists have created an “artificial moon” on Earth

Scientists have discovered more than 10,000 exoplanets, those that lay quietly beyond our solar system, but they have not been able to locate a moon orbiting any of them – so far. In a new study, they have outlined a discovery that they say could change this. Researchers think the celestial body they have now

Extra-terrestrial living comes with a number of complications, but astronauts tackle those all the time aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in their endeavour to solve the many mysteries of the Universe. And scientists back home keep trying to find ways to make living on the ISS easier. One of the biggest problems astronauts face

Volunteers interested in astronomy and curious about celestial objects have helped NASA find a super giant planet outside our solar system. This exoplanet is three times the size of Jupiter and located about 379 light-years away from Earth. The super-Jupiter orbits a star with the same mass as our Sun.  NASA said this discovery was

A measuring system that measures the thermal conductivity of bridgmanite in the laboratory, under the pressure and temperature conditions that prevail inside the Earth, has been developed by a team of researchers. The study has been published in the ‘Earth and Planetary Science Letters Journal’. The evolution of our Earth is the story of its cooling: 4.5 billion years

Macro photography in its truest form deals with photographing minute things to make them appear larger than life, characteristics that the naked eye would often miss. That by itself can make things magical — making the mundane appear awesome! That flower you see from far as pretty can be pretty captivating up-close, with the anthers,

Joshua Martinangeli, 7, is too ill to go to school. But the German student can still interact with his teacher and classmates through an avatar robot that sits in class in his place and sends a blinking signal when he has something to say. “The children talk to him, laugh with him and sometimes even

An international team of scientists has produced the most detailed 3D map of the universe yet, with astrophysicists unveiling details of the first 7.5 million galaxies out of 35 million. The stunning image shows the cosmic web of galaxies going back billions of light-years. And, this is only the beginning of the project, which is

The dawn of humanity is a subject that has long intrigued us. Scientists have been trying to ascertain the precise date of origin for a long time but with little success. Every once in a while, they find fossils that push the date by a few more centuries. But the effort is still on. Scientists

As NASA completes all major deployments of the James Webb Space Telescope and the observatory enters a “cooling” period, the agency is sharing some interesting facts about the $10-billion (roughly Rs. 74,100 core) observatory. These include some lenses which are made out of salt. But why does this infrared telescope need a “salty” lens? In