22nd April 2016

Which is the world’s largest space observatory?

ALMA stands for Atacama Large Millimetre/Submillimetre Array. Operational since 2013,  it is the world’s most powerful telescope with 66 high precision antennas and is ten times sharper than Hubble. It is built in the Atacama Desert in Chile at an altitude of 16,500ft with almost no humidity or vegetation to block its view of the sky. It will allow the astronomers to study the first moments after the universe was formed. Countries from three continents had to combine resources to be able to build it.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

2nd April 2016

Discovery of Uranus

Uranus, the third largest planet, was discovered on 13 March 1781 by Sir Frederick William Herschel. Herschel also discovered the infrared radiation.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

18th February 2016

Astronomer who died immediately after the publication of his revolutionary theory

Nicolaus Copernicus died immediately after the publication of his book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres). Nicolaus Copernicus is known to propose the heliocentric theory of the Universe as opposed to the then prevalent Ptolemaic geocentric theory. He probably started writing about the theory in 1514, but it got published in its complete form only in 1543. He died in the same year.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

16th February 2016

What is a neutron star?

A neutron star is a remnant of a star after it has collapsed due to its own gravity. These stars are composed of subatomic particles called neutrons without any electrical charge. These stars could be two times the mass of the sun. The neutron stars have a very high surface gravity which could be 2 × 1011 times more than the gravity on the surface of the earth. A neutron star is very dense. It is so dense that one teaspoon (5 millilitres) of its material would have a mass over 5.5 × 1012  kg.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

8th February 2016

Journey to a star

If you wish to travel from earth to the nearest star ‘Sirius’ at 99.99999999% of the speed of light, it will take you 18 hours to reach Sirius. However, when you return to earth after another 18 hours with an intention of dinner, you will find that your family and friends would have already had 6,570 dinners. The explanation lies in the concept of time dilation of the special theory of relativity.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •