A new multimillion-rand telescope in the Karoo will offer astronomers an unprecedented view of the stars. The MeerLICHT instrument in Sutherland will be specifically linked to the MeerKAT radio telescope array near Carnarvon in the Northern Cape. Unlike its bigger brother SALT (Southern African Large Telescope), the MeerLICHT is meant …
in the far reaches of space, cosmic thunderstorms are generating windspeeds of more than 965 kilometres per second and temperatures hotter than the Sun, report scientists. Massive clusters of galaxies are colliding at supersonic speed millions of light years away, creating intense shock and violent turbulence. However,there will be no …
the Earth is dragging space and time around itself as it rotates. For the first time there is evidence of a phenomenon predicted 80 years ago on the basis of Einstein's theory of general relativity. This theory predicts that huge objects, in this case a planet, drag space-time around themselves …
The last time one hit us was around 65 million years ago. It wiped out the entire dinosaur population along with 70 per cent of Earth's other species and left behind a monster crater nearly 200 kilometres in diameter. Thankfully, history will not repeat itself, this time. On December 6, …
More dangerous than all the nuclear weapons of the world put together are these bombs in outer space. Huge rocks which form a crude circle between Mars and Jupiter in a part of the solar system known as the asteroid belt. There are 300,000 asteroids larger than 90 metres wide …
that necessity is invention's mother is a well-known theory in science. Now, two American physicists have taken this theory a little further, applying it to the Universe itself. They say that the Universe might have been its own "mother'. According to them, this possible explanation may give us a more …
no more controversies. It looks like there really is a planet orbiting the star 51 Pegasi. This new development has discredited all previous theories suggesting that the planet was merely a mirage. Three years ago, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz of the Geneva Observatory reported that the star 51 Pegasi …
the Universe may have far less matter than previously thought, say astronomers. The findings have been separately confirmed by two groups of researchers at the Supernova Cosmology Project, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California, usa , and Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatory, Australia. The discovery would help in finding whether …
Radioastronomers in India are concerned about the likely impact of signals from a new satellite for global systems for mobile communications (GSM) network on the US $17 million Giant Metre Wave Radio Telescope near Pune. Iridium, a subsidiary of Motorola, which is a global satellite communication company, owns the network. …
A theory of how the moon was formed is at stake. Robin Canup and her colleagues at the University of Colorado, USA, say if a collision between the Earth and a planet-sized body would have led to formation of the moon, the Earth and moon should have more angular momentum …
a cluster of galaxies has been found that looks bright in the x -rays region but contains only a single visible galaxy. A team led by M Hattori at the Max-Plank-Institut fur extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse, Germany, reports that it is the most distant cluster of galaxies in the x -rays …
finally, there was some good news from the Russian space station Mir. The crew successfully carried out some repairs on August 23, restoring the electrical cables that had been cut off after a supply ship crashed into the station on June 25. This had caused a loss of connection with …
the magnetic field of a star has been mapped for the first time by a team of researchers at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, usa . The team led by Kemball and P Diamond has mapped the magnetic field of tx Camelopardalis ( tx Cam), a red giant star about …
Plans are being finalised for the world's largest radio telescope by astronomers from India, Australia, Canada and three other countries. The telescope
stars , apart from emitting visible light, also emit radiation in the other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. There are stars which primarily give out visible light, like our Sun, or those which give out most of their energy in the form of radio waves or x -rays. The Sun …
cosmology and astrophysics are two sciences where the scientist has to be content with mere observation, since the researcher has no control over the experimental arena. But recent work in various laboratories has provided astrophysicists with a unique opportunity to study and
will the universe go on expanding forever, becoming thinner and thinner? Or will it eventually slow to a halt, or even re-collapse into a state of near infinite density? The question about the ultimate fate of the universe is one of the most fascinating one for cosmologists. The answers are …
when Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced the detection of an extr-asolar planet about a year ago, there was a lot of excitement in the field of planetary sciences. Soon, the discovery was confirmed by others, and more than that some seven other planets were supposed to have been discovered. …
