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 …
Beijing: A Chinese spacecraft carrying three astronauts docked manually with an orbiting module on Sunday, a first for the country as it strives to match American and Russian exploits in space. The Shenzhou 9 capsule’s maneuver with the Tiangong 1 module was shown live on national television. It follows a …
Nasa Spacecraft Suggests Water Source On Lunar South Pole Washington: Scientists claim to have found new evidence which suggests that the largest crater on the south pole of the moon may be tantalizingly rich in ice. The interiors of polar craters on the moon are in nearly perpetual darkness, making …
The Shenzhou IX manned spacecraft will be launched at 6:37 pm Saturday, according to a decision made by China's manned space docking program headquarters. Three astronauts, two male and one female, will board China's fourth manned spacecraft to fulfill the country's first manned space docking mission. They are Jing Haipeng, …
New Delhi, June 11: A physicist in Calcutta and a graduate student in Bangalore who jointly simulated the solar interior on computers have discovered that the Sun has a short memory — only about five years. Solar physicist Dibyendu Nandi and PhD student Bidya Binay Karak have shown that the …
A team of scientists from Mumbai will leave for Nagpur on Monday to investigate and study the impact of last Tuesday's large meteorite shower in the Katol region which damaged several houses, an official said here on Sunday. Tentatively named 'Vinoba Meteorite Shower 2012', the team will probe whether any …
Washington: Astronomers claim to have found evidence that suggest a planet four times the size of Earth may be skirting the edges of the solar system beyond Pluto. The planet, which is too distant to be easily spotted by Earth-based telescopes, could be gravitationally tugging on small icy objects past …
London: A 150-foot-wide, 140,000 tonne asteroid may come so close to Earth next year that it might destroy communications satellites. The asteroid, DA14, discovered by astronomers at LaSagra Observatory in Spain, is estimated to come near enough to Earth on February 15, 2013, that it could disrupt geosynchronous satellites. While …
Astronauts Being Trained For Mission To Look For Minerals, Get Info On How To Destroy It. Washington: Nasa is reportedly training a team of astronauts for a mission to land on an asteroid by the end of the next decade. The US space agency is training the astronauts to land …
Washington: Earth-like rocky planets that humans could live on may be more common in the universe than stars, says an international team of planetary scientists which included an Indian-origin researcher. Aditya Chopra at Australian National University and colleagues claim that determining whether these planets are habitable has become the new …
SRIHARIKOTA (ANDHRA PRADESH): India's second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2, slated for 2014, will have to wait till the country's space agency flies two of its heavy rocket - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) - successfully, a top official said Thursday. Speaking to reporters after the successful launch of indigenously built Radar …
Europa, Callisto & Ganymede Fulfil All Conditions Needed To Sustain Life Washington: Researchers are keen on exploring Jupiter’s icy moons, which may resemble some of the planets found orbiting stars beyond our solar system, to assess their suitability for life. Europa, Callisto and Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, are all believed …
Boston: A recent study by four scientists has revealed that Nasa’s Viking missions in 1976 could have detected life on Mars. Their findings which has already triggered a lot of controversy in Nasa and other space groups has been published in the current issue of the International Journal of Aeronautical …
Washington: The early days of our solar system might look quite different than previously thought, claim physicists. In its research, a team at the US department of energy’s Argonne National Laboratory used sensitive instruments to find a different half-life for samarium, one of the isotopes used to chart the evolution …
China’s third lunar probe, Chang’e-3, is expected to be launched next year and it will conduct moon landing and lunar explorations, a top space official has said. Different from the previous two orbiters, Chang’e-3 has “legs” to support the spacecraft in landing, Ye Peijian, chief commander of Chang’e-3 at the …
Experts Suggest New Theory On Formation Of Our Planet. Washington: Earth might have formed from collisions of many different types of meteorites, scientists suggest. Our planet is thought to have formed around 4.5 billion years ago from a disk of dust grains left over from the cloud of material that …
A Nasa spacecraft has detected oxygen around one of Saturn's icy moons, Dione. The discovery supports a theory that suggests all of the moons near Saturn and Jupiter might have oxygen around them. Researchers say that their finding increases the likelihood of discovering the ingredients for life on one of …
Astronomers have discovered a new planet in our galaxy that is unlike any other found so far: Both the planet and its atmosphere are mostly water, though none of it is liquid. The planet, GJ1214b, has a diameter 2.7 times that of Earth, and it weighs seven times as much. …
These Cosmic Bodies Don’t Orbit Any Star, Belong To A Whole New Class Of Alien World Washington: Thousands of rogue alien planets may be rambling through space in our Milky Way galaxy, instead of being locked in orbit around a star, says a new study. According to researchers at the …
An experiment to test the thermal conductivity of ferro fluids in space, devised by an 18-year-old from Bangalore, is vying for the top prize in an online competition: a chance to have his experiment conducted - and live streamed on YouTube — on the Space Station (ISS). Sachin Kukke’s experiment …
An astronaut attempting to visit recently discovered planet GJ1214b would land in hot water — literally, American scientists say. Researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said they have identified an entirely new kind of planet, dominated not by rock, gas or other common materials, but water. The planet is …
