Category: astronomy

Survey of potentially dangerous asteroids and comets with radar and detection with interferometry at radio telescope arrays

February 19, 2024

Asteroid and comet impact may pose an existential threat to human civilisation on Earth. Hence, there are a variety of space-based and ground-based methods for early detection of incoming asteroids and comets. This blog post would like to propose an additional method for early detection and tracking of incoming asteroids and comets. Specifically, the method … More Survey of potentially dangerous asteroids and comets with radar and detection with interferometry at radio telescope arrays

Orbiter at Pluto may provide early warming for Kuiper Belt asteroids and comets moving into the Solar System

February 19, 2024

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft made a successful flyby of Pluto in 2015, and there has been discussion of a follow-up orbiter mission to study, in detail, the potential geological processes on this icy planet. While an orbiter mission will necessarily be packed with spectrograph, mass spectrometer, neutron mass spectrometer, and an array of imaging cameras … More Orbiter at Pluto may provide early warming for Kuiper Belt asteroids and comets moving into the Solar System

Cooling of Mercury’s core resulted in shrinking of the planet

January 1, 2024

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, and is also the smallest planet. But, this planet is shrinking due to cooling of its core. Specifically, as the core of Mercury cools, it pulls on its mantle and crust inward, thereby, resulting in shrinkage of the planet. This effect is not seen on Earth as … More Cooling of Mercury’s core resulted in shrinking of the planet

Advent of sensitive detectors enabled detection of exoplanets via the transit method

December 20, 2023

Transit method is by far the most important technique for detecting exoplanets orbiting other stars given the preponderance of exoplanets identified by the technique. In brief, transit detection operates by observing the small dip in starlight when the exoplanet moves in front of the host star from our point of view. Given the intensity of … More Advent of sensitive detectors enabled detection of exoplanets via the transit method

Infrared space telescopes provide a peek into star formation beyond the dust clouds

September 4, 2021

Different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum afford different windows into the cosmos. For example, visible wavelengths provide a glimpse into the universe in a dimension familiar to us. But, much of the universe remain obscure due to the effects of dust clouds. One method capable of peering beyond the dust clouds is infrared astronomy. Specifically, … More Infrared space telescopes provide a peek into star formation beyond the dust clouds

Exoplanets could be detected by gravitational microlensing effect

August 28, 2021

Currently, transit of exoplanet in front of its host star is the dominant technique for the detection and discovery of exoplanets. But, there exists other approaches for exoplanet discovery, particularly on a serendipitous basis. One approach is gravitational microlensing effect. Specifically, in gravitational microlensing, the brightness of the star under observation brightens due to the … More Exoplanets could be detected by gravitational microlensing effect

Most exoplanets detected by radial velocity methods are gas giants orbiting close to the host star

June 25, 2021

Transit method is the predominant technique for detecting exoplanets orbiting stars. Based on detecting the small dip in starlight as an exoplanet pass in front of the host star, development of sensitive detectors has afforded the detection of a large number of exoplanets hitherto thought not to exist. But, there exists other methods for the … More Most exoplanets detected by radial velocity methods are gas giants orbiting close to the host star

Solar wind could strip away a planet’s atmosphere unprotected by a global magnetic field

March 30, 2021

Earth is constantly bombarded by high energy particles emitted by our Sun. Known as the solar wind, the high energy particles collide with molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere, and could potentially strip away, albeit slowly, our atmosphere. But, this did not happen. Why? This comes about because Earth is protected by a global magnetic field … More Solar wind could strip away a planet’s atmosphere unprotected by a global magnetic field

Adaptive optics actively modulate mirror curvature to deliver crisp images of distant stars

December 29, 2020

Adaptive optics is the main stay in ground-based telescopes, and almost all major observatories in the world has incorporated the technology into their main telescopes. The technology uses a laser induced guide star to guide the implementation of corrective optics that help make distant stars look sharper in ground-based astronomy. Although larger telescopes afford us … More Adaptive optics actively modulate mirror curvature to deliver crisp images of distant stars

Ability to observe the universe at multiple wavelengths has enabled XMM-Newton space telescope to make important discoveries

May 8, 2020

Astronomical objects such as stars emit radiation at multiple wavelengths. Each emission source within the astronomical object represents a facet of the celestial body. This meant that observation of an astronomical object would not be complete if it is done at one wavelength. Using multispectral imaging capability, the XMM-Newton space telescope has afforded an unprecedented … More Ability to observe the universe at multiple wavelengths has enabled XMM-Newton space telescope to make important discoveries