TOWARDS THE BEGINNING
ISSUE NO.02
JULY, 2020
GALAXY CLUSTERS (RESEARCH ARTICLE)
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
SUPERNOVA
BONUS DWARF GALAXIES EINSTEIN RING
IN COLLABORATION WITH
INTERVIEW WITH SHAWNA PANDYA
In Collaboration with
Stargazing India has organised series of events on sky observation on scheduled time at various places of India. Along with that, the club is delivering expert lectures in school and colleges of Kachchh. The activities are not limited to individual groups, Even the club is organizing special workshops and seminars for NGOs, specific societies and for tourists.Every year, we are organizing public & students awareness events related to astronomy like lunar & Partial Solar Eclipses, Comet observation, meteor showers, asteroids observation and occultation, sun spots observation, occultation, road side astronomy, oppositions, Astro Photography workshops planetary transits, ISS passes, satellite passes, messier marathon, stargazing events and much more. : @stargazingindia
: stargazingindia.com
DO THE FIVE
HELP STOP CORONAVIRUS
1. HANDS Wash them often 2. ELBOW Cough into it 3. FACE Don't touch it 4. FEET Stay more than 3ft (1m) apart 5. FEEL sick? Stay home #NOTOCORONA
From the Team Dear Reader,
We have moved into a new century along with the rest of the world. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam gave us a dream of India 2020.
Increasingly, scientists are expected to go beyond the traditional
scientific paper to explain the readership. We offer some interesting articles on physics and astronomy for the general audience.
Our team Infinoscope welcomes you to our group of astronomy and physics aspirants.
Our
magazine is providing a balanced curriculum between theoretical and practical approach with the belief that “Space belongs to Everyone” and we heartily welcome you to be a part with us in this upcoming project. The team is always motivated to update their knowledge from scientific programs and researches. We as a team maintain a positive atmosphere between us and space aspirants. At last, we congratulate all the readers and writers for being a part of our astronomy team.
Much Love,
TEAM INFINOSCOPE
TABLE OF
CONTENTS EXPERT'S ARTICLE AND COVER STORY
WHAT'S INSIDE 01 DWARF GALAXIES 03 EINSTEIN'S RING
05 GRAVITATIONAL WAVE 07 SUPERNOVA 09 DARK MATTER
GALAXY 35 10 CLUSTERS
18 PHOTO HUB 19 FUN FACTS 20 UPCOMING ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS
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16
ARRIVAL OF COMET INTERVIEW WITH DR. SHWANA PANDYA NEOWISE
JULY 2020 | ISSUE 02
23 UPCOMING LAUNCHS
DWARF GALAXIES By: Moriswalazubiya Istiyaq : @_its_zubiya_
IN the light with less pollution when we look up at the sky we are able to see some bright twinkling objects which beautifies the view of our night sky, we call them ‘Stars’(Bright laminating objects) which are billions of miles away from us but seems as if they are very close to us. This bright band of stars which glorifies the beauty of the night sky is called Galaxy. The word Galaxy is derived from Greek word Galaxias meaning milk. It can be seen as a massive, gravitationally bound system which contains stars, stellar remnants, gas, dust and dark matter. Galaxies range from dwarf stars with as few as 10 million to giants with hundred trillion stars.
Therefore it is very hard to tell how large a galaxy is solely based on a picture because a very large galaxy at a distance can seem very small compared to the one which has less stars and near to our vision. Hence he used Hubble method to describe the shape and size of galaxies.
Formation Galaxies:
of
Dwarf
According to a theory, dwarf galaxies are formed with gas containing metal or dark matter(a mysterious matter that is thought to account for 85% of the matter in the known universe). NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer Space Probe identified new dwarf galaxies formed out of How is the width and gases having low metallicity. shape and distance of Due to their small size, they galaxies measured? are pulled towards or tear apart other spiral galaxies and In 1924, when astronomer result in galaxy merger. Edwin Hubble proved that galaxies are too far from us and they contain millions and billions of stars which are bound together by gravity.
01
In how many types is the Dwarf galaxy divided? The three main type of dwarf galaxies are :1. Dwarf Elliptical galaxies 2. Dwarf Spiral galaxies 3. Dwarf Irregular galaxies
Elliptical Dwarf Galaxies: The Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies are furthermore divided into 7 types based on their spherical feature.Elliptical dwarf galaxies contain many old stars with very little dust and gas. They are denoted by letter E and they are furthermore divided depending on how round they are! A completely round galaxy is denoted by E1 and the flattened one is known as E7.
E
E1
E7
Spiral dwarf Galaxies: The spiral galaxies are furthermore divided into two Regular and irregular. The regular galaxies have spiral arms inward to the galactic center denoted by letter S and on the basis of the tightening of arms around galactic center they are further subdivided into Sa, Sb, Sc. Sc has a very loose arm around the galactic center. Whereas in the irregular spiral galaxy or galaxy having galactic center in the shape of a bar is denoted by SB. Ex:- Our Milky way Galaxy
s
Sa
Sb
Sc
Irregular Galaxies: These galaxies are described as galaxies having shape other than spiral or elliptical galaxies.
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EINSTEIN'S RING By: Smit Macwan : @smith.macwan
INTRODUCTION The bending of light by a gravitational body was discovered by Albert Einstein in 1912. Einstein considered the chances of observing an Einstein ring produced by the stars which are a very low chance event, Einstein rings are usually produced by the supermassive black holes or by a galaxy i.e. objects having more gravitational pull. An Einstein ring is also known as the Einstein-Chwolson ring. It is created from a galaxy or a star passes by a massive object on route to earth. Due to gravitational lensing, the light is diverted making it seems to come from different places.
HOW DOES GRAVITY BENDS LIGHT? Light travels through space-time which can be warped and curved so light should dip and curve in presence of massive between a distant light source and the observer that is capable of bending the light from the source as the light moves towards the observer.
This effect is known as gravitational lensing and due to this, the light bends. Usually, objects (it may be a galaxy or an individual star) having higher mass exert a more gravitational pull on the objects and thus the light which they emit gets bend.
WHAT IS GRAVITATIONAL LENSING? A gravitational lens is a distribution of matter (it can be a galaxy or a cluster of the galaxy) that comes between the source of light and the observer, which is capable to bend the light in it’s to reach the observer and this effect is known as gravitational lensing. Gravitational lensing as predicted by Albert Einstein’s THEORY OF GENERAL RELATIVITY. Instead of light traveling in a straight line, it bends due to the presence of a massive body, which distorts space-time. An Einstein ring is a special case of gravitational lensing, caused by the exact alignment of the source (the body emitting light), the lens (massive body due to whose gravitation the light bends), and the observer (a telescope). A point like a gravitational lens can cause the maximum deflection of light that passes closest to it's center and the minimum deflection of light that travels farthest from its center. Unlike an optical lens, a gravitational lens has no focal point.
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Gravitational lensing is classified into three classes: 1) Strong lensing: the distortion that takes place is easily visible and thus are easy to generate an image. 2)Weak lensing: the distortion that takes place is not easily visible and are much smaller and thus one needs to analyzing them. 3)Micro-lensing:during this phenomenon no distortion in its shape is seen but the amount of light received from the source changes with time. Gravitational lenses act equally on all kinds of electromagnetic radiations. It acts equally not only on the visible light but also on all kinds of non-electromagnetic radiations like gravitational waves.
Bending light around a massive object from a distant source. The orange arrows show the apparent position of the background source. The white arrows show the path of the light from the true position of the source. "This results in symmetry around the massive object causing a ring like structure."
RADIUS OF EINSTEIN'S RING
Note that, over cosmological distances DLS is not equal to DS - DL
USES OF GRAVITATIONAL LENSING Gravitational lensing has been found much useful for observing and knowing the universe. Gravitational lensing is not only caused by matter but also by the dark matter and as the gravitational lenses magnify the light of the object we can use to discover that how the dark matter is distributed in the galaxies.
The strong lensing effects are observed in X-ray and radio regimes and the weak lensing effects are studied for the cosmic microwave background as well as the galaxy surveys.
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GRAVITATIONAL WAVES By: Rozar Christian : @rose_vector_1909
We all know that gravitational waves move at
On the one hand, we have a black hole. All of
speed of light, but not even light can escape
its mass is concentrated together at its center
from the black hole. So how do gravitational
called Singularity, which is invisible to the
waves escape?
outside observer. Inside the event horizon,
The first observation of gravitational waves
any path that any particle takes will take it
was announced on 11th February 2016 by the
into the black hole’s singularity. This means
LIGO and Virgo Scientific Collaboration. The
the particle entering event horizon will never
observation was made on 14th September
be able to get out and thus it will be trapped
2015. They had been predicted by Einstein’s
inside it forever. Once you are inside a black
General Relativity 101 years ago, but it took the development of a laser Interferometer which would be sensitive to ripples produced in space. The first observed gravitational waves were originated from an emerging binary black hole system. The signal from such
sources
comprises
three
pieces;
inspiral, merger, and Ringdown waveform.
hole, you become a part of its properties i.e. mass, charge, and spin. On the other hand, according to Einstein’s General Relativity when two masses orbit one another, it creates ripples in the space-time fabric.
These
ripples
are
known
as
gravitational waves. They move at the speed of light and cause space to expand-contract whenever they pass through it and carry energy.
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Because of Einstein’s famous equation, we know that energy and mass are interrelated. They can be converted into one another. So, when LIGO released the results of the event that occurred on 14th September 2015, it was very surprising that they found two black holes of 36 and 29 solar masses merging together to create a new black hole of 62 solar masses. So where did the other 3 solar masses go? The answer is: in the form of energy of gravitational waves. The same trend is being observed in some subsequent events. Two black holes of comparable masses inspiral and merge together and up to around 5% of their total initial masses get radiated in the form of gravitational waves. Each black hole has an event horizon. When two black holes inspiral, coalesce, and merge, they become more gravitationally bound than they were before. The energy they are losing is due to gravitational binding energy and not due to the excitation of masses in the event horizon.
You can see this just from Newtonian gravity. Imagine you have two masses of 1 kg each, each at rest and separated by an infinite distance. They have a certain amount of energy in this system: 1.8 x 10^17 Joules, which is calculated by Einstein’s equation. Now bring them into one another, and bring distance down. If they are now separated by only one kilometer, the whole system lost 6.67 x 10^-14 Joules of energy. It isn’t that black hole is losing mass, but the total amount of energy in space-time is transforming unbound masses to a single tightly bound mass with gravitational radiation. The inspiral and merger result in space-time deformation on account of gravitational potential energy. The ringdown phase occurs at the end of the merger which represents the event horizon reverting to an efficient shape. It’s the very fraction of second of the merger where most energy is released but no particles from the black hole are getting out. Thus, Einstein’s predictions are very clear and this is why we were able to make detections in the first place.
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SUPERNOVA BY ZEEL THAKER : @zealllllllll
There are billions of stars in the universe with different types like a red dwarf, white dwarf, Red giant,
etc.
Every
star
has
a
different
size,
brightness, and temperature. Like Sun can fill 1 million planets like earth. Because of Star's very big size, it causes a very tremendous amount of gravity. And it tries to crush all the things it in its core. It's density and pressures it too much that we can feel in Mariana trench. As
we
know
hydrogen
is
[The What
if
History's
Exploded
everywhere
in
In
Atlantic Brightest
Earth's
Supernova
Backyard
…]
the
universe. The tremendous pressure of star makes explosion releases not only a hydrogen leave its electron and then only the This nucleus is left. This hydrogen combines with other tremendous amount of radio waves but also that cosmic rays. It also releases many elements elements have too much extra energy. And thus like Ca, Au, N, etc. That makes up the hydrogen
creates
a
nucleus
fusion
and
energy prevents gravity to crash all things inside components of the solar system also earth its core. A star trying to crash things and nuclear into the Interstellar medium. A very less energy try to pull out. This becomes a balance of amount of stars has the capacity to become star to stay alive. But when a star goes out of a supernova out of 100 billion stars. The atoms, thing changes the gravity starts crashing first supernova was seen in 4500+_ 1000 BC things again. And after a passage of time, it in India. But it doesn't end hears. becomes a nuclear bomb, and all the matter inside Supernovas are of two types : "TYPE I and TYPE II" the core and radiation blasts out in the universe.
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TYPE I: It occurs when in a binary system consisting of a moderately massive star and a white dwarf with material flowing into the white dwarf from its larger companion. A thermonuclear explosion occurs when the flow of material is sufficient to raise the mass of white dwarf above the Chandrasekhar limit of 1.44 solar mass. It doesn't have any hydrogen line curve
[
Type
l
supernova
[Type
ll
supernova
,
astronomy
now
]
spectra. TYPE I: It occurs when in a binary system consisting of a moderately massive star and a white dwarf with material flowing into the white dwarf from its larger companion. A thermonuclear explosion occurs when the flow of material is sufficient to raise the mass of white dwarf above the Chandrasekhar limit of 1.44 solar mass. It doesn't have any hydrogen line curve spectra. TYPE I is divided into 3 types: Ia, Ib & Ic. Ia: this type of supernova has no hydrogen lines because it is a white dwarf. This is so bright that we can estimate its distance from us. If it occurs near the earth then it can damage half of the ozone layer. Ib & Ic: these types of supernovas are like type ll supernova. Ib has helium when Ic doesn't have helium in the outer surface. But it has other gases. As this no hydrogen light curve spectra we can see the graph
,
Universe
Today
]
TYPE II: When a star runs out of fuel and collapses under its gravity is a type ll of the supernova. This star must be several times massive and bigger than Sun. It has hydrogen and helium at its outside layer. And iron in the core. When it super
passes
becomes
to
certain
mass
then
the
explode.
This
expels
star
stellar
material into space. And the leftover ultra-
But not every star ends up like supernova, depending upon its mass some become a planetary nebula, black holes and other become pulsar also .if supernova occurs near the earth than it can be visible from even naked eyes, we can see it even in day time maybe for many days or weeks.
massive object is called "neutron star".
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DARK MATTER SAKSHI TRIVEDI : @an_unforgettable_mystery
Does there exist a matter that is not made up of quarks and electrons? What is it
Can dark matter feel itself? There was an event that occurred a long time ago, in which two clusters of galaxies (called the bullet cluster) collided with one another. When the collision occurred, the normal matter like dust, gases and other particles collided but there were some particles that crossed each other which were assumed to be the dark matter which was observed through gravitational lensing. This further provided more strength to the concept of the existence of dark matter. So, we believe that dark matter does not feel itself or in other words, does not interact with itself. But there might be some other force through which dark matter might interact with itself.
made up of?
Dark matter feels gravity and so it possesses mass but because it does not feel
Are quarks and
electromagnetism i.e. it does not absorb, reflect or emit light, we cannot see it and
electrons the
that is how the term “dark matter” was coined. As the dark matter does not feel
only constituent
electromagnetism, there is no direct evidence of its existence. However, some galactic observations predict that dark matter exists. It was observed that the galaxies in our universe spin too fast and the gravitational force of the objects inside
particles?
them is not enough to keep them together. In spite of this, we still cannot see stars or
Is there a fifth
any other objects flying off from the galaxies. This eventually led to the assumption
force except for
that there is something else that has gravity and is holding them together. So, the existence of a new type of matter was predicted and it was known as dark matter.
the four
Gravity, being the weakest of all the four fundamental forces, we required a large
fundamental
amount of dark matter to be present which was then thought to be present in blobs
forces of
or clusters. There were a lot of cross convictions about this concept of dark matter
nature?
from the scientific community as it has not yet been observed directly. The only way we have seen dark matter is through gravity. Dark matter, however, is thought to account for five times more mass than normal matter in the universe. Also, galaxies are considered to be made up of normal matter as well as dark matter. Dark matter is thought to be non-baryonic in nature and may constitute of subatomic particles that have not yet been discovered. Another evidence of the presence of dark matter is provided by Gravitational Lensing. The mass of the dark matter is assumed to bend space-time which eventually bends light resulting in gravitational lensing.
09
Research Article (Cover Story) The building block of the Universe:
GALAXY CLUSTERS By Viral Parekh Capetown, South Africa
Our Universe is made up from tiny atoms like electrons and protons to massive galaxies, cluster of galaxies and superclusters. If we connect trillions of dots which are in the form of galaxies, then we can create a beautiful pattern. Astronomers have had actually connected these dots and generated a universal design, known as a supercluster (Fig.1). We, as a human, belong to our own milky way galaxy which neighbouring with other societal galaxies and makes a good family or group of galaxies. Hence, our milky way is also one tiny building block of the vast supercluster (and of course you and I are also part of it!) which is known as Virgo supercluster that is shown in Fig.2. To understand this cosmic jigsaw puzzle, let’s imagine our body. Our body (supercluster) is made up from trillions of cells (galaxies). When these cells organized and structured in a specific arrangement, then they make different organs (clusters of galaxies). Now to function a body properly, there must be a regular flow of oxygen, blood, neurons, etc. from head to feet. In our body, we have veins and arteries to do this vital job.
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Fig.2 Milkyway location in a complex web of supercluster. Credit: Sloan Great Wall, SDSS. Fig.1 Simulation image of Supercluster. It shows the complex network of filaments and galaxy clusters. Galaxy clusters born at the junction of filaments. Credit: Millennium simulation.
Fig. 3 (Left) Composite image of A2384. Blue color shows the X-ray emission from A2384 galaxy cluster. Purple color shows the radio emission and lobe. The color image shows the optical galaxies distribution in and around A2384. Right (Above) image shows the geometry of A2384 X-ray cluster and Right (Below) image shows the geometry of the radio galaxy.
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In the same manner, to operate any supercluster, there is an arrangement of flowing materials through filaments. These filaments are connecting a number of galaxy clusters and exchange materials with them. Galaxy clusters are born and live across the junction of filaments. Hence galaxy clusters and filaments are two significant (life-saving) components of any supercluster. Without them, this world would never exist! But wait, can you imagine the size and length of galaxy clusters and filaments? Typically the length of veins and arteries are measured in the unit of meters. We estimate the weight of body organs in grams. What about clusters and filaments? Keep reading and imagine our Universe... The dramatic and suspense story begins in the years 1958 and 1961 when the first comprehensive galaxy cluster catalogues were compiled by George Abell and Fritz Zwicky, respectively, from which they noticed over-density regions of galaxies in the sky. Galaxy clusters are a gravitationally bound system made up of 100 to 1000 galaxies. Hence galaxy clusters are the second most massive objects in the Universe (after Supercluster) with typical masses of about 1015 solar mass. We cannot measure the weight or mass of galaxy clusters (or even a single galaxy) in grams or kilograms, but we need an astronomical unit. The unit of solar mass represents the total mass of our Sun (1.9 x 10³⁰ kg). The most massive galaxy clusters are typically Megaparsec (Mpc) in sizes. Again, we cannot measure the galaxy cluster’s length in kilometres, but astronomers use a parsec unit. 1 parsec or pc equal to 3 x 10¹³ kilometres. The length of filaments is varying between 10-100 Mpc. As our cell phone technology keeps upgrading from 1G to 5G, astronomers and engineers also update their telescopes and instruments to catch more photons of galaxies and galaxy clusters over a wide bandwidth.
It is of great interest to astronomers to observe galaxy clusters in various wavelengths, from radio to gamma-ray, to address the key questions related to their composition, formation and evolution. Years of observations show that, in any cluster, the majority (~ 80%) of the gravitating material is in the form of dark matter which is mainly responsible for sustaining a cluster’s total gravitational mass, and hence structures. Dark matter is considered as a mysterious material, and till date, it has not been detected by any of telescopes. Astronomers can only get indirect evidence of it from observations of galaxy clusters. If anyone finds evidence of this mysterious material, then he or she will get the nobel prize. Galaxy clusters are visible in optical light just as our eye can see different things around us and the sky at night which is filled with astonishing stars and nebulae. This luminous or visible matter in galaxy clusters is minimal (~ 3% to 5%) and pertains to galaxies only. The remaining matter (~ 15% to 17%) is in the hot, diffuse gas. This gas is detected only in X-ray wavelength through its thermal bremsstrahlung emission with the energy of several keV. This thermal plasma in the cluster medium (in between galaxies) is commonly referred to as the Intra-cluster medium (ICM). ICM is a key property of galaxy clusters and represents the many features of the parent cluster. Observations of galaxy clusters at different wavelengths tell many exciting stories about clusters. For example, optical observation tells about how many galaxies are residing in a cluster. These member galaxies tell about the distance of the host cluster (more technical word redshift) from the earth. Astronomers measure the light spectrum of each of the member galaxies. Then using the Doppler shift effect, they can estimate the speed and distance information about the whole cluster. X-ray observations broadcast weather updates of clusters and its dynamical state. Clusters are very hot and energetic objects which we can measure with X-ray photons.
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Many times astronomers observe two or more clusters are colliding with each other, and it is known as merging galaxy clusters.When two or more clusters collide they release a huge amount of energy (~1064 ergs) in the surrounding medium. This merging phenomena or cluster dynamics tell about clusters’ expansion and growth rate. Galaxy clusters are also observed in radio wavelength (just like how we tune FM radio stations!). This radio wavelength tells about the movement of particles (electrons and protons) in a vast clusters’ volume and distribution of magnetic fields across the clusters. All mentioned three bands or witnesses are very important to make the ‘Aadhar card’ of galaxy clusters! Detailed observations of filaments (which connect the many galaxy clusters) are challenging with the limitation of current telescopes and technologies. We do not have so far direct observations of filaments in X-ray and radio, so we do not know how they look, but theoretically, we know their importance and role in the maintenance of superclusters and the Universe. Let me allow you to introduce one very exciting galaxy cluster Abell 2384 (Fig. 3), where Abell is the name of galaxy cluster’s catalogue and 2384 is the entry number of this particular cluster into the catalogue. A2384 shows two gas giant balls. It is two merging clusters of A2384 (North) and A2384 (South), but the whole system is known as A2384 [5]. This cluster was observed with the Chandra X-ray telescope. This X-ray telescope was launched by NASA in 1999 and given its name in remembrance of Indian/USA astronomer Chandrashekhar Subramanian. Unlike optical and radio telescopes, all X-ray telescopes are located in space. The reason is our thick atmosphere absorbs high energetic X-ray photons, and they cannot reach the earth. Hence to collect X-ray photons, we need to send X-ray telescopes in outer space where there is no effect on the atmosphere. We can see there is an X-ray bridge visible between the two clusters of A2384 (Fig.3). This bridge is very important and very few other clusters have similar kinds of bridge. One can say that this bridge connects the two clusters.
The length of this bridge is 700 kpc or 2.16 x 1019 km. The total weight of both clusters is ~ 1015 solar mass. A2384 is located at a redshift of 0.094 or at a distance of 433 Mpc from the earth. This is a merging cluster where one can imagine how the pendulum oscillates around its fixpoint. Let’s assume two pendulums start to oscillate together but in the opposite directions. Initially, they both cross each other’s trajectories and oscillate in opposite directions. But when they start to lose energy, they eventually cease in speed and slowly again come back to the original point and settle there. This is exactly how these two clusters also oscillate, but here the smaller cluster, A2384 (South) has gone through A2384 (North) and ripped apart hot gas which we can see in the form of the bridge. The two pendulums take the time of a few minutes to settle down while these two galaxy clusters take the time of a few Giga years to settle down and finally merge or combine to each other and make a bigger cluster. Now, this is not a new thing that we observed into this A2384 galaxy cluster. The more suspense created when we first observed this galaxy cluster with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) located near Pune, India. In radio observation, we noticed there is a radio galaxy, and its central super massive black hole (which is known as Active Galactic nucleus or AGN) shoots out a stream of particles (more technical word jets) in the direction of the bridge between A2384 (North) and A2384 (South). Now, this jet terminates at one point (far distance from the central AGN) and makes a radio cloud or lobe. This lobe, in this system, is so powerful that it pushes the bridge in the opposite direction, just like how we push the door to open it. This effect of bending bridges by a very powerful and energetic radio lobe is seen here for the first time in our research. This work raises new questions about the growth of galaxy clusters via a bridge. Further, generally, powerful AGNs and their host galaxies reside in clusters where they get enough food and become monsters.
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But in this case of A2384, AGN and its galaxy located outside of the cluster, so it is important to know how come it became so powerful that it can eject so much energy via jets and apply enormous force on the bridge. Galaxy clusters are a very important laboratory for astronomers to study this kind of high energy physics.
GMRT
The Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) Observatory, located at Pune, Junnar, Narayangaon in India, GMRT is today a major international facility for work in low frequency radio astronomy. It consists of 30 fully steerable antennas of 45 metre diameter each that provide a total collecting area of 30,000 sq. meter, covering a frequency range of 150 MHz to 1.5 GHz. It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) in Pune, a member of the SKA Organisation. NCRA is a division of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. The SKA Organisation has now officially granted SKA pathfinder status to the emblematic Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). SKA pathfinders are telescopes and systems dotted around the globe (as opposed to precursors which are located on the SKA sites) that are engaged in SKA related technology and science studies, bringing valuable feedback to the teams designing the SKA. The telescope has been in operation in the international arena for over a decade now, and is used by astronomers from all over the world, with about 50% of users coming from outside India. This state-ofthe-art instrument has explored many interesting and new areas of astrophysics, and many of the scientific investigations carried out at GMRT have important relationship with the SKA science goals e.g. Epoch of Reionisation and pulsar astrophysics. As such, they are instrumental in building up and training a vigorous community of SKA users in India and abroad.
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ARRIVAL OF COMET NEOWISE Written by Nikunj Rawal : @nikunj_rawal
With diameter of 3-5 km and 13 Crore km away
Neowise Comet is discovered by NASA's Near Earth
from Earth with its tail length expands upto 60
Orbit Infrared WISE Space Telescope, "Widefield
Lakh km in space, Comet धू म के तु / पुं
Infrared
तारा
Survey
Explorer"
on
27th
March
C/2020-F3 NEOWISE is a naked eye comet best
2020.Since 4 days it was constantly raining in
visible from all over India and approaching to
Jamnagar at my place. On the 5th day, when
Earth gradually till 22th July.It'ls closest perigee
weather went clear, it was my first try to trace the
will be 10 crore km on 22th July. It'll again visit
comet. I started looking at the sky at 04:45
us after 6,766 years. Comet is appearing in
morning below Auriga Constellation. I was also
North-East morning sky lower horizon below
taking photographs in parallel to get a glimpse. At
constellation Auriga before sunrise upto 15th
05:25 it appeared very low in horizon of magnitude
July with magnitude 2.0. It's moving downwards
2.0 at 7-8° altitude. Both the days I could easily see
in altitude and reach to North-West evening sky
it with naked eye.
comet after 15th July in constellation Lynx and Leo Minor with uncertainty about its exact brightness in magnitude.
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Scientist - Astronaut Candidate
Dr. shawna pandya BSc (Hons), MSc, MD, CFPC, DMT, FAWM (candidate) Space. Medicine. Exploration. Technology. Research. Innovation. Education.
1. Firstly we are so proud of you. We want to know your journey from India to Possum. Thanks for the question. My parents were born and brought up in India, and in their 20s, packed up all their belongings in a few suitcases to start a new life in Canada! My brother and I are first-generation Canadians. From a young age, I was smitten with space and would read all about astronomy and the Canadian astronauts. I was particularly inspired by Dr. Roberta Bondar, the first Canadian female in space, and that helped inspire my career trajectory. She was a doctor and inspired me to set my sights on medicine. Fuelled by this love for space, I then went on to pursue a Masters in Space Studies at the International Space University, which was the first time that I really realized that I could integrate my passions for space and medicine. This was the springboard for a whole host of opportunities, including published papers, book chapters and academic talks on subjects related to space medicine. I also went on to intern at the European Space Agency's European Astronaut Center in Koln, Germany, and NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Since space and space medicine has been a lifelong love affair for me, Project Possum seemed like a natural evolution! When I first heard of the citizen-scientist astronautics program, I was intrigued and applied to their ground school. That was in 2015, and I have been involved ever since, testing spacesuits in microgravity (also known as zero-gravity), testing spacesuits in off-nominal water landing scenarios, designing geological tools for lunar EVA (extra-vehicular activities), and more. Today, in addition to being a scientist-astronaut candidate, I am the chief instructor of the POSSUM Operational Space Medicine course, as well as the director of the Possum Space Medicine group, and an Ambassador and Chair for Strategic Directives for the PoSSUM13, a group that promotes opportunities and representation for students (particularly girls) with an interest in space and space exploration.
2. You have also worked at NASA, so please let us know about your work there. In 2012, I was lucky enough to be one of two Canadian medical students selected for a Canadian Space Agency-funded Aerospace Medical elective at NASA'S Johnson Space Center. My time at JSC was magical. Every one of the Canadian astronauts training down there, including Chris Hadfield, David Saint-Jacques and Jeremy Hansen, made an effort to connect with us while we were down there, and that has really stuck with me. Similarly, NASA (retired) astronaut Scott Parazynski and ESA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti took the time to meet with us, despite their incredibly busy schedules. Chris was training to be Commander of the International Space Station at the time, so it's not like he didn't have a lot to do. It really instilled in me the importance of paying it forward - these are all high-performing, incredibly busy individuals who still took the time to invest in us, students. It's a lesson I keep with me to this today: I am where I am today because someone took the time to invest in me when I was just starting out, and they didn't have to - so I also make it a point to try to pay it forward to those who may be just starting out.
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3. You have been pursuing Neuroscience and then moved towards space studies. You have a unique background of medical field as well as space. So how and when did your interest for space started developing? I am often asked how space and medicine relate. At first glance, these seem like disparate concepts, until you consider that space is an incredibly hostile environment for humans! Between microgravity, radiation, isolation and confinement, a rigorous work schedule and more, there are a lot of health hazards for astronauts. Every single aspect of physiology is affected, from our immune systems to our nervous systems to our bone health, muscle health, cognition and more. So there is a lot of work that goes into keeping humans healthy in space, pre-, post- and in-flight, and that's where the field of space medicine comes in. So for me, the parallel interests and passions for space and medicine was a natural evolution, and it was only a matter of time before I blended the two.
4. Please explain about your project Project Possum’s EVA 102: Operational Space Medicine. Gladly! Our Operational Space Medicine course teaches participants about the critical elements, hazards, constraints and challenges with providing healthcare in a spaceflight environment, and includes a practical field component, where participants are taught principles of triage, assessment, treatment and critical decision-making in resource-limited environments. We really embrace the idea of becoming a "Medical Space MacGyver," wherein you have to make do with what you have in an austere environment. Finally, we challenge our participants to come up with design solutions that can help address medical emergencies during a surface EVA (extravehicular activity). For example, if you have a trauma while out in the field while performing a geological survey on the Moon, how will you deal? So it's a challenging class, but I have been delighted by how each and every one our participants had stepped up to deal with challenging problems. This is even more impressive because most of our participants have little to no background in healthcare and medicine they are just bright, keen and ready to learn (there are a few pre-requisites, like having graduated from the Possum ground school, having up-to-date First Aid and CPR, so that everyone enters with the same baseline of knowledge).
5. What changes do you want to see in India’s current education system and what all difficulties did you felt while achieving your goal. Having grown up in Canada, I think I am probably best suited to comment on education here, but I think a universal problem is a diversity and inclusion, particularly in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), medicine and space-related fields. I want each and every young person, regardless of their gender or background to know that these fields are for them, too. And to that end, we have to work to identify these groups that may not have traditionally had as much access to science and technology, and give them the platform to embrace, learn, grown and join these fields. 6. . Please explain in brief about Aerospace Medicine. Aerospace medicine is a medical specialty that focuses on health and physiology related to aviation and space. Aerospace physicians, for example, can look after pilots and clear them to fly, and address physiological changes and disease states that may result from, or be complicated by flying (please note that I do not have this designation, and do not wish to represent myself as such).
If you have a dream, don't let anyone tell you that you can't. Act like you belong here, because you do. Set goals for yourself, and work really, really hard to achieve them. There is space for all of us. - Shwana pandya
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PHOTO HUB
Amazing Partial Solar Eclipse
By NIKUNJ RAWAL
By DHAVAL ACHARYA
By TEAM ASTRONOMICA
Astronomy Club of St. Xavier's College, Ahmedabad
By JAY PATEL
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FUN FACTS 1) Gliese 436 b, an exoplanet which is about 33 light-years away, it forms burning ice because it contains water elements. Due to high pressure, ice remains solid on the planet but due to extremely high surface temperature, (300°C) water gets superheated which ultimately causes it to convert into steam. 2) Quirky Uranus: Uranus is the only planet which rotates on its side. The reason behind it is that, the planet must have undergone some collisions which altered its rotation, says theories. 3) Earth is slowing down: During the Dinasaur era, the day was 23 hours long. By each century, earth’s rotation reduces by nearly 2 milliseconds. 4) Moon Water: A research suggests that we can utilize moon water as a resource of water in space as it contains a lot of H2O molecules. It can be extracted from pyroclastic deposits.
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UPCOMING ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS FROM JULY 15 TO AUGUST 15TH, 2020
PERIGEE OF JUPITER: Jupiter is on Wed, 15.07.2020 at 3:28 PM at its smallest distance of 619.23 x
15TH JULY
106 km to Earth.
OPPOSITION OF PLUTO: Pluto is in opposition with the Sun on Wed, 15.07.2020 at 7:51 PM and therefore at its best visibility of the year. Pluto transits at local midnight.
15TH JULY
Quite faint (mv = 14.3)
CONJUNCTION OF MOON AND PLEIADES:
16TH JULY
Moon and Pleiades are in conjunction on Thu, 16.07.2020 at 7:35 AM. Moon is 7.1° S of the Pleiades.
CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF MOON AND ALDEBARAN:
17TH JULY
separation on Fri, 17.07.2020 at 3:33 AM. At this moment, the Moon is 3.2° NNW of Aldebaran. At the moment of the smallest separation the objects are not visible. You can observe them on 17.07.2020 at 3:43 AM when their separation is 3.2° NNW.
CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF MOON AND VENUS:
17TH JULY
Moon and Venus have a minimal angular separation on Fri, 17.07.2020 at 1:45 PM. At this moment, the Moon is 3.1° N of Venus. At the moment of the smallest separation the objects are not visible. You can observe them on 17.07.2020 at 5:55 AM when their separation is 3.5° NW.
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17TH JULY
ACTIVITY START OF PERSEIDS: The activity of the Perseids starts on Fri, 17.07.2020. Maximum occurs on Thu, 13.08.2020 when under ideal circumstances (radiant overhead and full view of sky) you can expect to see 100 per h.
18TH JULY
EARTHSHINE MOON: Best visibility for earthshine on the Moon occurs around Sat, 18.07.2020 just before sunrise. Sunlight is reflected from the Earth to the night side of the Moon. Its night side appears to glow faintly and the entire orb of the Moon is dimly visible.
18TH JULY
ASCENDING NODE OF MOON: Moon is on Sat, 18.07.2020 at 6:06 PM at the ascending node of its orbit. Its geocentric elliptical latitude is zero and increasing.
CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF MOON AND MERCURY:
19TH JULY
Moon and Mercury have a minimal angular separation on Sun, 19.07.2020 at 6:22 AM. At this moment, the Moon is 3.7° NNW of Mercury. At the moment of the smallest separation the objects are not visible.
You
separation
is
can 3.7°
observe NNW.
them
on
19.07.2020
Moon
and
Mercury
at
are
in
5:42
AM
when
conjunction
on
their Sun,
19.07.2020 at 8:06 AM. Moon is 3.8° N of Mercury.
MAXIMUM N DECLINATION OF THE MOON: On Sun, 19.07.2020 at 5:23 PM, the declination of the Moon is
δ=24.1°. This is
19TH JULY
the maximum North declination of the Moon during the current lunar cycle.
NEW MOON: New Moon occurs on Mon, 20.07.2020 at 11:03 PM. On this day, the Moon is
20TH JULY
between the Sun and Earth and therefore not visible.
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PERIGEE OF NEOWISE C/2020 F3
23RD JULY
NEOWISE C/2020 F3 is on Thu, 23.07.2020 at 4:46 AM at its smallest distance of 103.73 x 106 km to Earth.
CONJUNCTION OF MOON AND JUPITER
2ND AUGUST
Moon and Jupiter are in conjunction on Sun, 02.08.2020 at 6:33 AM. Moon is 1.7° S of Jupiter. Moon and Jupiter have a minimal angular separation on Sun, 02.08.2020 at 7:03 AM. At this moment, the Moon is 1.7° S of Jupiter. This is a very close encounter of the two objects. At the moment of the smallest separation the objects are not visible. You can observe them on 02.08.2020 at 4:33 AM when their separation is 2.3° SSW.
CONJUNCTION OF MOON AND PLUTO
2ND AUGUST
Moon and Pluto are in conjunction on Sun, 02.08.2020 at 10:54 AM. Moon is 1.1° S of Pluto. Moon and Pluto have a minimal angular separation on Sun, 02.08.2020 at 10:55 AM.
BEST MORNING VISIBILITY OF URANUS
4TH AUGUST
Uranus is around Tue, 04.08.2020 at its best morning visibility of the year. It is quite faint (mv = 5.8) and only visible to the unaided eye under perfectly dark skies. Better use binoculars.
CONJUNCTION URANUS
OF
MOON
AND
11TH AUGUST
Moon and Uranus are in conjunction on Tue, 11.08.2020 at 12:32 AM. Moon is 4.2° S of Uranus.
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UPCOMING LAUNCHS FROM JULY 15 TO AUGUST 15TH, 2020
H-IIA 202 | HOPE By Emirates Mars Mission. It will study the weather cycle of mars. Try to find why Mars is losing Hydrogen and Oxygen into space.
FALCON 9 LAUNCH ANASIS - II By SpaceX. Anasis 2, or KMilSatCom 1, communications satellite for the South Korean military.
BARS-M NO. 3 By Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation. The Bars-M satellites feature an electro-optical camera system to deliver topographic imagery, stereo
15TH JULY 15TH JULY 15TH JULY
images, altimeter data and high-resolution images with a ground resolution around 1 meter.
STARSHIP SN5 | 150M HOP By SpaceX. It is the test flight of Starship SN5 from SpaceX's South Texas Launch Site in Boca Chica Village.
NROL - 129 By the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.
PROGRESS MS-15 (76) HP By ROSCOSMOS. It is an resuppply vehicle is an automated, unpiloted version of the Soyuz spacecraft, used to bring supplies and fuel o ISS.
15TH JULY 15TH JULY 23TH JULY
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FALCON 9 LAUNCHES SAOCOM 1B
26TH JULY
By SpaceX. It will be launching two SAOCOM constellation satellites which will observe hydrology and land.
MARS 2020 | ATLAS V 541 By
United
Launch
Alliance.
It
will
be
launching
Perseverance
rover,
for
exploring ancient river delta on Mars. It would also contin a suite of six
15TH JULY
scientific instruments. It will also carry a box-sized helicopter named ingenuity that'll demonstrate powered flight on Mars.
GSLV-MK II LAUNCHES GSAT-7C By ISRO. GSLV Mark II is the largest launch vehicle developed by India. 4th gen. launch vehicle is a three stage vehicle with four liquid strap-ons. Third
30TH JULY
stage contains Cryogenic engine.
GSLV-MK II LAUNCHES GSAT-32 By ISRO.
GSAT-32 is an Indian geostationary communications satellite.GSAT
32 will be a replacement for the failed GSat 6A.
PSLV LAUNCHES RISAT-2A By ISRO. RISAT-2A is the third in the series of Radar imaging RISAT satellites. It carries a radar which operates at 5.35 GHz in C band.
GSLV-MK II LAUNCHES GISAT-1 By
ISRO.
GSAT-1
is
an
Earth
geostationary orbit. It's aim is to
observation
satellite
to
be
launched
in
monitor continuously the natural hazards
31TH JULY 31TH JULY 31TH JULY
and disaster.
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SSLV LAUNCHES DEMO 1 By ISRO. It is a test flight for Small Satellite Launching Vehicle for Lower Earth Orbit.
PSLV LAUNCHES RISAT-1A By ISRO. RISAT-1A, is a planned remote sensing satellite that is similar in configuration to RISAT-1. It will carry Synthetic Aperture Radar which will
31TH JULY 31TH JULY
operate at 5.35 GHz in C band.
PSLV LAUNCHES OCEANSAT-3 By ISRO. OCEANSAT-3 is a part of ISRO's Oceansat program. It aims for ocean observation like sea surface temperature measurements, wind vector
31TH JULY
data, ocean colour data, etc.
GSLV MK-III LAUNCHES GSAT-20 By ISRO.
GSAT-20 will be the first fully Electric Propulsion (EP) enabled
satellite able to move from Geostationary transfer orbit to Geosynchronous
31TH JULY
orbit using electric propulsion.
GSLV MK-II LAUNCHES GSAT-2 By ISRO.
FALCON 9 LAUNCHES SIRIUS SXM-7
1ST AUGUST 1ST AUGUST
By SpaceX. SXM-7 is a large high power broadcasting satellite for SiriusXM's digital audio radio service (DARS).
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