Astro NITR

And Behold. First Star. JWST.

Do you ever feel you need more time to finish up? 24 hr is just not enough. Good news! The earth is slowing down and days are getting longer. Scientists analyzed thousands of years of eclipse data and found that the day has been getting longer which was later verified using atomic clock. Analysis of this theory with Astrochronology makes more sense.

Credits:-
Content: Abhiram Biswal

It’s May 26 and we all will be experiencing an intense full moon with a total Lunar eclipse on top of it.

Super moon occurs when the Moon’s orbit is closest to the Earth (nearly 36000km from Earth) at the same time full. At the time the Moon not only appears to be brighter but it is also larger than a regular full moon.

When the Earth comes between the sun and moon blocking the sun’s rays directly reaching the moon it is called total Lunar Eclipse. It is also called Blood Moon because the moon appears reddish-orange from the shadow of Earth during this Eclipse.

It will be visible in East Asia, Australia, the Pacific and America. The eclipse will start at 2:17pm and visible until 7:19pm (IST). It will be visible from India for a short span from northeastern India, some parts of West Bengal, coastal parts of Odisha and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Eclipse's partial phase begins at 3: 15 pm and ends at 6:23 pm while it's total phase begins at 4:39 pm and ends at 4:58 pm. Have fun gazing at the moon today! 🌕🌑✨

Credits:
Design- Amrit Anwesh
Content-Alok Kumar Dhal

Just like how our imagination doesn't have limits, space and the universe has no limits to be explored. Today, we celebrate International Astronomy Day to create awareness and educate people about the beautiful universe. Thus on this day, ASTRO-NITR joins you all to celebrate the celestial bodies and the study of outer space. Stay home and stay safe while observing and gazing at the stars, may this be a moment of awe and relaxation amid the ongoing pandemic.

Design credit: Sritam Divyajyoti

“Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance safely on the surface of mars ready to begin seeking the sand of past life.” These were the words spoken by the NASA team when the fruit of their hard work, the mission consisting of the most technologically advanced rover to ever land on mars planet, Perseverance, landed on the red planet. The Perseverance rover, a part of the Mars 2020 mission, had its journey that started on July 30, 2020, at 4:50 a.m. PDT (7:50 a.m. EDT) finally touched the red sands on Feb. 18, 2021, at 12:55 p.m. PST (3:55 p.m.EDT). The trip to Mars took about 7 months while the spacecraft traveled about 300 million miles to arrive at the Jezero Crater, one of the craters that are thought to have been an ancient lake on Mars. The mission duration is at least one Mars year (about 687 Earth days). The mission’s objective strongly revolves around astrobiology and the fact if mars may have been able to support life either in the past or maybe in the future. Some of the major components of the rover include SUPERCAM (laser micro-imager), RIMFAX(subsurface radar), MOXIE(produces oxygen from Martian CO2), PIXL(x-ray spectrometer), SHERLOC(ultraviolet spectrometer), MEDA(weather station), MASTCAM-Z(zoomable panoramic cameras), and even hosts the Ingenuity helicopter which is possibly the first attempt of flight on another planet. According to the schedule, the samples collected from mars are set to reach Earth by 2031. A nuclear-powered plutonium generator provides energy to its pair of lithium-ion batteries. The rover underwent the “seven minutes of terror,” the period where the rover enters the Martian atmosphere and makes the landing where there is always a delay of 11 minutes of communication between the rover and Earth. The spacecraft first deployed its parachute to start the slowdown and then fired its rocket thrusters to slow it from 170 mph to about 2 mph. Then the “sky crane” was deployed to lower the rover onto the martian surface and ‘Touchdown!’. Some interesting facts about the rover are that apart from the scientific instruments, it also contains a commemorative plate to honor Covid-19 health-care workers and recognize the impact of the pandemic and three silicon chips in which the names of 10.9 million people have been stenciled, with the words “Explore as One” written in Morse code.

Credits:-
Design: Satyaprakash Karsharma
Content: Riya Titus

Wish you a very Happy Republic Day 2021! On January 26th 1930, the Indian National Congress proclaimed Purna Swaraj, the declaration of India’s independence from the colonial rule. The Constitution was adopted by the Indian Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950 with a democratic government system. On this day let us remember freedom fighters and Constitution makers and celebrate their legacy with much proud.
"India has no dearth of brave young men and women and if they get the opportunity and help then we can compete with other nations in space exploration and one of them will fulfill her dreams." – Atal Behari Vajpayee
Credits:-
Content: Abhiram Biswal
Design: Satyaprakash Karsharma

Starting again on a journey around our Star, here we go again on the path travelled by our ancestors. But this time, we are preparing for a new beginning; to do things differently each time on the same path. Trying to improve; become stronger than our past selves, we start yet another new year. COVID-19 left humanity scarred, reminding us how helpless we can be amidst the ruthlessness of the universe. So, ASTRO-NITR wishes you a Happy New Year 2021, where we wish to recover with ignited minds fueled like a rocket that can fly across space and time exploring the unknown that lies ahead! ✨
Credits:-
Design: Jagadish
Content: Riya Titus

The Ursid meteor shower occurs each year in late December. Meteor showers arise when the Earth passes through streams of debris left behind in the wake of comets and asteroids. The shower is named the Ursids because the meteors seem to radiate from the direction of the constellation Ursa Minor in the sky. The Ursids are associated with the 8P/Tuttle comet. It’s usually most active between December 19 to 24. The Ursids should peak around December 22 in 2020.

At its peak, you may able to view as many as 10 meteors in an hour but under perfect conditions: clear, dark skies away from light pollution. Viewing the Ursids requires little more than good eyesight and some patience and a clear sky . Ursid meteors radiate from near the star Kochab in the Little Dipper. The star Polaris is also part of the Little Dipper. Use sky map to find exact location.

Credits:-
Content: Abhiram Biswal
Design: Amrit Anwesh

The Great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn

On the night of December 21, a rare alignment of planets is going to take place after 800 years. Jupiter and Saturn will make a ‘Christmas Star’ that will be visible with naked eyes.

This event is known as the Great conjunction – the close approach of two mighty planets. It happens when Jupiter, Saturn and Earth come in a straight line. With each passing days the two largest planets are moving close to each other. On December 21st,they will be just 0.1degree apart, they come close to each other and almost ‘kiss’ on the day of winter solstice, appearing as a double star.

Jupiter and Saturn shine brightly in the south-west after sunset. The brighter one is Jupiter. The two planets made their closest approach to the earth in July this year. The great conjunction is the cosmic play of the orbital motion and speed. Saturn goes around the sun once in 30 years , on the other hand Jupiter takes only 12 years for one revolution. So every 20 years, they come close to each other as Jupiter laps the ringed beauty.

Last time in 2001, Jupiter and Saturn were too close to the Sun, so they were not visible with naked eyes at the great conjunction. But this year, they are well placed in the sky far from the sun. Last time when the these giants came this close was about 800 years ago , in the year 1226.

In India, today it will be visible from 6:30 pm to 7:30pm.

You can also use space apps like Stellarium universe etc, to locate the planets. In telescope, you can notice the gas giants will appear together along with their moons. Jupiter is brighter than any other star in the night sky. It’s the 2nd brightest planet. Unlike the twinkling stars, Jupiter and Saturn both shine steadily.

Credits:-
Content: Alok Kumar Dhal
Design: Satyaprakash Karsharma

The second week of December heralds the beginning of the strongest meteor shower of the year – the Geminids. It’s a good time to bundle up, go outside and watch one of Mother Nature’s best sky shows!

The Geminids are active every December (December 4 – December 17) with it’s peak on 14 December, when Earth passes through a massive trail of dusty debris shed by a weird, rocky object named 3200 Phaethon. The dust and grit burn up when they run into Earth’s atmosphere in a flurry of “shooting stars.”
Phaethon’s nature is debated. It’s either a near-Earth asteroid or an extinct comet, sometimes called a rock comet. There is another object – an Apollo asteroid named 2005 UD – that is in a dynamically similar orbit to Phaethon, prompting speculation that the two were once part of a larger body that split apart or collided with another asteroid.
Most shower meteors are shed by comets when their orbits take them into the inner Solar System, but the Geminids may be the debris from this long-ago breakup or collision event. When you consider that the Geminid meteor stream has more mass than any other meteor shower, including the Perseids, whatever happened back then must have been pretty spectacular.

So what do potential Geminid watchers need to do this year?

It’s pretty simple, actually. The nearly First Quarter Moon sets around 10:30 p.m. local time, so wait until then to go out – the light from the Moon washes out the fainter meteors, which are more numerous. Find the darkest place you can, and give your eyes about 30 minutes to adapt to the dark. Avoid looking at your cell phone, as it will mess up your night vision. Lie flat on your back(don’t forget to put on winter clothes) and look straight up, taking in as much sky as possible. You will soon start to see Geminid meteors. As the night progresses, the Geminid rate will increase, hitting a theoretical maximum of about 100 per hour around 2 a.m. It is going to be amazing trust me.
Credits:-
Content: Sourav Priyadarsi
Design: Shobhit

Let us know how your experience was in the comments below:

Ever looked into the sky and felt curious about the stars, the planets, the galaxies out there waiting for us to explore... Ever wished to be an astronaut, an Astronomer, a physicist, a scientist learning about life beyond Earth and the mysteries that the darkness of Space hides away!? Alien life? Black holes? Multiple star systems!? Curious about them all!? Want to join a club that deals with them all and conducts discussion sessions and Telescope sessions to know and understand more about the universe... ASTRO-NITR is the place for enthusiasts like you! Open to all branches of NIT Rourkela, Astro-NITR is the Astronomy club dedicated to astromony enthusiasts. Join our club orientation on 13th December! Induction dates to be released soon! Scan the WhatsApp QR code and join the group to know more details... All set for the countdown✨✨✨

The Arecibo Telescope was the main instrument in the Arecibo observatory located at Puerto Rico also known as National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) and owned by the US National Science Foundation (NSF). The Arecibo Telescope was the world's largest single-aperture telescope for 53 years, surpassed in July 2016 by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China. The telescope was built in the 1960s and have contributed a lot to astronomy for more than half a century by helping to detect asteroids approaching Earth, has helped in research works leading to a Nobel Prize and to find potential habitable planets.

In August one of its auxiliary cable snapped and on 6th November another cable broke. The Arecibo Telescope suffered catastrophic structural failure on December 1, 2020. The telescope’s 900 ton-receiver platform fell onto the reflector dish more than 400 feet below damaging it. Thus in order to ensure safety, the US NSF had earlier announced the closure of the telescope even though scientists worldwide had been sending petitions to the US officials and others to reverse the NSF’s decision.
Credits:-
Design: Amrit Anwesh
Content: Riya Titus