R C Kapoor Observing comets from India Although the subject of comets has received space in a few old Indian texts, the description remains confined only to their morphology and the ominous implications. Nowhere is there an allusion as to a specific comet or even a hint that some real-time observations were made. Since 2009,…
Fazlu Rahman Objects in the Mirror are Closer than they Appear – A very familiar sentence to all of us. Though this is a safety warning written for the drivers who may mistakenly assume that the car behind them, as seen in the mirror is far away, given its small size, it has become a…
U S Kamath The Professor entered the Director’s office. “Have a seat,” the Director said. The Director was browsing through the report, his report. The office boy placed a cup of tea on the coaster. It was the same tea available in the canteen but served in a big, white cup. He began sipping the…
Suman Saha Just like the planets in our Solar system orbiting around the Sun, there are planets outside the Solar system orbiting around other stars. They are known as the Exoplanets (or Extra-solar planets). By definition, planets are much smaller than the stars and unlike the stars, they have no direct source of light but…
“Orion Nebula is one of the most famous deep-sky objects, which most beginners in astrophotography target. Even I did the same. My first attempt with Orion Nebula was a single exposure of 30 s, ISO 3200, in December 2018. But the core area got overexposed. Since this was my first attempt on DSO imaging using…
Abstract Art by Maya Prabhakar The knowledge argument (also known as Mary’s room or Mary the super-scientist) is a philosophical thought experiment proposed by Frank Jackson in his article “Epiphenomenal Qualia” (1982) and extended in “What MaryDidn’t Know” (1986). The experiment is intended to argue against physicalism—the view that the universe, including all that is…
Professor Varun Sahni speaks about his exciting career, childhood days, PhD life in Moscow, and his views on the future of cosmology About the IntervieweeProfessor Varun Sahni is an Indian theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, and distinguished professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune. Known for his research in cosmology, Professor Sahni has…
Dr. Sangeetha CR I joined the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) in 2010 for PhD and had very little knowledge about research. Being a shy person, pursuing your dream in research is a bit difficult, as you need to interact with people. But it is not an impossible dream to have, and I realized I…
Snehalata Sahu Have you ever heard of a vampire-like star existing in our Universe? If not, then you are missing the story of one of the most exciting types of stars, known as “Blue Straggler Stars” (BSSs). They are called so because they appear blue in color and straggle or lag in age behind their ancient neighbors, which…
