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Perseverance rover confirms ancient lake on Mars

Between May and December 2022, Perseverance drove from the crater floor onto the delta, a vast expanse of 3 billion-year-old sediments that, from orbit, resembles the river deltas on Earth…reports Asian Lite News

NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has verified lake sediments at the base of the Jezero crater, confirming the presence of an ancient lake on Mars, and reinforcing hope that traces of life may exist on the Red Planet, according to a study.

The research, published in the journal Science Advances, shows that at some point, the crater filled with water, depositing layers of sediments on the crater floor.

The lake subsequently shrank and sediments carried by the river that fed it formed an enormous delta. As the lake dissipated over time, the sediments in the crater were eroded, forming the geologic features visible on the surface today.

The periods of deposition and erosion took place over aeons of environmental changes, the radar indicates, confirming that inferences about the Jezero crater’s geologic history based on Mars images obtained from space are accurate.

“From orbit we can see a bunch of different deposits, but we can’t tell for sure if what we’re seeing is their original state, or if we’re seeing the conclusion of a long geological story,” said David Paige, professor of Earth, planetary and space sciences at University of California-Los Angeles.

“To tell how these things formed, we need to see below the surface,” Paige said.

The rover, which is about the size of a car and carries seven scientific instruments, has been exploring the 30-mile-wide crater, studying its geology and atmosphere and collecting samples since 2021. Perseverance’s soil and rock samples will be brought back to Earth by a future expedition and studied for evidence of past life.

Between May and December 2022, Perseverance drove from the crater floor onto the delta, a vast expanse of 3 billion-year-old sediments that, from orbit, resembles the river deltas on Earth.

As the rover drove onto the delta, Perseverance’s Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX) instrument fired radar waves downward at 10-centimetre intervals and measured pulses reflected from depths of about 20 metres below the surface.

With the radar, scientists can see down to the base of the sediments to reveal the top surface of the buried crater floor.

Years of research with ground-penetrating radar and testing of RIMFAX on Earth have taught scientists how to read the structure and composition of subsurface layers from their radar reflections. The resulting subsurface image shows rock layers that can be interpreted like a highway road cut.

RIMFAX imaging revealed two distinct periods of sediment deposition sandwiched between two periods of erosion. The researchers reported that the crater floor below the delta is not uniformly flat, suggesting that a period of erosion occurred prior to the deposition of lake sediments.

The radar images show that the sediments are regular and horizontal — just like sediments deposited in lakes on Earth. The existence of lake sediments had been suspected in previous studies, but has been confirmed by this research.

A second period of deposition occurred when fluctuations in the lake level allowed the river to deposit a broad delta that once extended far out into the lake, but has now eroded back closer to the river’s mouth.

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NASA proposes solar-powered plane to explore Mars

The aircraft will be able to overcome the low density of the Martian atmosphere with a magnitude higher than conventional subsonic aircraft…reports Asian Lite News

US space agency NASA has proposed to develop a new mobility Mars exploration platform that will use solar energy to explore the Red Planet.

The Mars Aerial and Ground Intelligent Explorer (MAGGIE) is a compact fixed wing aircraft with ultra-high productivity efficiency powered by solar energy to fly in the Martian atmosphere.

It will have vertical take-off/landing (VTOL) capability, enabled by advanced deflected slipstream technology with CoFlow Jet (CFJ).

“MAGGIE would be able to perform the first global-scale atmospheric mission at Mars and revolutionise our capability of exploring almost the entirety of the Martian surface. It is the first concept to enable ongoing exploration of this region of Mars and would provide a substantial leap in capability for NASA’s exploration of the Red Planet,” the agency said in a statement.

The attractiveness of airborne missions on Mars has been amply demonstrated by the Ingenuity helicopter, which landed on the Red Planet in February 2021 attached to the belly of NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover.

Originally tasked with only five test flights to prove its “pioneering” technology, Ingenuity helicopter exceeded all expectations with 72nd flights on the Red Planet.

“MAGGIE would be similarly engaging to the public, both in its audacity, and in the variety of environments it could explore, study, and image. The technology would also enhance VTOL aircraft technology on Earth and other planets,” NASA said.

The aircraft will be able to overcome the low density of the Martian atmosphere with a magnitude higher than conventional subsonic aircraft.

The range of MAGGIE for a fully charged battery per 7.6 sol is 179 km at altitude of 1,000 m. The total range of MAGGIE per Martian year is 16,048 km.

The representative mission for MAGGIE presented would conduct three atmospheric and geophysical investigations.

These include a study of the origin and timing of the Martian core dynamo from the weak magnetic fields found in the large impact basins, a regional investigation of the source of methane signals detected by the Tunable Laser Spectrometer on the Mars Science Laboratory in Gale crater, and mapping of subsurface water ice at high resolution in the mid-latitudes where it has been observed from orbit.

The conceptual MAGGIE system study indicates that the concept appears to be feasible, but needs to be further investigated, designed, and verified under Martian atmospheric conditions in Phase I, NASA said.

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Japan Makes Historic Moon Landing But Suffers Hiccup

The spacecraft’s solar cell is not generating electricity. Currently, the lander is operating on limited battery power, only expected to last several hours, reports Asian Lite News

Japan created history by becoming only the fifth nation to successfully complete the soft landing on the moon with its ‘Moon Sniper’ robotic explorer, but fear looms that the mission may end prematurely since the spacecraft’s solar cell is not generating electricity, CNN reported, citing the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The agency said it is currently receiving a signal from the lander, which is communicating as expected.

The uncrewed Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, mission landed just after 10:20 am ET Friday (12:20 am local time), according to telemetry data shared on JAXA’s live broadcast.

Currently, the lander is operating on limited battery power, only expected to last several hours, and the JAXA team is analyzing the data to determine the cause of the solar cell issue and the next steps for the lander. The solar cell issue may be because the spacecraft is not pointing in the intended direction, JAXA officials said.

According to CNN, there is still hope that as the solar angle changes on the moon, the solar cell may be able to charge again, but that may take some time and will depend on whether SLIM can survive the frigid lunar night, the team shared during a news conference.

The agency believes the mission has met the criteria to declare it a “minimum success,” because the spacecraft achieved a precise and soft lunar landing using optical navigation. The landing makes Japan the third country to land on the moon this century, and the fifth overall.

When asked to score the landing operation for SLIM, JAXA director general Dr. Hitoshi Kuninaka gave it a “60 out of 100,” while also mentioning that he is known for making “harsh comments.”

The team is also working to gather all of the scientific data obtained by the lander.

The lander was able to release its two lunar rovers, LEV-1 and LEV-2. The LEV-1 rover moves using a hopping mechanism and is equipped with wide-angle visible light cameras, scientific equipment and antennas that allow it to communicate with Earth, CNN reported. The LEV-2 also outfitted with cameras, can change shape to move across the lunar surface.

Meanwhile, the team is receiving a signal from LEV-1 and will see if its cameras were able to capture any images, and they will not definitively confirm the status of LEV-2 until more data is received.

The small-scale SLIM robotic explorer, which launched in September, goes by the nickname “Moon Sniper” because it carried new precision technology to demonstrate a “pinpoint” landing.

Previous lunar missions have been able to target and reach specific zones that spanned many kilometres, but the SLIM lander targeted a landing site that stretches just 100 meters (328 feet) across. The lander’s “smart eyes” — an image-matching-based navigation technology — rapidly photographed the lunar surface on approach and autonomously made adjustments as the spacecraft descended to touchdown on a sloped surface, as reported by CNN.

The JAXA team is still working to determine the accuracy of SLIM’s landing, which could take up to a month. (ANI)

ALSO READ: ‘US to Include Int’l Astronaut on NASA’s Artemis Moon Mission by 2030’

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India begins 2024 by orbiting XPoSAT

The rocket carried XPoSat and 10 other experimental payloads on its fourth stage…reports Asian Lite News

India on Monday ushered in the New Year in a grand manner by orbiting its X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) ISRO and the space agency will also test its fuel cell, a precursor for powering the Indian space station whenever it is built.

At about 9.10 a.m. on the first day of the calendar year 2024, India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C58 (PSLV-C58) standing 44.4-metre tall, with a lift off mass of 260 ton blasted off from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, here.

The rocket carried XPoSat and 10 other experimental payloads on its fourth stage.

Slowly rising up towards the skies with a thick orange flame at its tail, the rocket gained speed with a sound resembling rolling thunder and went up leaving a thick plume while the people assembled at the viewing gallery clapped their hands with pride.

Interestingly, this is the first space mission for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on January 1.

At about 21 minutes into its flight, the rocket ejected XPoSat at an altitude of about 650 km.

Speaking after the launch ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said: “The orbit accomplished for XPoSat is excellent as the deviation is just three kilometres. The solar panels of the satellite have been deployed.”

After orbiting the XPoSat, the rocket’s fourth stage — PS4 stage — will be lowered to 350km, about 9.6 degree orbit, by restarting it twice. The Indian space agency will now use the fourth stage as an orbital platform with 10 experimental payloads loaded on it.

“We could have done the experiments at the 650km altitude. We decided to bring down the stage so that we don’t create more space debris,” Somanath said.

Continuing further he said, the remaining fuel on the fourth stage will be dumped in an unique manner.

The left-out propellant in the PS4 will be disposed of through the main engines as a precursor to enabling the safety of the PS4 stage in atmosphere reentry experiments planned in future, ISRO said.

The oxidiser will be let out first followed by fuel in a predetermined sequence of operations. The existing scheme of spent stage passivation by venting the tank pressure will also be active.

Post passivation of PS4, the control of the stage is transferred to the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-3 (POEM-3) avionics, the ISRO said.

The POEM is configured as a 3-axis stabilised orbital platform for conducting experiments to space qualify systems with novel ideas.

The orbital platform’s electrical power requirements are catered by a Flexible Solar Panel in conjunction with 50Ah Li-Ion battery in battery tied configuration.

The orbital platform consists of avionic systems to take care of navigation, guidance, control and telecommands and Orbital Platform Attitude Control System to cater to control of the platform to test the payloads, the ISRO added.

The 10 payloads are from TakeMe2Space, LBS Institute Technology for Women, K.J. Somaiya Institute of Technology, Inspecity Space Labs Private Ltd, Dhruva Space Private Ltd, Bellatrix Aerospace Private Ltd (two payloads) and three payloads from the ISRO.

According to Somanath, ISRO will be testing its fuel cell which will be the precursor for powering the Indian space station whenever it is built.

The Indian space agency will also test its silicon based high energy cells.

The XPoSat is the first dedicated scientific satellite from the ISRO to carry out research in space-based polarisation measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources. The satellite configuration is modified from the IMS-2 bus platform. The configuration of the mainframe systems is derived based on the heritage of IRS satellites. It carries two payloads, namely POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing).

The POLIX is realised by the Raman Research Institute and XSPECT is by the Space Astronomy Group of the U.R. Rao Satellite Centre (URSC).

The ISRO has five types of PSLV rockets — Standard, Core Alone, XL, DL, and QL. The major difference between them is the use of strap-on boosters which, in turn, largely depends on the weight of the satellites to be orbited.

The PSLV uses 6,4,2 solid rocket strap-on motors to augment the thrust provided by the first stage in PSLV-XL, QL & DL variants, respectively. However, strap-ons are not used in the core-alone version (PSLV-CA). The PSLV rocket that flew on New Year Day was the DL variant with two solid booster motors.

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‘US to Include Int’l Astronaut on NASA’s Artemis Moon Mission by 2030’

Artemis 2 is slated to send four astronauts — three from NASA and one from CSA — around the moon in late 2024 or 2025…reports Asian Lite News

The US will land an international astronaut on the Moon aboard NASA’s Artemis mission by the end of the decade, said Vice President Kamala Harris during a meeting of the White House’s National Space Council in Washington, DC.

“Alongside American astronauts, we intend to land an international astronaut on the surface of the Moon by the end of the decade,” Harris said at the meeting held on Wednesday.

Harris said that it is in recognition of the essential role that allies like Europe, Japan and Canada played in the Artemis programme. However, it remains unclear which country that astronaut will represent. Meanwhile, NASA has committed to train an Indian astronaut to fly to the International Space Station in 2024.

With NASA’s Artemis mission, the US aims to return humans to the moon, and maintain US leadership in space exploration and prepare for future missions to Mars by 2025. Artemis III will also land the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term, sustainable presence and serving as a gateway for future astronaut missions to Mars.

“The Artemis programme is the most ambitious space exploration effort in generations. For the first time in more than half a century, the United States will return astronauts to the lunar surface. We will establish the first lunar base camp and the first station in lunar orbit — all of this in collaboration with our allies and partners,” Harris said.

To achieve Artemis’ goals, NASA made both commercial and international partnerships with European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Canada Space Agency, who will also make significant contributions to the lunar space station.

“NASA has committed to three opportunities for European Space Agency astronauts to fly to Gateway, one opportunity to fly a Canadian Space Agency astronaut to Gateway and one opportunity on Artemis II, and one opportunity for a Japanese (JAXA) astronaut to fly to Gateway,” a NASA official was quoted as saying to CNN.

“Beyond Artemis II, these crew opportunities have not been designated to specific Artemis missions.”

In 2022, Artemis 1 sent an uncrewed Orion to lunar orbit and back late last year.

Artemis 2 is slated to send four astronauts — three from NASA and one from CSA — around the moon in late 2024 or 2025.

Artemis 3, which will put astronauts down near the lunar south pole for the first time since 1972, is targeted for 2025. However, a recent report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), identified several gaps in the mission’s human landing system and spacesuit design, among others, which will not be complete before 2027.

The delay is also likely to push back subsequent Artemis missions, with Artemis 4 currently planned for 2028, followed by Artemis 5 through 7 expected to transpire annually starting in 2029.

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Kamala Harris Vows Intl. Astronaut on Moon Soon

With NASA’s Artemis mission, the US aims to return humans to the moon, and maintain US leadership in space exploration…reports Asian Lite News

US Vice President Kamala Harris announced during a session of the White House’s National Space Council in Washington, DC, that the United States aims to send an international astronaut to the Moon through NASA’s Artemis mission by the decade’s end.

“Alongside American astronauts, we intend to land an international astronaut on the surface of the Moon by the end of the decade,” Harris said at the meeting held on Wednesday.

Harris said that it is in recognition of the essential role that allies like Europe, Japan and Canada played in the Artemis programme. However, it remains unclear which country that astronaut will represent. Meanwhile, NASA has committed to train an Indian astronaut to fly to the International Space Station in 2024.

With NASA’s Artemis mission, the US aims to return humans to the moon, and maintain US leadership in space exploration and prepare for future missions to Mars by 2025. Artemis III will also land the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term, sustainable presence and serving as a gateway for future astronaut missions to Mars.

“The Artemis programme is the most ambitious space exploration effort in generations. For the first time in more than half a century, the United States will return astronauts to the lunar surface. We will establish the first lunar base camp and the first station in lunar orbit — all of this in collaboration with our allies and partners,” Harris said.

To achieve Artemis’ goals, NASA made both commercial and international partnerships with European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Canada Space Agency, who will also make significant contributions to the lunar space station.

“NASA has committed to three opportunities for European Space Agency astronauts to fly to Gateway, one opportunity to fly a Canadian Space Agency astronaut to Gateway and one opportunity on Artemis II, and one opportunity for a Japanese (JAXA) astronaut to fly to Gateway,” a NASA official was quoted as saying to CNN.

“Beyond Artemis II, these crew opportunities have not been designated to specific Artemis missions.”

In 2022, Artemis 1 sent an uncrewed Orion to lunar orbit and back late last year.

Artemis 2 is slated to send four astronauts — three from NASA and one from CSA — around the moon in late 2024 or 2025.

Artemis 3, which will put astronauts down near the lunar south pole for the first time since 1972, is targeted for 2025. However, a recent report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), identified several gaps in the mission’s human landing system and spacesuit design, among others, which will not be complete before 2027.

The delay is also likely to push back subsequent Artemis missions, with Artemis 4 currently planned for 2028, followed by Artemis 5 through 7 expected to transpire annually starting in 2029.

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Foreign Minister Jaishankar Lauds ISRO on Lunar Prize Win

Jaishankar took to social media to extend his applause to ISRO on the achievement….reports Asian Lite News

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for bagging the prestigious Leif Erikson Lunar Prize.

Jaishankar took to social media to extend his applause to ISRO on the achievement.

“Congratulations @isro for the 2023 Leif Erikson Lunar Prize. Chandrayaan brings more laurels to the nation,” posted Jaishankar on X.

Notably, in a momentous recognition of India’s space prowess, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been feted with the prestigious Leif Erikson Lunar Prize by the Husavik Museum in Iceland.

The award acknowledges ISRO’s unwavering dedication and indomitable spirit in propelling lunar exploration forward and contributing significantly to unravelling celestial mysteries, particularly through the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission.

“Leif Erikson Lunar Prize has been awarded by Husavik Museum for @ISRO’s indomitable spirit in advancing lunar exploration & contributing to understanding celestial mysteries #Chandrayaan3,” the Indian Embassy in Iceland posted on X.

Indian Ambassador Balasubramanian Shyam received the prestigious prize on behalf of ISRO.”ISRO Chairman Mr S Somanath sent a message; Amb Mr Shyam received the prize on ISRO’s behalf,” the embassy’s post added.

Indian Ambassador Balasubramanian Shyam received the prestigious Leif Erikson Lunar Prize on behalf of ISRO. “ISRO Chairman Mr S.Somanath sent a message; Amb Mr Shyam received the prize on ISRO’s behalf,” the embassy’s post added.

The triumph of Chandrayaan-3 marked a historic milestone on August 23 when the lander module successfully touched down on the moon’s South Pole. India became the fourth nation, following the United States, China, and Russia, to achieve a successful lunar landing. The mission not only showcased technological prowess but also signalled redemption after the disappointment of the Chandrayaan-2 crash landing four years earlier.

Post-landing, the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover conducted various tasks on the lunar surface, including detecting the presence of sulfur and other elements, recording relative temperature, and monitoring lunar activities. The success of Chandrayaan-3 further solidified India’s standing in lunar exploration.

Following the lunar triumph, India swiftly moved ahead with its maiden solar mission, Aditya-L1, launched on September 2. The spacecraft has successfully undergone multiple maneuvers, including four earth-bound maneuvers and a crucial Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) maneuver, enabling it to escape Earth’s sphere of influence.

In the most recent development, the Propulsion Module (PM) of Chandrayaan-3 achieved another feat by transitioning from lunar orbit to Earth’s orbit.

The Indian Space Research Organisation shared the achievement on X, stating, “Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Ch-3’s Propulsion Module (PM) takes a successful detour! In another unique experiment, the PM is brought from Lunar orbit to Earth’s orbit. An orbit-raising manoeuvre and a Trans-Earth injection manoeuvre placed PM in an Earth-bound orbit.” (ANI)

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NASA laser message beams video of a cat from deep space

The short ultra-high definition video, which was uploaded before launch on NASA’s Psyche mission on October 13, features an orange tabby cat named Taters, the pet of a JPL employee, chasing a laser pointer, with overlayed graphics…reports Asian Lite News

NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment beamed an ultra-high definition streaming video of a cat from a record-setting 31 million kilometres, or about 80 times the Earth-Moon distance.

The milestone, part of NASA technology demonstration aimed at streaming very high-bandwidth video and other data from deep space — enabling future human missions beyond Earth orbit — was achieved on December 11.

The short ultra-high definition video, which was uploaded before launch on NASA’s Psyche mission on October 13, features an orange tabby cat named Taters, the pet of a JPL employee, chasing a laser pointer, with overlayed graphics.

The graphics illustrate several features from the tech demo, such as Psyche’s orbital path, Palomar’s telescope dome, and technical information about the laser and its data bit rate.

Tater’s heart rate, colour, and breed are also on display.

“This accomplishment underscores our commitment to advancing optical communications as a key element to meeting our future data transmission needs,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.

“Increasing our bandwidth is essential to achieving our future exploration and science goals, and we look forward to the continued advancement of this technology and the transformation of how we communicate during future interplanetary missions,” Melroy added.

The demo transmitted the 15-second test video via a cutting-edge instrument called a flight laser transceiver.

The video signal took 101 seconds to reach Earth, sent at the system’s maximum bit rate of 267 megabits per second (Mbps).

Capable of sending and receiving near-infrared signals, the instrument beamed an encoded near-infrared laser to the Hale Telescope at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, where it was downloaded.

Each frame from the looping video was then sent “live” to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where the video was played in real time.

This latest milestone comes after “first light” was achieved on November 14. Since then, the system has demonstrated faster data downlink speeds and increased pointing accuracy during its weekly checkouts.

On the night of December 4, the project demonstrated downlink bit rates of 62.5 Mbps, 100 Mbps, and 267 Mbps, which is comparable to broadband internet download speeds. The team was able to download a total of 1.3 terabits of data during that time.

“Despite transmitting from millions of miles away, it was able to send the video faster than most broadband internet connections,” said Ryan Rogalin, the project’s receiver electronics lead at JPL.

As Psyche travels to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the technology demonstration will send high-data-rate signals as far out as the Red Planet’s greatest distance from Earth. In doing so, it paves the way for higher-data-rate communications capable of sending complex scientific information, high-definition imagery, and video in support of humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars.

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Astronomers find giant stream of stars running between galaxies

With large future telescopes, the researchers not only hope to discover new giant streams, they also want to zoom in on the Giant Coma Stream itself…reports Asian Lite News

An international team of researchers has discovered the largest-ever giant and extremely faint stream of stars running between galaxies.

The observations were made with University of California-Los Angeles astronomer Michael Rich’s relatively small 70-centimetre telescope in the US and using the 4.2-metre William Herschel telescope at La Palma, Spain.

After image processing, they saw an extremely faint stream more than 10 times the length of our Milky Way.

Named the Giant Coma Stream, it appeared to float in the middle of the cluster environment, not associated with any galaxy in particular, said the researchers in the paper published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

“This giant stream crossed our path by coincidence,” said lead researcher Javier Roman, associated with the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and the University of La Laguna in Spain.

“We were studying halos of stars located around large galaxies.”

The discovery of the Giant Coma Stream is remarkable because it is a rather fragile structure amid a hostile environment of mutually attracting and repelling galaxies.

“Meanwhile, we have been able to simulate such huge flows in the computer. We therefore expect to find more of them. For example, if we search with the future 39-metre ELT and when Euclid starts producing data,” said co-author Reynier Peletier from University of Groningen.

With large future telescopes, the researchers not only hope to discover new giant streams, they also want to zoom in on the Giant Coma Stream itself.

“We would love to observe individual stars in and near the stream and learn more about dark matter,” Peletier said.

The Coma Cluster is one of the best-studied clusters of galaxies. It contains thousands of galaxies at a distance of about 300 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the northern constellation Coma Berenices.

In 1933, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky showed that the galaxies in the cluster move too fast if you only take the amount of visible matter into account. He figured out that there must be dark matter that keeps things together. The exact nature of dark matter is still unknown.

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ISRO’s space telescope spots over 600 gamma-ray bursts  

GRBs last from a fraction of a second to several minutes, and are accompanied by the birth of a black hole…reports Asian Lite News

India’s AstroSat space telescope has achieved a significant milestone by detecting more than 600 Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB), each marking the death of a massive star or merging of neutron stars.

“The detection of the 600th GRB is a great demonstration of the continued undiminished performance of Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) eight years after launch, and well after its design lifetime,” Dipankar Bhattacharya, the principal investigator for CZTI, said.

Dubbed as mini big-bangs, GRBs are the most energetic explosions in the universe, emitting more energy in seconds than the sun will emit in its entire lifetime, Gaurav Waratkar, a Ph.D student at IIT Bombay, who leads the study of GRBs with AstroSat, said.

GRBs last from a fraction of a second to several minutes, and are accompanied by the birth of a black hole.

Launched in 2015 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), AstroSat had a design life of five years, but continues to be in good health, making observations for astronomers.

The satellite is India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory, equipped with a suite of payloads for simultaneously observing celestial objects across different wavelengths, from ultraviolet to X-rays.

“We are proud of what AstroSat has accomplished. To build upon this success, multiple institutes have come together and proposed to build Daksha, a next-generation GRB space telescope that will be far better than any such satellite worldwide. Daksha will be sensitive enough to detect in just over a year what CZTI did in eight,” Varun Bhalerao, associate professor at IIT-Bombay, said.

The 600th GRB detection by AstroSat’s CZTI detector was made on November 22, which was notified to astronomers across the world who could use it in their research on such a phenomenon and provide astronomers with invaluable data to explore the extreme conditions associated with these high-energy events.

“It is amazing to look at the data and have the opportunity to be the first one to view these explosions that happened billions of years ago,” Waratkar said.

He said since the 600th GRB, the CZTI has detected three more such events, the latest on Monday.

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