Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: IE Context: NASA’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) is a ground-breaking mission designed to study the interactions between terrestrial and space weather. It aims to investigate one of the key drivers of space weather – Earth’s weather. The study is crucial due to the increasing reliance on satellite-based services …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: TH Context: Carlo Rovelli, an Italian physicist and author of popular-science books, explores the concept of white holes in his latest work, “White Holes: Inside the Horizon.” These are considered the opposite of black holes and might generate new universes, a theoretical idea supported by the math White Holes …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: IE Context: NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, on a mission to observe Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, recently made an unexpected discovery. It found that the main belt asteroid Dinkinesh, which it was set to fly by, is actually a binary system of two asteroids bound together. Preliminary analysis suggests that the …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: NYTimes Context: A new study suggests that Venus, despite being a scorching wasteland, may have once had plate tectonics similar to those on early Earth. The research uses atmospheric data from Venus and computer modelling to propose that Venus’ current atmosphere and surface pressure could only have resulted from …
Continue reading “Venus had Earth-like plate tectonics billions of years ago”
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: TOI Context: The Subsurface Water Ice Mapping Project (SWIM) has created a map of Mars, indicating regions where NASA missions have detected subsurface water ice. This map is a valuable resource for scientists to identify potential landing sites for the first astronauts on Mars. Water ice on Mars is …
Continue reading “Subsurface Water Ice Mapping (SWIM) project”
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: TOI Context: A recent study using crystals brought back by Apollo astronauts in 1972 has revealed that the Moon is approximately 40 million years older than previously believed. The research used these lunar crystals to pinpoint the Moon’s formation age, revising it to a minimum of 4.46 billion …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: Frontline Context: China is constructing the world’s largest “ghost particle” detector, a massive underwater telescope in the South China Sea, designed to detect neutrinos, which are often referred to as “ghost particles.” The telescope, named “Trident,” is expected to span 7.5 cubic kilometers and be 10,000 times more sensitive …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: TH Context: The Prime Minister has “directed” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to achieve several significant milestones recently
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: TOI Context: NASA has launched a spacecraft called ‘Psyche’ on a six-year mission to study a unique metal-rich asteroid also named ‘Psyche.’ This asteroid orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. The primary goal of the Psyche mission is to explore the iron core, a previously unexplored aspect of …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: IE Context: NASA has announced the conclusion of its CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) mission, which analysed climate, weather, and air quality for 17 years. CALIPSO, launched jointly by NASA and France’s CNES, used LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology to record over 10 billion measurements …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source; TOI Context: The Chandrayaan-3 rover, Pragyan, which has the Indian national emblem and the ISRO logo on its rear wheels, has been unable to leave a clear imprint of these symbols on the lunar soil. This inability to imprint the symbols has provided new insights into the properties of …
Continue reading “ISRO logo imprints show lunar soil ‘lumpy’”
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: IE Context: A recent study using data from the Chandrayaan-1 mission has suggested that high-energy electrons in Earth’s magnetosphere might be contributing to the formation of water on the Moon’s surface. The research indicates that electrons in our planet’s plasma sheet, a region of trapped charged particles within …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: IE Context: NASA recently shared a captivating image of Mercury, the solar system’s smallest planet, on Instagram. The picture, taken by MESSENGER, the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury, showcases the planet’s tan and blue hues, along with its cratered surface. About Mercury: NASA provided intriguing details about …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: IE Context: Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered methane and carbon dioxide on the exoplanet K2-18 b. K2-18 b is located in the “Goldilocks zone” around the cool dwarf star K2-18, where it receives just enough starlight to maintain liquid water. It’s considered a “Hycean …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: TH Context: Astronomers have discovered a massive “bubble of galaxies” in the nearby universe, approximately 820 million light years away from our Milky Way galaxy. This cosmic structure spans a billion light years in diameter, making it about 10,000 times wider than our galaxy. Inside the bubble, there is the …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: Business Standard Context: Japan’s X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) and Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) were successfully launched by Japan. XRISM is focused on studying X-ray emissions from celestial objects to better understand the universe’s structure and evolution. It will observe phenomena like black holes, neutron stars, …
Continue reading “XRISM Space Telescope and SLIM Lunar Lander”
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: Hindustan Times Context: India’s lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-3, Vikram lander and Pragyan rover conducted their first in-situ measurements of the lunar surface. The detection of seismic activity, which not only registered the rover and scientific instruments but also captured a “natural event”. Further findings: Chandrayaan-3’s RAMBHA-LP payload …
Continue reading “Chandrayaan-3 takes seismic readings from lunar surface”
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: TH Context: India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission’s Pragyan rover has confirmed the existence of sulphur on the moon’s surface near the south pole. This discovery was enabled by the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument onboard the rover, marking the first in-situ measurements of the lunar surface’s elemental composition in this region. …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: TH Context: ISRO’s Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad has developed a device called ‘Nabhmitra’, which has been successfully tested. This device is aimed at enhancing the safety of fishermen. It operates through satellite-based communication and enables two-way messaging between boats at sea and authorities on land. The system can …
Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: Hindustan Times Context: The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft has identified numerous small jets of material emanating from the Sun’s outer atmosphere, lasting for 20 to 100 seconds and expelling plasma at speeds around 100 km/s. These jets, detected by Solar Orbiter’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument, could potentially …
Continue reading “Solar Orbiter Spacecraft Discovers Tiny Jets That Could Power the Solar Wind”
