A mysterious strong narrowband signal was received on August 15, 1977, by Big Ear Radio telescope in the United States, Ohio State University. The signal was recognized to have come from the constellation Sagittarius and had the hallmarks of coming from an extraterrestrial origin.Astronomer Jerry R. Ehman discovered the anomaly a few days later when he was reviewing the recorded data. The signal lasted for 72 seconds. He was excited by the result, circled the readings on the printout and wrote Wow! on its side. This is how the signal from constellation Sagittarius got its name of Wow!The Wow! signal is ... Read More

Ozone is measured as Dobson units. And a Dobson unit of gas is equal to a layer of gas, with a thickness of one-hundredth of a millimeter at the surface of the Earth. The ozone in the atmosphere is measured by about 300 Dobsons.Ozone is also known as a trace gas, meaning there are very few amounts in the atmosphere. In fact, it is concluded that out of every million molecules of gas in the atmosphere, less than ten are ozone. Though it does not sound or seems like much, it's enough to protect you from the Sun's UV rays.The ... Read More

An Eclipse is formed when a celestial body is obscured by another. We know that eclipses occur when sun, moon, and earth align in a straight line. The Solar eclipse occurs when the moon comes in between the sun and the earth. The Lunar eclipse is formed when the earth blocks the way for the sunlight to reach the moon.Penumbra and AntumbraThe umbra is the innermost and darkest part of the shadow, which is the area when an observer can experience the eclipse completely. The Penumbra is the area in which only a portion of the light is obscured by ... Read More

Many ask a question that “How come the second month itself got so short when there are still 10 on the list?”Someone wiser crack a pun saying, “The month of love is short just like it”. However, there is always this question. Why is February shorter?The present-day calendar is actually loosely based on old and confusing Roman’s calendar, which was made by the Roman kings. It was also said that, as Romans honored the dead and performed the rites during February, implying its name Februare meaning “to purify”.It All Started When...The calendar of Romulus which was used during 8th century ... Read More

In the vast space around us, there are numerous galaxies present, which are known as large groups filled with stars, dust, and gases all held together due to gravity. All the galaxies are likely to contain stars, planets, moons, comets, asteroids, black holes, nebulae, dust, neutron stars etc.Just like our solar system that lies in the Milky Way galaxy, there are many galaxies in the space. Every galaxy moves at certain speed and exists in a certain shape. Our milky way galaxy is in the spiral shape with a bright bulge at its center.The famous astronomer Edwin Hubble studied the ... Read More

An Eclipse is formed when a celestial body is obscured by another. We know that eclipses occur when sun, moon and earth align in a straight line. The Solar eclipse occurs when the moon comes in between the sun and the earth. The Lunar eclipse is formed when the earth blocks the way for the sunlight to reach the moon.The umbra is the innermost and darkest part of the shadow, which is the area when an observer can experience the eclipse completely. The Penumbra is the area in which only a portion of the light is obscured by the occluding ... Read More

Cryogenic Sleep is the process of freezing a person into a deep sleep for a long time with no supply of food and water. This process was proposed so as to pass time more quickly during the space travel. Cryogenic sleep also stops ageing. This is mostly addressed in science fiction movies.How did this idea develop?During the space travel, the travelers need to take more materials such as food, water, exercise equipment, television etc. as they need to perform exercises to keep themselves healthy and also to keep themselves engaged, as sitting idle for hours would affect them mentally. Now, ... Read More

A rocket can be an aircraft, spacecraft or a missile which is propelled by a rocket engine. A rocket engine works on the principle of Newton's Third law, that is, for every action, there is an equivalent and opposite reaction. Rocket propellant is the fuel which burns and produces thrust to propel the rocket.The propellants are usually fueled together with the oxidants. Oxidants are required to burn the fuel efficiently. Thus the chemical reaction in the combustion chamber produces the required energy for thrust.The propellant is burnt in a controlled manner in the combustion chamber of the rocket engine and ... Read More

Neptune is the coldest planet in the solar system as Pluto has been excluded as it was regarded as a dwarf planet. It is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It has 17 times the mass of Earth and is the fourth largest planet in the solar system. It takes 164.8 years for Neptune to finish one revolution around the sun and the elliptical orbit of Neptune is inclined 1.77° compared to that of Earth.Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft that visited Neptune. It analyzed Neptune's rotation, tilt, weather conditions and also its moons and ring systems.Physical ... Read More

Robonaut is a NASA robot, which is designed as a humanoid. The artificial intelligence makes it easier for Robonaut to do the same jobs as a human. Robonaut could help with anything from working on the International Space Station to exploring other worlds. The core idea behind the Robonaut series is to have a humanoid machine work alongside astronauts. Its form factor and dexterity are designed such that Robonaut can use space tools and work in similar environments suited to astronauts.These new space explorers won’t need space suits or oxygen to survive outside of the spacecraft. Thus they might help ... Read More