When NASA’s Kepler telescope looked into space, it was also looking back in time. Locked into a heliocentric orbit, Kepler was set to gradually trail the Earth so that our magnetosphere wouldn’t affect its mission. The result was that Kepler had a unique view of our universe. Which is how we know that a billion … Continue reading
Two things are clear – Dr. Sarath Gunapala is a local celebrity and no one is more surprised than he to find this is so. Last week, an eager audience left only standing room in the small auditorium at the American Center, as they crowded in to hear a lecture by the Director of the … Continue reading
Whether they agree with him or not, most scientists consider Prof. Chandra Wickramasinghe a force to be reckoned with. His early career was marked by a string of honours – graduating in 1960 with a BSc First Class Honours in mathematics from the University of Ceylon, he went on to study at Trinity College and … Continue reading
By November 29, Dr.Nalin Samarasinha a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Houston, Arizona, felt like he had been on a rollercoaster. As Star gazers, professional and amateur alike, waited with bated breath to hear of ISON’s fate, reports began to pour in. A few hours before, the comet had attained perihelion, skimming … Continue reading
Rumours are popping up around comet C/2012 S1 faster than astrophysicists can squash them. No, there are no alien aircraft accompanying the comet known to the public as ISON; no, electric discharges didn’t link it and Mars when it flew by the red planet in October (the cameras of Rovers Opportunity and Curiosity didn’t even … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 