Astro NITR

It’s May 26 and we all will be experiencing an intense full moon with a total Lunar eclipse on top of it.

Super moon occurs when the Moon’s orbit is closest to the Earth (nearly 36000km from Earth) at the same time full. At the time the Moon not only appears to be brighter but it is also larger than a regular full moon.

When the Earth comes between the sun and moon blocking the sun’s rays directly reaching the moon it is called total Lunar Eclipse. It is also called Blood Moon because the moon appears reddish-orange from the shadow of Earth during this Eclipse.

It will be visible in East Asia, Australia, the Pacific and America. The eclipse will start at 2:17pm and visible until 7:19pm (IST). It will be visible from India for a short span from northeastern India, some parts of West Bengal, coastal parts of Odisha and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Eclipse's partial phase begins at 3: 15 pm and ends at 6:23 pm while it's total phase begins at 4:39 pm and ends at 4:58 pm. Have fun gazing at the moon today! 🌕🌑✨

Credits:
Design- Amrit Anwesh
Content-Alok Kumar Dhal

“Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance safely on the surface of mars ready to begin seeking the sand of past life.” These were the words spoken by the NASA team when the fruit of their hard work, the mission consisting of the most technologically advanced rover to ever land on mars planet, Perseverance, landed on the red planet. The Perseverance rover, a part of the Mars 2020 mission, had its journey that started on July 30, 2020, at 4:50 a.m. PDT (7:50 a.m. EDT) finally touched the red sands on Feb. 18, 2021, at 12:55 p.m. PST (3:55 p.m.EDT). The trip to Mars took about 7 months while the spacecraft traveled about 300 million miles to arrive at the Jezero Crater, one of the craters that are thought to have been an ancient lake on Mars. The mission duration is at least one Mars year (about 687 Earth days). The mission’s objective strongly revolves around astrobiology and the fact if mars may have been able to support life either in the past or maybe in the future. Some of the major components of the rover include SUPERCAM (laser micro-imager), RIMFAX(subsurface radar), MOXIE(produces oxygen from Martian CO2), PIXL(x-ray spectrometer), SHERLOC(ultraviolet spectrometer), MEDA(weather station), MASTCAM-Z(zoomable panoramic cameras), and even hosts the Ingenuity helicopter which is possibly the first attempt of flight on another planet. According to the schedule, the samples collected from mars are set to reach Earth by 2031. A nuclear-powered plutonium generator provides energy to its pair of lithium-ion batteries. The rover underwent the “seven minutes of terror,” the period where the rover enters the Martian atmosphere and makes the landing where there is always a delay of 11 minutes of communication between the rover and Earth. The spacecraft first deployed its parachute to start the slowdown and then fired its rocket thrusters to slow it from 170 mph to about 2 mph. Then the “sky crane” was deployed to lower the rover onto the martian surface and ‘Touchdown!’. Some interesting facts about the rover are that apart from the scientific instruments, it also contains a commemorative plate to honor Covid-19 health-care workers and recognize the impact of the pandemic and three silicon chips in which the names of 10.9 million people have been stenciled, with the words “Explore as One” written in Morse code.

Credits:-
Design: Satyaprakash Karsharma
Content: Riya Titus

Ever looked into the sky and felt curious about the stars, the planets, the galaxies out there waiting for us to explore... Ever wished to be an astronaut, an Astronomer, a physicist, a scientist learning about life beyond Earth and the mysteries that the darkness of Space hides away!? Alien life? Black holes? Multiple star systems!? Curious about them all!? Want to join a club that deals with them all and conducts discussion sessions and Telescope sessions to know and understand more about the universe... ASTRO-NITR is the place for enthusiasts like you! Open to all branches of NIT Rourkela, Astro-NITR is the Astronomy club dedicated to astromony enthusiasts. Join our club orientation on 13th December! Induction dates to be released soon! Scan the WhatsApp QR code and join the group to know more details... All set for the countdown✨✨✨