(GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER) Exploring the Universe

[January-2022]

A NASA spacecraft, Parker Solar Probe, entered the solar atmosphere becoming the
first spacecraft to flow through the corona (Sun’s upper atmosphere).
Researchers can now analyse much more detailed information about our nearest star and its impact on the nearby planet group.
The latest findings were published by the American Physical Society.

A team of researchers at Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, has discovered a new exoplanet using PRL Advanced Radial-velocity Abu-sky Search (PARAS) optical fibre-fed spectrograph.
The discovery is the first of its kind in the country on the 1.2-metre Telescope of PRL at its Mt Abu Observatory. The newly discovered planet (TOI 1789b or HD 82139b) is orbiting very close to an ageing star (HD 82139 or TOI 1789).
Since the planet orbits the star in just 3.2 days, this star-planet system is unique. The discovery was published in the refereed journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

A scientist from Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, has estimated the 3D distribution of molecular and atomic hydrogen in a nearby galaxy which can give hints to the star formation processes and the evolution of the galaxy.
The study was published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The faint object nicknamed ‘Farfarout’ which was discovered in 2018 has now been recognised as the most far-off object yet found in our Solar System.
The international Gemini Observatory and other ground-based telescopes helped astronomers to confirm the most distant object.
The object was designated by the International Astronomical Union.

Researchers from India’s ARIES (Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences), in association with other institutions’ scientists, have found a new active galaxy and identified it as the most distant gamma-ray emitting Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy — TXS 1206 + 549, known to date.
This unique entity TXS 1206 + 549 is situated at a redshift (z) of 1.34 and 31 billion light-years away from us.
The study was reported in the journal Monthly Notices of Royal Astronomical Society.

Organic matter & water necessary for life on earth were found on the surface of Asteroid ‘Itokawa’ by researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London.
The single grain (nicknamed ‘Amazon’) sample from the asteroid showed that the organic materials that originated from the asteroid have chemically evolved over the years.
This is for the first time that organic matter that could serve as the chemical precursors for the beginning of life on earth has been found on the surface of an asteroid.

The ice giant Uranus which is four times the diameter of Earth has been detected emitting X-rays for the first time.
With the help of the Chandra X-ray Observatory of NASA, astronomers have observed X-rays from Uranus which could provide them insights into this enigmatic giant planet in our planetary system.

Researchers have come up with a detailed radio image of the Andromeda galaxy, at the microwave frequency of 6.6 GHz, for the first time.
The image will help in recognising and examining regions of the galaxy where new stars originate. The details were published online in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Astrophysicists from Stanford University have directly spotted light from behind a supermassive black hole.
The black hole is around ten million times more massive than the sun and situated in the centre of a galaxy 800 million light-years away.
This detection fulfils the prediction of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. The first-ever recordings of X-rays emission were detailed in a paper published in Nature.

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the world’s first commercial fully flexible software defined satellite — Eutelsat Quantum — in July from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The re-programmable satellite was developed under an ESA Partnership Project with satellite operator Eutelsat and prime manufacturer Airbus.
The sophisticated reprogrammable telecommunications satellite is capable of responding to the changing demands for data transmission and secure communications during its 15-year lifetime.

A team of researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the University of Southern California, Cornell University and the University of Hyderabad, India, has found and isolated four strains of bacteria from various areas aboard the International Space Station.
The isolated strains belong to the family Methylobacteriaceae. The discovery may help astronauts grow their own food. Their genetic analysis shows that they are closely related to Methylobacterium indicum.