Tag Archives: ganti

The Celestial Transients

Posted on January 3, 2026 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti A recent article in Scientific American about the Celestial transients piqued my mind. To quote “Transients are astronomically sized objects that change on human timescales—in seconds, hours, days. Transients, which are astronomical objects that appear suddenly … Continue reading →

Posted in January 2026, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Perfect Machine

Posted on December 2, 2025 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti “The Perfect Machine” is the name of a book written by Ronald Florence. It covers the design, construction and the installation of the 200 inch Hale telescope at the Mount Palomar observatory, close to San Diego … Continue reading →

Posted in December 2025, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The case for multi-messenger astronomy

Posted on November 4, 2025 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti In the beginning, there was only visible light astronomy which meant viewing distant objects in space using our naked eye or with the help of an optical telescope. Gradually things changed and we started doing astronomy … Continue reading →

Posted in November 2025, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Pulsar Map

Posted on October 5, 2025 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti A recent news item piqued my interest. The National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC opened 5 new galleries. In the “Boeing milestones of flight hall”, etched on the floor is a set of radial … Continue reading →

Posted in October 2025, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Visitors from outer space

Posted on September 1, 2025 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti We are used to sending our spacecraft to nearby astronomical bodies like the moon, the asteroids and the planets in our solar system. What is new over the last few years is the passage of transiting … Continue reading →

Posted in September 2025, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Vera Rubin Telescope

Posted on August 12, 2025 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti In the Andes mountains in Chile, a new telescope has captured the first light and produced the first pictures. It is exciting new technology. The pictures are equally exciting as well. Whenever a new telescope comes … Continue reading →

Posted in Mid-summer 2025, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The North Star of Indian Cosmology

Posted on June 3, 2025 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti Famed Indian astrophysicist and cosmologist Dr. Jayant Narlikar has recently passed away. What follows is my tribute to this great scientist. Narlikar worked under the tutelage of Fred Hoyle, the eminent British astrophysicist and cosmologist at … Continue reading →

Posted in June 2025, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Influence of the Sun

Posted on May 2, 2025 by ST Editors

by Prasad Ganti Our Sun holds our solar system together, including all the planets, the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and the Kuiper belt objects beyond all the known planets. The Sun’s influence is felt in terms of the … Continue reading →

Posted in May 2025, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Astrobiology

Posted on March 30, 2025 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti Astrobiology represents the human quest to find life outside of our planet Earth – whether it is in our Solar system or elsewhere in our Universe. It could be simple life like microbes or intelligent life … Continue reading →

Posted in April 2025, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A lot from “almost nothing”

Posted on March 2, 2025 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti “There is plenty of room at the bottom” exclaimed the Nobel Prize winning Physicist Richard Feynman. He was referring to the room in the atoms. The nucleus is very tiny, about ten thousand times smaller than … Continue reading →

Posted in March 2025, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , | Leave a comment