Tag Archives: ganti

Galaxies too die

Posted on June 6, 2016 by ST Editors

by Prasad Ganti About three decades ago, when I came out of college I heard that all Stars are born and eventually die, it was a shocking revelation for me. Like it is for a child who learns that a … Continue reading →

Posted in June 2016, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Reusable Launch Vehicle

Posted on April 19, 2016 by ST Editors

by Prasad Ganti SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was recently launched from Cape Canaveral. It was a routine launch on a routine mission except for a couple of differences, which are important steps for a brighter future. SpaceX or Space Exploration … Continue reading →

Posted in May 2016 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Star Wars – The Force Awakens

Posted on April 2, 2016 by ST Editors

by Prasad Ganti The seventh “Star Wars” movie was released in December of 2015. After almost a decade after Disney bought the franchise from George Lucas, there were uncertainties over how much would it stick to the original cult classic. … Continue reading →

Posted in April 2016, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“The Martian” and Ernest Shackleton

Posted on January 26, 2016 by ST Editors

by Prasad S. Ganti “The Martian” is a science fiction book written by Andy Weir. It was made into a movie starring Matt Damon as a Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded on Mars who was certain to be the first … Continue reading →

Posted in January 2016, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Neutrinos and the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics

Posted on November 17, 2015 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti Last year I wrote about neutrinos, the mystery particles, based on the book I read entitled “The Neutrino Hunters” by Ray Jayawardhana. This year, the Nobel Prize in Physics went to Takaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald who … Continue reading →

Posted in November 2015, Sidereal Times | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Optimizing the U.S. Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy System

Posted on May 30, 2015 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti Recently, the committee on a Strategy to Optimize the U.S. Optical and Infrared System (OIR) in the Era of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) came up with set of recommendations. This is a summary of … Continue reading →

Posted in June 2015, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Supernovae

Posted on May 3, 2015 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti April’s guest lecture was about supernovae and their remnants. It reminded me of something special about them. Although they seem to be esoteric objects in the Universe, far, far away from the earth, and far away … Continue reading →

Posted in May 2015, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Dinosaur Detectives

Posted on April 3, 2015 by ST Editors

by S. Prasad Ganti Both children and adults alike are fascinated by dinosaurs, the supersized “terrible lizards” of the past. Although they became extinct long ago, imaginations were stoked when Michael Crichton brought them to life in his sci-fi novel … Continue reading →

Posted in April 2015 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Watchtower in Space

Posted on March 1, 2015 by ST Editors

by Prasad Ganti Very recently, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off into space with a payload. The launch was routine but the payload was something special. It carried a satellite called DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory). The observatory will … Continue reading →

Posted in March 2015, Sidereal Times | Tagged , | Leave a comment