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New discovery by Astrosat dashes hopes of alien life on nearest exoplanet

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New discovery by Astrosat dashes hopes of alien life on nearest exoplanet

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]By Dr TV Venkateswaran

A new discovery by India’s space telescope, Astrosat, has dashed hopes of alien life on Proxima b, the exoplanet circling our nearest stellar neighbour, Proxima Centauri. Highly energetic flare simultaneously observed by Astrosat and NASA’s space telescopes on Proxima Centauri means it is not habitable as thought till now.

Astronomers say the strong flare observed on Proxima Centauri on May 31 rules out alien life on the exoplanet it hosts. “It makes it highly improbable for earth like life forms to exist there, unless we find special radiation resistant life forms” observed Prof KP Singh of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, who was involved in the discovery.

New discovery by Astrosat dashes hopes of alien life on nearest exoplanet

Proxima Centauri b, the nearest exoplanet discovered till date, is not much larger than the Earth and is mostly likely a rocky planet. It has been orbiting in the so-called “habitable zone” that astronomers think could harbour life. Some even ventured to claim that perhaps the first alien we would encounter would come from this planet.

All such hopes were dashed on 31 May when joint observation by Astrosat along with Chandra X ray space telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, and a ground-based observatory High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) observed a very intense flare resulting from an explosion on Proxima Centauri’s surface.

The star is known to flare often, but the flare that was observed in May lasted for about 1800 seconds and released energy in the order of 1030 erg. “The typical energy released during a solar flare is of the order of 1026-28 erg. That means this flare is hundred times that of those seen on the Sun,” pointed out Prof Singh “If a flare like the one observed on Proxima Centauri occurs on our Sun it might disrupt power grids, broadcast and electricity on the earth and also affect astronauts in space.”

Powerful and frequent flaring events, as seen on Proxima, may produce large radiations and particles which may significantly influence its atmosphere habitability, according to Prof Jürgen Schmitt, another member of the research team.

The hefty flare observed on the surface of Proxima Centauri spewed a dash of strong X rays and far-UV rays, ten times the normal, bathing the planet in a rain of deadly radiation. “The high-energy photons like the UV and X-ray photons are absorbed by the planetary atmosphere heating it to 10s of 1000s of Kelvin affecting the capability of the planet to sustain its atmosphere and in particular to sustain water in liquid form,” pointed out Dr Lalitha Sairam of Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru.

Not more than five to ten times the mass of Earth, revolving around a star just 12% as massive as our Sun and 0.1% as bright, Proxima Centauri b may not be that appealing. Given an orbital period of just 11 days, the exoplanet was thought to be warm enough but not close by to be scorching hot. The host star, Proxima Centauri, is joined by stars Alpha Centauri A and B, 15000 astronomical units (AU) away in creating a multi-star system. Thus from the planet, one would have been able to see three ‘sun’s floating in the sky. All would be fine if these stars were well behaved. But it is known that Proxima Centauri flares frequently.

In ‘cool dwarfs’ like Proxima Centauri, as a result of fluctuating magnetic reconnection on its surface, large amount energy and ionic particles are released all around. Such events called as “flaring” can have timescales of few minutes to hours.

The Indian team had another special reason for being happy with this observation. “For first time, Astrosat is part of such a large observing campaign with other space-based observatories like Chandra and Hubble,” said Prof Singh, who developed the Soft X-ray Telescope which is on board Astrosat. (India Science Wire)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Dust storm, light rain expected in Delhi-NCR today, heatwave conditions to abate

IMD claimed in a tweet that Thunderstorm dust with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with speed of 30-50 km/hr would occur over and adjoining areas of many places of Delhi, North Delhi, North East Delhi, North west Delhi, West Delhi, Central Delhi, East delhi and NCR( Loni Dehat, Hindon AF station, Ghaziabad, Indrapuram, Chapraula) Sonipat, Rohtak, Kharkhoda (Haryana) Baraut, Bagpat, Meerut, Khekra, Modinagar, Kithor , Garhmukhteshwar, Pilakhua, Hapur ,Gulaoti ,Siyana ,Sikandrabad , Bulandshahr ,  Jahangirabad (UP)

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Dust storm, light rain expected in Delhi-NCR today, heatwave conditions to abate

On Wednesday, a dust storm with light to moderate rain is expected in numerous locations in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). The India Meteorogical Department (IMD) stated the city’s maximum and minimum temperatures are predicted to be in the range of 40 and 25, respectively.

The IMD tweeted an advisory that thunderstorms, dust with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with speed of 30-50 km/hr would occur over and adjoining areas of many places of Delhi, North Delhi, North East Delhi, North West Delhi, West Delhi, Central Delhi, East Delhi and NCR (Loni Dehat, Hindon AF station, Ghaziabad, Indirapuram, Chapraula) Sonipat, Rohtak, Kharkhoda (Haryana), Baraut, Bagpat, Meerut, Khekra, Modinagar, Kithor, Garhmukhteshwar, Pilakhua, Hapur, Gulaoti, Siyana, Sikandrabad, Bulandshahr, Jahangirabad (UP).

For the next two hours, light to moderate intermittent rain is expected over and near Adampur, Hissar, Hansi, and Meham (Haryana).

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On Thursday, May 18, light rain is predicted for in Delhi based on the seven-day prediction for the city. The sky will mainly be cloudy, with the potential of a light  rain or drizzle, according to the weather office.

The air quality will continue to be deteriorated in the city after strong winds with dust swept across the Delhi-NCR on Tuesday. Following this, visibility had reduced to 1000 metres. Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of regional forecasting centre, said the dry atmosphere is one of the reasons for the dust storms.

Following Tuesday’s severe winds and dust storm that blasted across the Delhi-NCR, the city’s air quality had taken an alarming dip.

The monsoons, which are awaited across India, are likely to make landfall in Kerala on June 4. Usually, the monsoon arrives on May 31 or June 1 but the delay will be made up as the phenomenon progresses on its south-west to north-east arc. With extreme temperatures right from a cold sytart to May to dust-laden winds in mid-May, the weather in the country is paying the price for accelerating climate change.

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Security lapse at Navjot Singh Sidhu’s Patiala home, says it will not deter him from raising his voice against Punjab

After his release from jail, he slammed the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for its law and order in the state.

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Navjot Singh Sidhu

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has filed a complaint with the Punjab Police after he spotted a suspicious person wrapped in a grey blanket on his terrace. He alleged a security lapse at his Patiala home. He couldn’t catch him as he fled after his servant raised an alarm.

Taking to Twitter, Sidhu said, Today on the terrace of his residence an unknown suspicious character wrapped in a grey blanket was noticed around 7:00 pm, the moment his servant went out raised the alarm, and called for help, he immediately ran and escaped.

The 59-year-old further said that he has spoken to DGP Punjab Police and has also informed SSP Patiala. He said the security lapse will not deter him from raising his voice for Punjab.

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Punjab Police registered a case in this matter. According to the reports, the Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma visited his residence after the complaint and is currently investigating the matter. The CCTV footage of the area is also being scanned, reports state.

Cricketer-turned-politician came out of the Patiala Central Jail on April 1 after serving nearly 10 months in a 1988 road rage case. After his release from jail, he slammed the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for its law and order in the state.

He said Democracy is in chains. Punjab is the shield of this country. When dictatorship came in this country, a revolution also came, led by Rahul Gandhi.

Sidhu also slammed the Mann government over the pruning of security of slain singer Sidhu Moosewala and also making it public.

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Air India Delhi-San Francisco flight suffers tech glitch before take-off, returns to stand

The airline has not given any official statement in this matter.

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Air India Flight

Air India flight which was en route to San Francisco from Delhi on Monday had to be returned to the stand because of a technical glitch. The San Francisco-bound flight suffered a tech issue before take off.

According to the reports, the aircraft which was carrying over 200 passengers from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) had to be replaced with another aircraft. Later, the passengers were accommodated in another aircraft.

The airline has not given any official statement in this matter.

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Earlier today, another Air India incident occurred where a London-bound flight returned to Delhi’s IGI airport after a mid-air brawl between an unruly passenger and the flight’s cabin crew.

A brawl ensued between a passenger and the crew members shortly after it departed from the airport at around 6:35 am. The onboard ruckus forced the plane to turn around and return to Delhi again where the raucous passenger was deboarded and handed over to the police at the airport.

Air India apologized to the passengers on the affected Delhi-London flight for the delay and inconvenience caused to them due to the incident and assured them that efforts will be made to ensure such incidents do not occur in the future.

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