Lunar  

Get ready for an astronomical marvel! The Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 will grace North America on April 8, offering a rare glimpse of celestial alignment. Don't miss this breathtaking event!

Important events like Hindu New Year 2081, Gudi Padwa, Chaitra Navratri, Eid, Ram Navami, and Hanuman Jayanti will be celebrated in the month of April. Let’s read about the specific dates for these events.

This lunar event, in which the moon totally blocks out the sun and casts a shadow across the planet, is expected to be a spectacular sight. April 8, 2024 is when it will happen.

Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, the father of astrogeology and a planetary scientist, on July 31, 1999, his remains, carried on moon by the Lunar Prospector spacecraft, made him the first and only human to be buried on the moon.

With the new Chandrayaan-4, unlike the previous model, there will be two phases to its execution, and each phase will be used in a different launch rocket. These stages will make it easier to land on the moon and bring back lunar samples for examination on Earth.

NASA is planning to use a crater on the Moon's dark side to construct a lunar telescope

With Planet Earth under increasing threat, scientists around the world are now exploring how human beings can inhabit the Moon or Mars. A team of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and ISRO researchers has developed ‘Space Bricks’ using Lunar Soil Simulant i.e. LSS, which could assist the construction of future settlements on the Moon and offer more eco-friendly options for constructions here on earth. Watch this video to learn more.

February 21 marks this year’s Maha Shivaratri – one of the biggest festivals of Hindus that is celebrated with devotion and enthusiasm in the honor of Lord Shiva. Maha Shivaratri, which literally means ‘The Great Night of Lord Shiva’, is celebrated on the Chaturdashi of Krishna Paksha in Phagun, the Hindu lunar month. Lord Shiva is the focus of the festival, who is part of the Hindu trinity which also includes Brahma, who created the universe and Vishnu, who preserved it. Let’s find out more about this festival in this episode of Culture ‘Shauk’ with Sunita Iyer.

NASA has released images of the impact site of the Vikram lander on the moon. NASA posted images clicked by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Camera

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Sivan has expressed confidence in ISRO stating that the space agency will successfully complete a soft landing on the lunar surface in the near future. K Sivan was invited to IIT-Delhi as chief guest for its 50th convocation. 

Bhai Dooj or Bhai Phonta is a festival celebrated in India on the second lunar day of Shukla Paksha, according to the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar or during the Shalivahan Shaka calendar month of Kartika. In the southern part of the country, the day is celebrated as Yama Dwitiya.
 

The Imaging Infrared Spectrometer (IIRS) in Chandrayaan 2 is designed to measure the reflected sunlight and emitted part of Moonlight from the lunar surface in narrow and contiguous spectral channels. ISRO has shared the first illuminated image of the lunar surface on its Twitter handle.

ISRO will continue its efforts to re-establish contact with lander, which had had a harsh landing on the lunar surface 

Chandrayaan 2’s lander Vikram that was supposed to land on the lunar surface lost contact with ISRO moments before the scheduled landing time. NASA has now released images captured by its Lunar Orbiter Camera that shows that the lander suffered a hard landing.