Cover Story

NASA's Laser Moon Mission To Boost

Space Communication

From The News Desk Latest Updates On

UNIVERSE IN THE SCHOOL

SPACE EVENTS SCHOOL IN

FOCUS : Hillwoods Academy, Preet Vihar Delhi

AstroinquisitesWhy do constellations

look the same after several years even

though all the stars are moving?

SPACE NEWS FEB’14

Monthly Newsletter of SPACE Group

Chief Editor : Sachin BahmbaEditors: Amit Verma,

Divya K & Pallavi S

Astronomy At HomeSpectroscope

BLOGPOSTNew Modules

in ISS

Guest Article

A simple theory to explain dark matter

By Biman Basu

Introducing a new segment on Astrophotography

INDEX

S No Topic Page No.

1 Universe In The School News 4

2 Blog : New Modules in ISS 8

3 Events News 11

4 School In Focus : Hillwoods Academy, Preet Vihar, Delhi 13

5 16

6 Sky this month 20

7 Tour-de New York, Orlando, Niagara Falls 22

8 Sariska – A Celestial Getaway 23

7 Cover Story : NASA's Laser Moon Mission To Boost Space Communication 24

8 Astroinquisites : Why do constellations look the same after several years even though all the stars are moving?

26

9 Guest Article : A simple theory to explain dark matter- By Biman Basu 27

10 Astronomy At Home : Spectroscope 31

11 SPACE is Hiring – Apply Now! 37

Introducing a new segment on Astrophotography

3

UNIVERSE IN THE SCHOOL NEWS

4

CENTRE FOR STUDENT EXCELLENCE PROGRAMME

Overnight Observation at Bal Bharati Public School, Pitampura On 3rd Dec :

Four students of Astronomy Club from Bal Bharati Public School, Pitampura, participated in Overnight Observation along with jungle safari. The students got an opportunity to perform astrophotography and click pictures of deep sky.

Hands-on Telescope at Step By Step School On 13th Dec :

The students got a chance to observe moon and other planets in the sky through a telescope with the help of SPACE educators during a Hands-On Telescope workshop at the school. Students thoroughly enjoyed handling the telescope and spotting the various planets.

Night sky picture clicked by studentsStudent observing night sky through

telescope

Student observing moon Student learning handling of telescope

5

SPACE EXPLORERS WORKSHOPSSPACE conducted a wide variety of hands-on fun astronomy workshops at various schools in Delhi:

Students learning about phases & observing moon through telescope

1. Destination Moon And Planet Watch was held in Amity International School, sector 46, Gurgaon for all the classes starting from 1st till 5th class, continuously for a week.

2. Destination Moon & Planet Watch at Delhi Public School, Gurgaon for standards 3rd to 5th on 14th Dec.

Students learning about crater formation on moon and observing moon through telescope

3. Hydrorocketery workshop conducted at Greenwood Public School for 6th to 10th Class on 7th Dec, 2013

Students making their own Hydro Rockets

6

SPACE EXPLORERS4. Rocket a Space Vehicle Workshop conducted in ITL Public School, Dwarka on 7th Dec, 2013

Educators teaching the principle of action and reaction to the students

To Have Fun With Astronomy & For UITS Updates

Students learning how to assemble and launch a rocket

Students preparing to launch stomp rockets

7

On 15th January, SPACE Chandigarh organized a workshop “Evening Rendezvous with the Sky” for Vivek High school. It was conducted for standards 6th to 10th. The aim of the workshop was to teach the students about the working of telescopes and help them observe solar system bodies.

Around 105 students attended this three-hour workshop. Through a presentation they learnt about the moon and various planets visible in the evening sky. Using telescope they viewed the moon with its visible craters, and Venus and Jupiter. They also learned about the sky with the help of Planetarium software “Stellarium”.

Students thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and actively participated in the workshop by asking questions.

Meanwhile in Chandigarh

SPACE EXPLORERS

Student of Vivek High school observing the moon through telescope

Students of Ryan International School, Patiala, attended a two-night workshop “Into the Realm of Stars”. A total of 110 students from standards 8th to 12th participated in the activity. It was conducted overnight at Space Observation Site at Tikkar taal, Haryana on the nights of 13th and 14th January.While they learnt about stars, planets, constellations, galaxies, nebulae, the most exciting part of the workshop was telescopic observation of Orion Nebula, Pleiades star cluster, Venus, Jupiter and its satellite and our moon. The students observed the Geminids Meteor Shower as well.Students of Ryan International posing for the group photo at the

end of their overnight observation on Day 1

8

BLOG : Multi Purpose Lab Module : New Module in ISS

The International Space Station (ISS) also known as human home in space is the largest artificial satellite of the Earth. The ISS is a research laboratory in which astronauts conduct experiments in different fields of science and it is a joint project among five space agencies: NASA, Roskosmos, JAXA, ESA and CSA.

These space agencies keep on upgrading ISS after certain intervals and this time two space agencies - Russian Federal Space Agency, Roskosmos (RKA) and European Space Agency (ESA) are upgrading it together. The following modules are being added to the ISS by RKA and ESA respectively:

• Multipurpose Laboratory Module or Nauka• European Robotic Arm (ERA) Now let us learn about these modules:

Multipurpose Laboratory Module

The MLM will be considered as Russia’s primary research module and it will be docked onto the Zvezda (Russian component of ISS) module’s nadir docking port. The MLM module would accommodate both service systems for the Russian segment of the ISS and scientific payloads. The European-built ERA manipulator and the DMS-R multifunction computer would also be installed onboard. A special automated airlock for moving payloads from the interior of the station to the vacuum of space would be installed on the lower section of MLM. To be delivered into space by the Proton rocket, the module would have an initial mass of 20,700 kilograms and provide 70 cubic metres of pressurized volume.

9

Around eight cubic metres would be available for cargo storage and the same volume would be left for the installation of the scientific payloads. The module would support a total of 12 workstations for various instruments and experiments. Special incubators and vibration-protected platforms for sensitive material-science research would be available.

European Robotic Arm

A robotic servicing system, which will be used to assemble and service the Russian segment of the International Space Station. The European Robotic Arm (ERA) will work with the new Russian airlock, to transfer small payloads directly from inside to outside the International Space Station. This will reduce the set-up time for astronauts on a spacewalk and allow ERA to work alongside astronauts.

10

Another task for ERA is to transport astronauts like a cherry-picker crane to a position where they can work on the exterior of the Space Station, or from one external location to another. This again saves time and effort during spacewalks.

ERA will use infrared cameras to inspect exterior surfaces of the Space Station. Once ERA reaches the International Space Station, the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module will be the home base from where it operates. The arm consists of two end-effectors, two wrists, two limbs and one elbow joint together with electronics and cameras. Both ends act as either a 'hand' for the robot, or the base from where it can operate.

EVENTS NEWS

PAST EVENT

11

PROJECT PARIDHI SPACE celebrated the day of Winter Solstice by conducting activities under our flagship project ‘Paridhi’, with more than 100 students and a heritage walk with 50 people at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on 21st December, 2013.

Despite the fog, students from about 20 schools including Bal Bharati Public School - Pitampura, Indraprastha World School - Paschim Vihar, GD Goenka, Gurgaon, DPS International - Saket, Amity International School – Vasundhra, Sec 6, Apeejay School - Pitampura, KIIT World School, Sachdeva Public school - Rohini, Modern School - Barakhambha Road, Suncity School - Gurgaon, Bal Bharti Public School - Rajinder Nagar, Ryan International School - Sec 25, Rohini, Mayoor School - Noida Sec 126, Amity International School - Pushpvihar, Sakula Academy - Vasant Vihar, Amity International School - Saket, Ryan International School - Rohini Sec 11 all participated in this activity.

For other upcoming celestial occurrences

follow

SPACE CALENDAR

Members of the general public replicating the experiment of winter solstice at Jantar Mantar

SPACE educator Manalee Deka addressing the students and explaining the instruments of Jantar Mantar

Students learning about the usage of ancient instruments

Students performing the experiment Explaining the Science to public

12

UPCOMING EVENTSISS EarthKAM

Sally Ride EarthKAM, previously known as ISS EarthKAM, was initiated by Dr. Sally Ride (America’s first woman in space) in 1995 and called KidSat. In 1998, the programme was deemed successful and renamed ISS EarthKAM.

In India, SPACE has been bringing this programme to Indian school children from 2010-2011 with the aim to encourage usage of the images (clicked by ISS) as educational resources, to enhance learning in science, geography, mathematics, technology, and more. SPACE will conduct Sally Ride EarthKAM with SPACE associated schools between January and February, 2014.

During the Sally Ride EarthKAM programme, the participants log in to a web interface and and select locations based on orbits covered, region of interest etc, which are then taken by a camera mounted on the International Space Station (ISS). Participants get a chance to capture images of the Earth’s surface as seen from space. These images can be used in class projects on earth science, space science, geography, social studies and more. Our Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams serviced this camera on her last ISS mission – Expedition 33.

The registration details would be provided later.

SCHOOL IN FOCUS

HILLWOODS ACADEMY, PREET VIHAR

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Almost two and half decades ago a group of educationists, whose life mission was to build a novel educational system, which aimed at developing in its students the qualities of selflessness, helpfulness and independence, founded this academy. It has now grown from its original fourteen-member team to a phenomenal 2550 and is spread over three acres of land. It has branched out in other cities, providing an excellent educational network.

Since its inception, it has made its presence felt both in the field of academics as well as in sports. At Hillwoods, the children get the best of education and opportunities to excel themselves in diverse fields. Aiming for all round development of its students, the inspiring and dedicated teaching community and an equally diligent management provides for an infrastructure conducive for their personality enhancement. In academic arena, our students have shown excellent performance by scoring 98.5% and 93.2% in Secondary and Senior Secondary School Examination, 2007. Regularly, the students have been getting merit certificates from C.B.S.E. which are given to students scoring in the top 0.01%. The alumni of the school have achieved success in life and today, they are in reputed institutions like IIT, AIIMS, DCE, etc.

Established in the year 1982, Hillwoods Academy is affiliated to the C.B.S.E., New Delhi and prepares students for All India Senior Secondary School Examination. In 1993, the Foundation stone of the present school building was laid by Hon'ble S.B.Chavan, Home Minister of India and then the inaugural ceremony of the building was done by Late Sh. Madhav Rao Scindia, Sh. Amar Singh, Sh. Mulayam Singh Yadav and Smt. Jaya Bachchan in 1995.

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“As SPACE club coordinator, I have been associated with SPACE for the last 10 years since the club's inception in our school. I am proud to say that Hillwoods SPACE club is one of the oldest clubs started by SPACE. The club has worked on so many national and international projects done by SPACE, to name a few - project Vamana, Project Khoj, ISS EarthKam, AIASC, Heliodyssey. Students who have been part of the SPACE clubs earlier have now been pursuing astronomy and astrophysics in higher studies. I have learnt a lot in astronomy and also Geography while coordinating the club activities. Night observation sessions have been a feather in the cap of the SPACE club as students have enriched their knowledge about astronomy and allied sciences while doing the hands on experience in understanding the wonders of the night skies. SPACE has brought a lot of change in me as a person to understand the basics of nature and also enhanced my teaching capabilities as Geography teacher. I also specially owe thanks to SPACE for making me an astrophotography enthusiast as I have been able to capture the night sky and other heavenly bodies through my camera.”

- BABITA KUNDALIA SPACE Club Coordinator, Hillwoods Academy

The school is also proud of RIDDHI SRIVASTAVA and MADHULIKA KUNDALIA on the Preliminary discovery of an asteroid in All India Asteroid Search Campaign, 2013.

Ms. Rita Srivastava - PrincipalHillwoods Academy, Preet Vihar

MESSAGE FROM HILLWOODS ACADEMY, PRINCIPAL

15

SCHOOL IN FOCUS – HILLWOODS ACADEMY, PREET VIHAR

STUDENTS HAVING FUN WITH ASTRONOMY

16

Astrophotography is a new section that has been introduced in 2014 in the SPACE Newsletter, company newsletter of SPACE Group. This section would exhibit Astrophotographs taken by SPACE members.

A S T R O P H O T O G R A P H YAstrophotography is a specialized type of photography that entails recording images of astronomical objects and large areas of the night sky.

Description

On 5th December it was just a three days old moon forming a thin crescent, and Venus was within 10 Degrees of the moon in the twilight of evening sky, the scenic beauty of the western horizon of Astroport* was enhancing the view such that this spectacular show immediately caught my attention. This image is the result of a series of pictures stacked using the ‘Startrails’ software. The Earth-shine which is caused by the sunlight reflected from Earth illuminating the darker side of moon can also be seen here. Equipments: Cannon EOS 1100D/ Lens EFs 18-55mm (Issued from SPACE repository)

PHOTO 1 : MOON & VENUS TRAIL FROM ASTROPORTBy Abhinav Prakash Dubey, Educator, SPACE

17

Description:

Image showing motion of stars around the pole star “Polaris”. The image has captured some of the circumpolar and non-circumpolar stars easily visible in the light polluted sky of Jaipur.

Equipment Used: (Issued from SPACE repositery)Camera: Canon EOS 1100DLens: 18-55mm

PHOTO 2 : POLAR STAR TRAILSBy Aanchal Tandon, Educator, SPACEA

STROPHOTOGRAPHY

18

Description: The picture here captures the polar movement of stars around the star Polaris (Pole Star, star aligned with the axis of earth), which can be seen near top right of the photograph from the dark skies of Astroport*. Equipment UsedCamera: Canon EOS 1100D (Issued From SPACE Repository)Lens: 18-55MMFocal Length: 18MMSensitivity: 1600Aperture: F/4Exposure Time: 120 secNo. of Images: 32Stacking Software: StartrailsProcessing Software: Microsoft Office Picture Manager

PHOTO 3 : HALF POLAR STAR TRAILSBy Neeraj Ladia, Educator, SPACEA

STROPHOTOGRAPHY

19

Description

After the first star party at Astroport*, Tehla, I climbed up a peak nearby and saw this magnificent beauty of nature at sunrise. The best part about Astroport is capturing the sunrise over the Aravalli hills.Camera Used: Canon PowerShot A2300 HD

Photo 4 : SUNRISE OVER THE ARAVALLI HILLSBy Jitesh Sharma, Educator, SPACE

ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

*Astroport is SPACE's new sky observation facility cum research centre at Sariska, Rajasthan, India

SKY THIS MONTH Stay updated about the astronomical events of the sky for the month of February

Constellations

Evening (dusk)North - Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Ursa MinorEast - Auriga, Cancer, Canis MinorWest - Pegasus, Andromeda, AriesSouth - Canis Major, Lepus, Orion, Zenith - Taurus, Auriga, Perseus

Midnight North - Ursa Minor , Ursa MajorEast - Crater, Corvus, Cancer, Leo,

BootesWest - Taurus, Perseus, Orion, Auriga, GeminiSouth - Canis MajorZenith - Cancer

20

SKY THIS MONTH Stay updated about the astronomical events of the sky for the month of February

Constellation

Morning ( Dawn )North - Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, CepheusEast - Cygnus, Aquila, Lyra, HerculesWest - Cancer, Leo, CraterSouth - Libra, Scorpius, Zenith - Bootes, Corona Borealis

Moon Phases, February 2013First Quarter – February 6, 19:22Full Moon – February 14, 23:53Last Quarter – February 22, 17:15

All timings follow Universal Time (UT) standard

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Testimonials:“Our entire tour – Space Camp at Kennedy Space Centre (NASA), Orlando (USA) was conducted in the most organized manner. I must mention the concerted efforts of all SPACE team members, their help and support made our trip to KSC a memorable experience.”Mrs. Anita Shah Principal – Army Public School Noida

“ The trip was very nice. In fact it was a totally different culture altogether. I was impressed with the kind of people I met on the trip. Overall I feel my students are very happy after the trip.”Ravinder Bajaj Teacher - TheSreeRam School

Come ,let’s explore the life of an

Astronaut at Kennedy Space Centre, NASA

Visit the launch pads of rockets that

made history Apollo 11, Saturn V

Walk the aisle of the ultimate fantasy land -

Disney Land

Get drenched in Niagara - the world’s

largest falls

Let fascination meet reality in the universal

studio - Harry Potter and  Hogwarts come

alive

A Visit to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis

Island

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stro

tou

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.in

Tour-deNew York, Orlando,

Niagara falls

Hurry !!!! Limited seats left…

to Register email us @ getintouch@astrotourism.in

Sariska – A Celestial Getaway

DON’T MISS

THE FUN !!

Book

Now !!!!

For Details mail

us at getintouch

@astrotourism.i

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Experience the fun of a Jungle with lots of learning

Explore the mystery of a Night Sky

Get involved in learning over the Telescope

A rendezvous with Jupiter and Moon

Astrophotography, take a celestial click!

Be a sport with various games and Space Treasure Hunt

COVER STORY

NASA's Laser Moon Mission To Boost Space Communication

24

For example, LLCD demonstrated error-free communications during broad daylight, including operating when the moon was to within three degrees of the Sun as seen from Earth.

LLCD also demonstrated error-free communications when the Moon was low on the horizon, less than 4 degrees, as seen from the ground station, which also demonstrated that wind and atmospheric turbulence did not significantly impact the system. LLCD was even able to communicate through thin clouds, an unexpected bonus.

Operationally, LLCD demonstrated the ability to download data from the LADEE spacecraft itself. "We were able to download LADEE's entire stored science and spacecraft data (one gigabyte) in less than five minutes, which was only limited to our 40 Mbps connection to that data within LADEE," said Cornwell.

Using LADEE's onboard radio system would take several days to complete a download of the same stored data.

NASA has completed its 30-day lunar laser mission which confirmed that the possibility of expanding broadband capabilities in space using laser communications is as bright as expected.

Hosted aboard the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), for its ride to lunar orbit, the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) mission was designed to confirm laser communication capabilities from a distance of almost a quarter-of-a-million miles, NASA said.

In addition to demonstrating record-breaking data download and upload speeds to the Moon at 622 megabits per second (Mbps) and 20 Mbps, respectively, LLCD also showed that it could operate as well as any NASA radio system. "Throughout our testing we did not see anything that would prevent the operational use of this technology in the immediate future," said Don Cornwell, LLCD mission manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt.

NASA's lunar laser mission has confirmed the possibility of expanding broadband capabilities in space

25

Additionally, LLCD was to prove the integrity of laser technology to send not only error-free data but also uncorrupted commands and telemetry or monitoring messages to and from the spacecraft over the laser link.

LLCD also demonstrated the ability to "hand-off" the laser connection from one ground station to another, just as a cell phone does a hand-off from one cell tower to another.

An additional achievement was the ability to operate LLCD without using LADEE's radio at all.

"We were able to programme LADEE to awaken the LLCD space terminal and have it automatically point and communicate to the ground station at a specific time without radio commands. This demonstrates that this technology could serve as the primary communications system for future NASA missions," said Cornwell. The ability of LLCD to send and receive high definition video was proven with a message from NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, completing the trip to the Moon and back with only a few seconds of delay.

ASTROINQUISIT

ES

26

The motion of stars is quite small at a few or a few tens of km/s. However, they are situated several light years away from us. let us take an example. Let a star be situated about 10 light years away from us (note that this is a nearby star) and move at 10 km/s. Then, in 100 years, the movement is approximately 30 billion kilometres. The distance of the star from us in comparison is 90,000 billion kilometres. So its motion in 100 years is so small compared to its distance that we see the star in the same spot in the sky. However, if one waits for a few hundred thousand years, then one can definitely see the constellations change.

Why do constellations look the same after several years even though all the stars are

moving?

GUEST ARTICLE A S imple Theory To Exp la in Dark Matter

By Biman Basu

27

It is now generally accepted by astrophysicists that visible matter that we can see as stars, galaxies and cloud gases in space constitutes only 5% of the universe. The rest is accounted for by dark matter (27%) and dark energy (68%). Dark matter is an elusive substance that is invisible and almost never detected, except by its gravitational pull.

Dark matter came to the attention of astrophysicists when it was found that there are discrepancies between the mass of large astronomical objects determined from their gravitational effects, and the mass calculated from the “luminous matter” they contain: stars, gas and dust. Galaxies in our universe seem to be achieving an impossible feat. They are rotating with such speed that the gravity generated by their observable matter could not possibly hold them together; they should have torn themselves apart long ago. The same is true of galaxies in clusters, which leads scientists to believe that something we cannot see is at work.

The existence of dark matter was first proposed in the 1930’s to explain discrepancies in the rotational rate of galactic clusters. Scientists hypothesise that dark matter cannot be seen in telescopes because it does not interact very strongly with light and other electromagnetic radiation. But the true nature of dark matter still remains a mystery.

What we do know about dark matter is that it is not in the form of stars and planets that we see. We also know that it is not in the form of dark clouds of normal matter, matter made up of particles called baryons. Finally, dark matter is not antimatter, because we do not see the unique gamma rays that are produced when antimatter and matter annihilate on coming in contact.

Following the discovery of the Higgs boson last year, perhaps the most pressing problem in particle physics is to determine the nature of dark matter. The current evidence for dark matter is indirect, but very convincing. Several different astronomical observations indicate that the universe is pervaded by some unknown stuff that does not emit detectable amounts of light.

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The range of observations include the patterns made by galaxies in the night sky, the motions of stars within a galaxy, and images of distant galaxies distorted by the intervening matter, just as everyday objects look distorted when they are viewed through rippled glass. All of these different measurements can be explained by invoking the gravitational effects of dark matter.

Theoreticians have invented a zoo of possible dark matter candidates, usually with far-reaching implications for any fundamental theory of nature. But, so far, nobody has managed to build an experiment that is able to demonstrate with certainty that particles of dark matter really exist. Till recently, the most common view was that dark matter is not baryonic matter, but that it is made up of other, more exotic particles like axions (a postulated low-mass chargeless particle with small interactions) or WIMPS (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). WIMPs are hypothetical particles that interact through the weak force and gravity, and possibly through other interactions no stronger than the weak force. Because they do not interact through electromagnetism they cannot be seen directly, and because they do not interact through the strong nuclear force they do not interact strongly with atomic nuclei. This combination of properties gives WIMPs many of the properties of neutrinos, except for being far more massive and therefore slower.

Several experiments are underway to search for WIMPs by placing large masses of material, such as xenon or germanium, deep underground and shielded by many layers of protection aiming to keep all other particles out. If any particles do make it past these barriers and collide with the atoms in the xenon or germanium, they will very likely be WIMPs, the thinking goes. CDMS (which stands for the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search), started in a tunnel underneath Stanford University in California, and a newer, more sensitive version of the project is now underway even deeper underground in the Soudan Mine in Minnesota, USA. The CDMS experiment is designed to pick up the signal of WIMPs as Earth passes through the Milky Way galaxy’s sea of dark matter.

Over the past few years, several independent experiments have reported results on their searches for the dark matter that bathes the Earth. In addition, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider have been trying to create dark matter particles by colliding pairs of protons at high energies. Until relatively recently, it was widely supposed that the most likely dark matter candidate would have a mass bigger than around 100 times the mass of a proton, which is a natural expectation of super-symmetric theories.

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Now there is simpler explanation available for dark matter. In a recent paper in the journal Physics Letters B, theoretical physicists Robert Scherrer and Chiu Man Ho from Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, USA, propose that dark matter may be made out of a type of basic particle called the ‘Majorana fermion’.

It is well known that all fundamental particles in nature can be divided into one of two categories – Fermions or Bosons. Fermions, named after the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, are particles that obey the Fermi-Dirac statistics, while bosons, named after the Indian physicist Satyendranath Bose, obey the Bose-Einstein statistics. Bosons can be their own antiparticles; that is, they can annihilate each other in a flash of energy. But fermions generally have distinct antiparticles; for example, an electron’s antiparticle is the positively charged positron. But in 1937, Italian physicist Ettore Majorana adapted equations that Englishman Paul Dirac had used to describe the behaviour of fermions and bosons to predict the existence of a type of fermion that was its own antiparticle. A Majorana fermion, also referred to as a Majorana particle, is a fermion that is its own antiparticle. The term is sometimes used in opposition to a Dirac fermion, which describes fermions that are not their own antiparticles. No elementary fermions are known to be their own antiparticle, though it is possible that the neutrino may be a Majorana fermion. By contrast, it is common that bosons such as the photon are their own antiparticles.

Majorana particles are unique in that they possess a rare, doughnut-shaped electromagnetic field called an ‘anapole’. Its magnetic field loops in on itself, confined to a doughnut shape, instead of forming north and south or positive and negative poles, the way ordinary matter does. This field gives Majorana particles properties that differ from those of particles that possess the more common fields possessing two poles (north and south, or positive and negative) and explains why they are so difficult to detect. Since the existence of a magnetic anapole was predicted in 1958, it has been observed in the magnetic structure of the nuclei of caesium-133 and ytterbium-174 atoms. Although Majorana fermions are electrically neutral, fundamental symmetries of nature forbid them from acquiring any electromagnetic properties except the anapole.

A comparison of an anapole field with common electric and magnetic dipoles. The anapole field (top) is generated by a toroidal electrical current. As a result, the field is confined within the torus, instead of spreading out like the fields generated by conventional electric (middle) and magnetic (bottom) dipoles. (Credit: Michael Smeltzer, Vanderbilt University)

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Anapoles are difficult to detect because, while particles with familiar electrical and magnetic dipoles interact with electromagnetic fields even when they are stationary, particles with anapole fields do not. They must be moving before they interact and the faster they move the stronger the interaction. It means that anapole particles must have been much more interactive during the early days of the universe when the temperature was high leading to faster movement of particles but would have become less and less interactive as the universe expanded and cooled.

The anapole dark matter particles proposed by Ho and Scherrer would have annihilated in the early universe just like other proposed dark matter particles, and the left-over particles from the process would form the dark matter we see today. But because dark matter moves so much more slowly, and because the anapole interaction depends on how fast it moves, these particles would have escaped detection so far.

In a significant development, last year in April, scientists from the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands succeeded for the first time in detecting a Majorana particle. This discovery further strengthens the possibility of their making up the mysterious dark matter and opens up a new and uncharted chapter of fundamental physics.

This computer simulation visualises dark matter halo (Credit: Heidi Wu/Oliver Hahn/Risa Wechsler/Ralf Kaehler/Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology)

ASTRONOMY AT HOME Spectroscope

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You may have heard that a single colour of light is really comprised of a combination of colours, called a spectrum. However, are you able to see the spectrum whenever you see the light coming from any source?To see different colours in the light, we will make a spectroscope. A spectroscope helps you to see and compare the spectra produced by different light sources.

The material required is as follows:1. Ivory sheet2. Pair of scissors3. Pencil4. Scale5. Eraser6. Sharpener7. Glue 8. Cutter 9. Compact disc 10. Black A4 sheet (optional - if you want to make your spectroscope with black sheet)

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PROCEDURE1. Take a printout of the given template on an A4 sheet and then paste it on an ivory sheet.

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2. Now cut this template along the outlines with the help of scissors. Also, make slits at the labelled places with the help of a cutter.

3. After that, bend the flaps attached with each rectangle. Also bend the rectangles from their borders.

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4. Then, take a compact disc. Divide it into two parts – big and small. Take the small part of the compact disc and paste it on the third rectangle.

35

5. Then, join the edges of the first and the third triangle as shown here.

6. Now, join the flaps as shown below and your spectroscope is ready to use.

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7. From the spectroscope you will see a similar spectrum as shown in the images below:

Caution: Do not look directly at the sun. Point your spectrometer to a white wall in sunshine or at some clouds instead.

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