'Growth of Astrophysics hindered by conservatism'

“The exploration of new areas of astrophysics and cosmology is hindered by a vitiated atmosphere. The subject is closed today and against the spirit of free enquiry”, he said while delivering a lecture on ‘Chance and Accident in Astronomy’ at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.

“If you look at today’s preferred model, 73 per cent (of the cosmos) is dark energy, 23 per cent non-baryonic or dark matter and the remaining four per cent is what is visible. There is no proper scientific backing to the claim that 96 per cent of the cosmos is invisible,” said Narlikar.

He added that conservationism is posing a major challenge to explore the unsolved mysteries of the cosmos. He added that opportunity and enough time should be given to carry out observation. Later talking to Deccan Herald, Narlikar said the anomalous red-shift is posing a new challenge for astrophysics.

“This (anomalous red-shift) is something which should either be approved or disapproved. Somebody should tell me whether it exists or not. But now this is a closed chapter. It has been ignored, which is a matter of grave concern for me,” said Narlikar.

Narlikar also expressed his concern over the reluctance of upcoming generation to take up basic science.

“The trend (regarding interest in basic science) so far has been negative,” said Narlikar.
He however, pointed out that the measures taken by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) are attracting a good number of students.

Comet doubles Independence day celebrations

Pray to the rain god for a clear sky on August 15 as an interesting celestial event is waiting to happen - a comet will pass by the earth.

Though the comet 45P/Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková is not visible to naked eyes, a small binocular is enough to sight the celestial body.

Named after Minoru Honda, who discovered it first, the comet will pass by the earth at a distance of 90 lakh km on August 15 at 1.30 pm. In the City, the comet will be visible in the southern sky at 3 am.

Astrophysicist and former professor of Indian Institution of Astrophysics, R C Kapoor, told Deccan Herald that people might find it difficult to locate the comet as it would be too close to the horizon.

For public, a distance of 90 lakh km from the earth may not seem short, said the astrophysicist, who added that a close fly-by of a comet was ‘very rare’. He however, ruled out any impact on the earth as some websites had claimed.