Weekly - Interstellar comet 31/ATLAS’ behaviour stumps scientists and more
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This week ranks yellow 🟡 on the Engagement Palette.
ISRO launches its heaviest satellite
Very recently, ISRO successfully launched its CMS-03 communications satellite, thereby making it the heaviest satellite ever launched from Indian soil. The satellite was put into a GTO (Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit) and will eventually move into geostationary orbit about 36,000 km above the Earth. It is important to keep in mind that the CMS-03, weighing 4,410kg, is not the heaviest satellite ever built by ISRO. That record would go to GSAT-11, which, however, was launched by Arianespace, not ISRO.
Interstellar comet 31/ATLAS’ behaviour stumps scientists
Comet 31/ATLAS has been of interest to scientists and the media recently. It is only the third interstellar object (ie, an object from outside our solar system) to enter our neighbourhood. What made it even more intriguing was its recent behaviour as it approached the sun. The comet seemed to significantly increase in brightness - a phenomenon usually caused by ice subliming into gas due to the Sun’s heat. However, in this case, it seemed to increase in brightness far more rapidly than expected. Scientists are currently unable to explain this. Interestingly enough, an earlier interstellar object, 1I/‘Oumuamua, also remains a mystery because of its strange shape, motion, and lack of a comet tail.
