Question 1

Which telescope was used to determine that, dark matter is not made up of tiny primordial black holes as stated by Stephen Hawking?

Accepted Answer

An international research team including Dr. Surhud More and Dr. Anupreeta More from Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune has ruled out the possibility of primordial black holes being a major constituent of dark matter using Subaru telescope. This finding disproves a theoretical claim of Prof Stephen Hawking. In the solar system, Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, takes just 88 days to make one revolution around the sun, while Neptune, the farthest one, takes 165 years to make one round. In like manner, laws of gravity expect us to see stars closer to the centre of galaxies rotating faster than the stars on the edge.

Question 2

For which project, The Union Cabinet forms a three-member crew to be sent to space for at least seven days.

Accepted Answer

The Union Cabinet has approved the Gaganyaan project under which a three-member crew will be sent to space for at least seven days, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad stated. The project will cost INR 10,000 crore. The Gaganyaan project was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech. He had stated that the mission will be undertaken by 2022. India has already inked agreements with Russia and France for assistance in the ambitious project.

Question 3

The UK researchers have used which telescope to determine that Sun's magnetic field is 10 times stronger than thought?

Accepted Answer

According to a new collaborative study by the Queen's University Belfast and Aberystwyth University in the UK, the sun's magnetic field is ten times stronger than previously thought. Using the Swedish one-metre Solar Telescope at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, in the Canary Islands, David Kuridze studied a particularly strong solar flare which erupted near the surface of the Sun on September 10, 2017. A combination of favourable conditions and an element of luck enabled the team to determine the strength of the flare's magnetic field with unprecedented accuracy. The researchers believe the findings have the potential to change our understanding of the processes that happen in the Sun's immediate atmosphere. The study found that the sun's corona extends millions of kilometres above the surface, measuring 1,400,000 kilometres across -- 109 times larger than Earth and 150,000,000 km from Earth. Solar flares appear as bright flashes and occur when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released.

Question 4

Which Chinese space probe touched down on the far side of the moon?

Accepted Answer

Chang'e-4 lunar probe, a Chinese space probe, touched down on the far side of the moon. The probe, which has a lander and a rover, that was launched in December made the soft landing and transmitted the first-ever close-range image of the far side of the moon. It touched down at a targeted area near the moon's south pole in the Von Karman Crater. The purpose of the Chang'e-4 includes astronomical observation, surveying the moon's terrain, landform, and mineral makeup, and measuring the neutron radiation and neutral atoms to study the environment of its far side. The moon is tidally locked to Earth, rotating at the same rate as it orbits our planet, so most of the far side or dark side is never visible to us. Previous spacecraft have seen the far side, but none has landed on it. China's space agency hailed the event as a historic first and a major achievement for the country's space programme.

Question 5

For which team, Archie Schiller was named as the co-captain?

Accepted Answer

Cricket Australia have added seven-year-old Archie Schiller in the 15-member squad for the third Test of the series against India, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Boxing Day, December 26. He was co-captain alongside Tim Paine. Archie Schiller, who has endured 13 heart operations and spent half of his life in hospital after being diagnosed with a life-threatening congenital disease, had the dream of captaining the Australian cricket team. Make a Wish Australia and Cricket Australia, worked together to make Archie's cricket dreams come true.

Question 6

Recently, Which country test fired surface-to-air missile "QRSAM" successfully?

Accepted Answer

India successfully test fired the short range Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QRSAM), developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Army, from a test range along the coast of Odisha. It is a sleek and highly mobile air defence system with a strike range of 25 km to 30 km and has a capability of engaging multiple targets. It is different from normal air defence system, as this is an all-weather, all-terrain missile with electronic counter measures against jamming by aircraft radars. It was first tested in June 2017 and followed by the second successful test in July 2017. It will replace the 'Akash' missile defence system which is on its way out due to technological obsolescence.

Question 7

What type of improved aircraft did the Indian Air Force (IAF) ask Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to make after getting clearance from military airworthiness certifier CEMILAC?

Accepted Answer

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas progressed towards manufacture in an enhanced, battle standard format on December 31. The LCA is being designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in Bengaluru. A new limited clearance from military airworthiness certifier CEMILAC for the Indian fighter green-lights its production in a superior lethal version. HAL aims to get the first aircraft out in late 2019. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has asked Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to make 40 LCA aircraft. Of this, 20 will be in the advanced Final Operational Clearance (FOC) format. Another 20 are in the earlier Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) version. The IAF has modified and upgraded its trainer requirement in its old package order of 40 LCA aircraft.

Question 8

The first nuclear test Pokhran was codenamed as;

Accepted Answer

The first nuclear test Pokhran with a codenamed as 'Smiling Buddha' was carried out in May 1974. The second test conducted was Pokhran II which was a series of five tests of nuclear bomb explosions, administered by India at the Pokhran Test Range of Indian Army in May, 1998. Pokhran II comprised of five detonations out of which the first one was a fusion bomb while the other four were fission bombs. These nuclear tests evolved various sanctions against India by many major states, including the United States and Japan.

Question 9

Which telescope is used for confirming that the Universe is expanding about 9% faster than expected?

Accepted Answer

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Hubble Space Telescope ejected measurements validate that the Universe is expanding about 9% faster than expected based on its trajectory seen shortly after the big bang. It was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters on April 25.The researchers using Hubble as a "point-and-shoot" camera to look at groups of Cepheids using a new method called DASH (Drift And Shift), while Hubble can observe one star for every 90-minute orbit around Earth.Adam Riess, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy at The Johns Hopkins University, Nobel Laureate and the project's leader,is the first author of the research.

Question 10

Who announces cash awards for triumphant Team India members?

Accepted Answer

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced cash awards of Rs 15 lakh per match for each of the playing eleven that featured in India's maiden Test Cricket series win on Australian soil. Virat Kohli and his team defeated Australia 2-1 in the four-match Test series, ending India's 71-year-old wait for the rare achievement. Congratulating the team, the BCCI also announced cash awards of seven and a half lakh rupees for all the reserve players, as well as the members of the support staff.

Question 11

What is the name of the new white dwarf galaxy that was found by NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope?

Accepted Answer

An international team of astronomers used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study white dwarf stars within the globular cluster NGC 6752.

Question 12

ISRO will launch a student satellite called 'Kalamsat' and an imaging satellite known as 'Microsat-R' on __________.

Accepted Answer

ISRO will launch a student satellite called 'Kalamsat' and an imaging satellite known as 'Microsat-R' on 24 January 2019. Both the satellite will be carried by 'PSLV C-44' rocket. PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle. In PSLV-C44, the fourth stage (PS4) of the vehicle would be moved to a ?higher circular orbit so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments.

Question 13

Name the giant asteroid which will fly past Earth on April 13, 2029.

Accepted Answer

The 340m wide asteroid named 99942 Apophis will fly past Earth like a 'moving star- like point of light' on April 13, 2029. It will fly above the earth's surface at 30,500 km and first become visible with a naked eye in the night sky over the Southern Hemisphere from the east coast to the west coast of Australia.In 2004, astronomers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory based in Arizona discovered Apophis and claims about the chance of 2.7% that asteroid may impact Earth in 2029. However, further observation ruled out that chance but Apophis still has a small chance of impacting Earth which is less than 1 in 100,00- many decades from now.

Question 14

Which of the following is India's second mission to moon?

Accepted Answer

India's lunar mission Chandrayaan 2 will carry NASA's laser instruments. The U.S. space agency said that the laser instrument will help scientists to make precise measurements of the distance to the Moon. Chandrayaan 2 is scheduled to be launched in the month of April. NASA has confirmed that Chandrayaan 2 and Israeli lander Beresheet, due to touch down on April 11, will each carry NASA-owned laser retroreflector arrays. Chandrayaan-2 will be India's second mission to the Moon. It will include an orbiter and lander-rover module.

Question 15

Which space observatory has been used by Indian astronomers to identify a new group of stars in the globular cluster NGC 2808?

Accepted Answer

By using Indian multi-wavelength space observatory AstroSat, the astronomers from Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai have identified a new population of ultraviolet stars in the globular cluster NGC 2808. Globular clusters are collections of thousands to millions of stars, moving as one unit. These stars are tightly held together by gravity of the cluster itself, and are believed to have formed together at roughly the same time. The NGC 2808 is one of the most massive globular clusters that we know of, and is located at a distance of 47,000 light years from us. This cluster was observed by the team of researchers using the UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) on-board AstroSat. So far, AstroSat has taken images of over 2,000 individual stars in NGC 2808 through various ultraviolet filters. AstroSat is the India's first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory. It was launched in September 2015. It orbits in low earth equatorial orbit at altitude of 650 km and has mission life of 5 years. It observes universe in the optical, Ultraviolet (UV), low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Question 16

Who launched the First Global Positioning System (GPS) III satellite nicknamed as Vespucci US Military Satellite?

Accepted Answer

SpaceX launched the U.S. Air Force's newest 'GPS III' satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA. The solar-powered spacecraft, dubbed "Vespucci," is the company's first official "National Security Space" mission. Vespucci's nickname honours Italian cartographer and explorer Amerigo Vespucci, after whom North and South America were named. It was competed through the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. The successful GPS III SV01 mission marked SpaceX's 21st and final launch of 2018, beating the company's 2017 flight rate of 18 launches.

Question 17

Which of the following defence satellite would be launched by ISRO for DRDO in March 2019?

Accepted Answer

In the special mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will also launch 28 third-party satellites and will demonstrate its new technologies like three different orbits with a new variant of 'Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle' (PSLV) rocket in March, 2019. Electronic intelligence satellite 'Emisat' of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) weighs about 420 kg. After launching Emisat at an altitude of 763 km, the PSLV rocket will be brought down to put the remaining 28 satellites into orbit at an altitude of 504 km.

Question 18

GSAT-31, which is in news recently, is launched from which of the following places?

Accepted Answer

India's latest communication satellite GSAT-31 was successfully launched by European launch services provider- Arianespace's rocket from Kourou Launch Base in French Guiana on February 6, 2019. The Ariane-5 vehicle (Flight VA247) also carried Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4 along with GSAT-31.

Question 19

How many companies were shortlisted by ISRO to transfer its Lithium-ion cells technology?

Accepted Answer

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) selected 10 companies jointly with the NITI-Aayog from a list of 141 companies for transfer of its Lithium-ion cells technology developed by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thumba. ISRO developed Li-ion cells with capacities ranging from 1.5 Ah to 100 Ah for use in launch vehicles and satellites.

Question 20

Which of the following telescopes has recently helped to discover 300000 new galaxies?

Accepted Answer

An international team of more than 200 astronomers from 18 countries has published the first phase of a major new radio sky survey at unprecedented sensitivity using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The survey discovered 3,00,000 hidden galaxies using radio astronomy in a tiny corner of the northern hemisphere at low radio frequency. It is believed that these findings will help shed new light on some of the Universe's deepest secrets. This includes the physics of black holes as well as research into how galaxy clusters evolve. The LOFAR telescope is operated by ASTRON in The Netherlands and is considered to be the world's leading telescope of its type. It is made up of a network of radio antenna across seven countries, forming the equivalent of a 1,300-km diameter satellite dish. It is capable of detecting light source beyond the power of optical instruments. Radio astronomy allows scientists to detect radiation produced when massive celestial objects interact.

Science Questions