Heena Sharma Blog

  Lunar Eclipse 2020 : A lunar eclipse will take place today. This year, a total of four penumbral lunar eclipses were expected to take place, out of which the first lunar eclipse took place on January 10, the second on June 5 and the third on July 5. The fourth one will occur today. "A penumbral lunar eclipse takes place when the sun, earth, and moon align in almost a straight line. The earth blocks some of the sun's light from directly reaching the moon's surface, and partially covers the moon with the outer part of its shadow, also known as the penumbra," Rajendraprakash Gupt, superintendent of Jiwaji Observatory in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh said. At what time will the lunar eclipse take place The 'penumbral lunar eclipse' will begin at 12:59:09 pm and continue till 05:25:09 pm today. Lunar Eclipse 2020: Which countries will witness it? The lunar eclipse will be seen in most of Europe, most of Asia, Australia, North America, South America, Pacific, ...

The first solar eclipse or Surya Grahan of 2020 will fall on June 21. This will be an annular solar eclipse where moon will cover the sun from the centre leaving the outer rim visible, thus creating a ring of fire. The annular solar eclipse of June 2020 will start at 9:15 am on June 21 according to Indian Standard Timing (IST). The full eclipse will start from 10:17 am with the maximum eclipse occurring at 12:10 pm. Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology (DST) will live telecast the eclipse. “Astronomical events such as eclipse are exceptional opportunities to excite and instruct the youth and indeed the society at large about science and to instill scientific temper,” said Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST. Read More

The Indian media, in particular, can and should address issues of science literacy in the country as science is for all, although literacy is not yet for all Current Affairs News : Should the   Indian media   pay as much attention as it does to our politicians’ pseudoscientific claims ?   The Print   had posed this question to me recently – making an apparent reference to the debate between those who say we should simply focus on ‘good science’ and reinforce its traits and those who believe ‘bad science’ is an opportunity for journalists to uncover deeper issues. For example, when junior education minister   Satyapal Singh   said, “Darwin’s theory is scientifically wrong” or when Uttarakhand chief minister   Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank   said, “Astrology   is the biggest   science.   It is in fact above   science.   We should promote it.” It’s no secret that some Indian ministers have been trying to rewrite Indi...

Governments establish protected areas so that plants and animals can live without human pressures that might otherwise drive them towards extinction. Current Affairs News : In the 146 years since   Yellowstone National Park   in the northwestern United States became the   world’s first protected area, nations around the world have created more than 200,000 terrestrial nature reserves. Together they cover more than 20 million km², or almost 15% of the planet’s land surface – an area bigger than South America. Governments establish   protected areas   so that plants and animals can live without human pressures that might otherwise drive them towards extinction. These are special places, gifts to future generations and all non-human life on the planet. But in a   study published today in Science, we show that roughly one-third of the global protected area estate (a staggering 6 million km²) is under   intense human pressure.   Ro...