Lucknow's Young Astronomers discovered 'Ram' in space

Bureau chief R L Pandey

Lucknow। Young astronomers of the city - Sankalp M Rastogi and Utkarsh Mishra have discovered a new nebula and they have named it 'Ram'. It is present in Cassiopeia Constellation. They contacted a British astronomer to photograph their find in order to confirm their discovery. Their Nebula was photographed from an observatory in Spain. Their discoveries are recognised by PNST, an international club of Nebula Hunters and their nebula is also added in HASH database (Hong Kong/AAO/Strasbourg H-alpha) a database of nebula discoveries. 

Due to their interest in astronomy, Sankalp and Utkarsh became members of Indira Gandhi Planetarium a few years ago to learn and see the celestial objects in space under the mentorship of Mr Sumit Srivastava, Senior Scientific Officer at Indira Gandhi Planetarium.

During lockdown in 2020 they used the Astronomical data available on the internet to discover new Nebulae in Universe.

Finding new nebula in space can be compared to finding a needle in a haystack. 
Despite all difficulties Sankalp and Utkarsh, have succeeded in identifying more than 55 new Nebulae in Universe. Their list is getting longer. They also use the telescope and equipments provided by Indira Gandhi Planetarium for their research work. Their  most famous Nebulae discoveries include Bubblegum Nebula, Paras Pathar Nebula and Tilak Nebula.

Sankalp is the founder of an astronomy popularising organisation by the name of 'Scientific Knowledge for Youth Foundation' and Utkarsh is a Law student at Amity University.

What is Nebula?

When a star in distant space is at the end of its life that is the star is dying, then it leaves behind a giant glowing remnant of dust and gas in space this is called a Nebula.
Nebula is also a place where new stars are being born  It is like a nursery for stars.
 
Senior Scientific officer at Indira Gandhi Planetarium Mr Sumit Srivastava says that "Ram Nebula discovery can prove to be a mile stone in Planetary Nebula Discovery. He says it is a matter of pride for us that Sankalp and Utkarsh are members at Indira Gandhi Planetarium. The Ram Data can be used for further research