Search by tag «Astronomy» 9 results

  • The Universe Said: Let Me Show You Something Beautiful!

    You must be familiar with the nursery rhyme Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. But in reality, stars aren't little at all. They are enormous balls of gas, emitting tremendous amounts of energy as a result of nuclear fusion. To us, stars appear tiny because of their enormous distance from Earth. Also, our atmosphere is the reason why we see stars twinkling. Staring at these glittering beacons of light in a dark night sky was my favorite activity as a kid. Here’s all the info you need to get started with stargazing.

    18.11.2022

  • Potential Threat, Treasure Trove, or Future Home: Why Scientists Study Asteroids

    Dmitri Wiebe, head of the Department of Stellar Physics and Evolution of the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, talks about how the study of asteroids helps learn more about the past and the future of the Solar System.

    08.01.2021

  • ITMO Graduate Wins National Theses Competition

    Vadim Rybin, a Bachelor's graduate of the Faculty of Photonics and Optical Information, won the national competition of theses called Be First in the Physics and Astronomy category. Now, Vadim is pursuing a Master’s degree. He discussed his thesis and scientific interests with ITMO.NEWS, and also told us how he created the “It’s a trap” student club, whose members are engaged in the study of ion traps.

    15.09.2020

  • Unexplored St. Petersburg: Pulkovo Observatory

    For most guests and citizens of St. Petersburg, the name “Pulkovo” brings thoughts of packed luggage, check-in lines, and airline peanuts. But just a mere 4 kilometers away from Pulkovo Airport you’ll find the Pulkovo Observatory – a UNESCO World Heritage Site and underappreciated landmark that you’ll enjoy whether you are down to earth or have your head up in the clouds.

    06.09.2019

  • Crystals and Peculiar Stars: Final Day of Mendeleev 150 at ITMO

    The international conference Mendeleev 150 at ITMO University has come to its conclusion. The event was held on the occasion of the UN’s International Year of the Periodic Table and brought together the top chemists, physicists, educators, and other experts from Russia, the USA, the UK, Spain, Italy, Germany, Israel, China, and other countries. Over the course of three days, the event’s speakers discussed the top scientific trends and the effects of periodic table-related discoveries on today’s research. The closing presentations were delivered by the Russian crystallographer and chemist Artem Oganov, child prodigy Platon Kachalin, and the evolutionary biologist David Seaborg, the son of famed Nobel Laureate Glenn Seaborg.

    01.08.2019

  • Polytechnic Museum’s Curator Alexey Semikhatov: Logic and Math Help Us Predict the Unknown

    Humanity’s understanding of the world has expanded far into space and deep into the structure of matter, and mathematical science became our guide into the world of the counterintuitive and the unimaginable. Alexey Semikhatov, a science communicator, PhD, and scientific curator of the Moscow Polytechnic Museum, joined ITMO University’s open lecture series at New Holland to talk about how the logical abilities of the human brain, as formalized in maths, help us forecast the yet-undiscovered areas of the universe. Learn the highlights from Dr. Semikhatov’s lecture in the article below; you can also watch the complete lecture (in Russian) here.

    30.04.2019

  • The Radio-Astronomical Triangle of Russia’s Institute of Applied Astronomy’s Quasar-KVO Complex

    How to keep count of time with second-to-second precision and what makes our smartphones’ maps so handy in directing us to the exact location we need? Providing different systems with precise coordinates is an important strand of modern research, and one conducted by the Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In the beginning of the 21st century, this scientific center spearheaded the creation of the unique system Quasar-KVO. It consists of three powerful radio telescopes located in different spots all over the country, Leningrad Oblast’s radio-astronomical observatory Svetloe being one of them. Participants of ITMO-Sberbank “It’s Your Call!” winter school were given a tour of the iconic location. Its specialists talked them through the ins and outs of their cutting-edge radio-astronomical research.

    28.02.2019

  • Spaceports: Where They Are and How to Get There

    Each year during the World Space Week we celebrate the contribution of space science and technology to human civilization. The event coincides with such dates as the launch of USSR’s Sputnik – Earth’s first artificial satellite – on October 4, 1957 and the enactment of the Outer Space Treaty on October 10, 1967. Many among us might believe that they know everything about human exploration of space – but is that really so? How many for instance, are aware that there are 28 spaceports on Earth or that the planet’s most active spaceport is not that far from the city of St. Petersburg? How space exploration first began, where the planet’s spaceports are and how to get there: read and find out.

    12.10.2017

  • How Neural Networks Help Scientists

    In just a few days, the neural-network based app Teleport, which turns a simple selfie into a colorful collage in the blink of an eye, rose to second place on App Store’s Top Free Games list. With 1.5 million downloads, the service has gone viral on social media, coming close to the success of similar photo editing apps such as Meitu, FaceApp and Prizma. These days neural networks help us pick hair and lipstick colors, come up with beer names and draw cat pictures. But they are capable of much more complex tasks in business, finance and science. Medical diagnostics, searching for hypervelocity stars and rare animals – here’s how neural networks are helping scientists today.

    08.08.2017