About Author
Raj is a space writer at Starlust, specializing in translating complex astronomical phenomena into clear, engaging narratives. With a foundation in science communication and a background in journalism, he applies a structured, research-driven approach to covering topics across astrophysics, cosmology, planetary science, and observational astronomy.
His work spans a range of subjects, from stellar evolution and galactic dynamics to orbital mechanics and skywatching event guides, grounded in current scientific research and peer-reviewed studies. Raj is particularly focused on making cutting-edge discoveries in space science accessible to general audiences, without compromising on technical accuracy.
Driven by a strong belief that science writing should both educate and provoke inquiry, he constructs each piece to not only explain what we know about the universe, but how we’ve come to know it, highlighting methods, instrumentation, and scientific reasoning behind the facts.
How close is comet 3I/ATLAS to Earth today? Here are viewing tips and its likely coordinates
With an apparent brightness of magnitude 9.7, the object's light requires 17 minutes and 18 seconds to traverse the distance to our planet.
16 hours ago
Leonid meteor shower peaks tonight—easy tips for the best viewing experience
Visibility remains strong into the early hours of Tuesday, November 18, despite the 1:00 p.m. ET (18:00 UTC) peak on the 17.
18 hours ago
ESA tracks interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS with 10x accuracy, thanks to Mars orbiter
For the first time ever, data collected by a spacecraft orbiting another planet was officially added to the official database for tracking asteroids and comets.
19 hours ago
In a breakthrough, astronomers capture rare 'olive-shaped' star explosion just a day after detection
The detection was made possible using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the European Southern Observatory.
20 hours ago
SpaceX to launch NASA-ESA's Sentinel-6B climate satellite aboard Falcon 9 today
Liftoff is scheduled for Monday, November 17, at 12:21 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
1 day ago
Shenzhou-20 astronauts make it back to Earth following delay caused by space debris
Commander Chen Dong and his crew, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, undocked the Shenzhou-21 from Tiangong at 10:14 p.m. EDT on Thursday to begin their return.
3 days ago
'Other' comet ATLAS caught breaking apart ahead of its upcoming Earth fly-by
Astronomer Gianluca Masi confirmed the presence of multiple fragments and debris, signaling a rapid breakup.
3 days ago
Penn State astronomer rebuts Avi Loeb’s claims of 10 'anomalies' in 3I/ATLAS
Penn State astronomer Jason Wright (PSETI Center) explicitly rejects Avi Loeb's calculation that the comet 3I/ATLAS has a 40% probability of being artificial.
3 days ago
Don't miss the Leonid meteor shower this week—it might be one of the best in years
Visible as Earth crosses the comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle’s debris field from November 3 to December 2, the shower's peak is slated for 2:00 p.m. EDT on November 17.
3 days ago
Blue Origin's New Glenn successfully launches NASA’s twin ESCAPADE spacecraft
The mission commenced at 3:55 p.m. EST on November 13, departing from the Florida coast at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Launch Complex 36.
4 days ago
Harvard's Avi Loeb says 3I/ATLAS may be more than a typical 'icy rock' after surviving perihelion as a single body
The object 3I/ATLAS made it past the Sun in one piece, which led Harvard astronomer to double down on his earlier argument about the object's nature.
4 days ago
Astronomers finally spotted what they were searching for decades—1st coronal mass ejection from another star
Scientists have spotted a red dwarf star about 130 light-years away ejecting an enormous amount of material into space.
4 days ago
New telescope image confirms interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is growing a bright ion tail
Data captured by a robotic telescope indicate the ion tail now extends a minimum of 0.7 degrees toward the northeast.
4 days ago
If 3I/ATLAS didn’t break up during perihelion, it may not be a natural comet, says Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb
Recent images of 3I/ATLAS's massive, multi-directional jets taken on November 9 reveal a critical anomaly in the object's physics.
4 days ago
A strong G3 storm persists, with an even more powerful G4 blast set to strike Earth this week
The third coronal mass ejection (CME) arrived on November 12, but its initial impact was surprisingly weaker than expected.
4 days ago
Severe solar storm forces Blue Origin to postpone NG-2 launch of NASA’s twin ESCAPADE spacecraft
Blue Origin announced that although the 322-foot rocket was prepared for flight, the potential danger to the NASA ESCAPADE mission required an immediate stand-down.
5 days ago
November’s New Moon will be the most distant from Earth until 2043
The celestial event this month is a rare one, with the Moon retreating to an apogee from Earth's center.
5 days ago
Blue Origin’s New Glenn to lift off with NASA’s twin ESCAPADE spacecraft after November 9 scrub
Blue Origin had to scrub launch on November 9 due to bad weather.
5 days ago
How does 3I/ATLAS differ dynamically and physically from earlier interstellar visitors 1I/‘Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov
The three interstellar objects are unique, billion-year-old fragments and kinetic artifacts collected from countless extrasolar systems across the galaxy.
5 days ago
Severe G4 geomagnetic storm strikes, bringing aurora visibility deep into U.S. states
The X5-class solar flare on Wednesday bombarded energetic protons toward Earth and they are penetrating the atmosphere all the way to the ground.
5 days ago