Raj Naik

Raj Naik

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.

Are we alone in the universe? NASA's technosignature grant could help solve the mystery

After a decade focused on simple 'biosignatures,' researchers are increasingly pivoting the search for alien life toward detecting technological output.
3 hours ago

Cold Moon 2025: When and how to see the December Supermoon

The Supermoon title is applied precisely when the full phase of the Moon coincides with perigee, its closest point to Earth in its orbit.
5 hours ago

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS to make its closest approach to Earth soon—where is it now?

The object is expected to make its closest approach on December 19, 2025, passing by at a distance of approximately 167 million miles.
22 hours ago

Moon to glide over Saturn on November 29, revealing Plato, Copernicus and Tycho

Using a telescope may not be the wisest choice during the event.
1 day ago

See the Andromeda Galaxy and Perseus Double Cluster with the naked eye on November 26—here's how

Sharing a brightness of magnitude 4, the Andromeda Galaxy and Perseus Double Cluster are readily accessible.
1 day ago

Blue Origin announces major New Glenn upgrades as rivalry with SpaceX intensifies

The company is rolling out significant upgrades to its existing New Glenn rocket and at the same time, revealing a powerful new "super heavy" variant.
1 day ago

Astronomers capture the 'best-yet color image' of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

Amateur astronomers Michael Jäger and Gerald Rhemann used a standard 12-inch telescope and a specialized camera to capture the extraordinary color image.
1 day ago

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.
7 days 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.
Nov 17, 2025

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.
Nov 17, 2025

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.
Nov 17, 2025

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.
Nov 17, 2025

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.
Nov 14, 2025

'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.
Nov 14, 2025

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.
Nov 14, 2025

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.
Nov 14, 2025

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.
Nov 14, 2025

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.
Nov 13, 2025

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.
Nov 13, 2025

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.
Nov 13, 2025
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