Topic

India

10 stories. Search the archive for more.

The black disc of the Moon covering the Sun during a total solar eclipse, ringed by the pale white glow of the corona.

The eclipses India will see through 2035, city by city

India’s next total lunar eclipse falls on New Year’s Eve 2028. Its next total solar eclipse arrives in 2034, close to sunset, and only the far north gets it.

CosmosLens EditorsNovember 11, 20265 min read

An Indian PSLV rocket lifting off at night from the First Launch Pad at Sriharikota, with towers on either side and clouds of orange-lit exhaust.

ExplorationAnalysis

Why India is building a spaceport 640 kilometers south of its first

Sriharikota is well placed for reaching geostationary orbit. For polar orbits, a neighbor is in the way. The arithmetic shows why a small rocket needs a different pad.

CosmosLens EditorsNovember 10, 20265 min read

A thin meteor streak crosses a star-filled sky above the dark silhouettes of conifer trees.

PlanetsExplainer

The Leonids peak just before dawn on 18 November, and India has a dark sky for it

The half Moon sets around midnight, the radiant climbs high, and the predicted peak lands in the last dark hour before dawn. Here is when to look from your city, and an honest estimate of what you will see.

CosmosLens EditorsNovember 10, 20267 min read1 view

Illustrated chart of the eastern to southern sky from Delhi at 6 am on 16 November 2026. Venus is about 20 degrees up in the east, Mercury lower at 8 degrees, and Jupiter and Mars sit side by side about 73 degrees up in the south-east near the star Regulus.

PlanetsExplainer

Which planets you can see from India this winter, and when to look

This evening only Saturn is up. The real gathering is before sunrise, when Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Mercury share the sky. By February, Jupiter and Mars move into the evening at their brightest of the season.

CosmosLens EditorsNovember 10, 20265 min read

A large orange full moon rising beside the lit dome of the United States Capitol, with the city skyline in the foreground at dusk.

PlanetsExplainer

The full moon of 24 November is big. The one on Christmas Eve is bigger

November’s full moon rises around sunset across India on Kartik Purnima. By one common definition it is a supermoon and by another it just misses. We measured both, and the December full moon that beats it.

CosmosLens EditorsNovember 10, 20266 min read

The orange disc of the Sun against a black sky with a large dark bite taken out of its upper part by the Moon, and a few small sunspots visible.

PlanetsExplainer

The solar eclipse of 2 August 2027 from India: a late-afternoon partial eclipse, city by city

One of the century’s longest total eclipses crosses Egypt that afternoon. India sees only a partial eclipse, deepest at the southern tip and missing entirely in the far north-east. We calculated what each city gets.

CosmosLens EditorsNovember 10, 20266 min read

An Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter against a clear blue sky, carrying a white and orange cone-shaped Gaganyaan test capsule on a long cable beneath it.

ExplorationExplainer

Gaganyaan in November 2026: what has flown, what has not, and when India’s astronauts might launch

No launch date has been announced yet. Here is where India’s human spaceflight programme stands, who the astronauts are, what the first flights will do, and why the date keeps moving.

CosmosLens EditorsNovember 10, 20265 min read

Night view from orbit of the bright web of city lights around New Delhi, with the thin glowing layer of Earth’s atmosphere along the horizon and stars in the black sky above.

ExplorationExplainer

What India looks like from the space station, and when you can see it from India

From the International Space Station, Kashmir and Sri Lanka are on the same horizon. We worked out how much of India fits in one look, what the eye can pick out from orbit, and when the station is visible from your city.

CosmosLens EditorsNovember 10, 20265 min read

Full disc of Earth seen from deep space, with India, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal near the centre, the Himalayas and Tibetan plateau to the north, Africa to the left and swirls of white cloud over the Indian Ocean.

PhysicsExplainer

How fast is Earth spinning where you live in India?

Everyone in India is moving at well over 1,000 km/h without feeling a thing. We calculated the speed for each city, then added Earth’s orbit, the Sun’s path around the galaxy, and what all that does to your weight.

CosmosLens EditorsNovember 10, 20264 min read

A long exposure of Geminid meteors streaking across the Milky Way above the white dome of a telescope on a dark hilltop.

PlanetsExplainer

In India, the Geminids peak at dinner time

Most guides will send you out on the night of 13 December. For observers in India, the numbers point to the following evening, once the Moon has set.

CosmosLens EditorsNovember 8, 20266 min read