Lunar eclipse experience: Interplay of shadows!

Hello! Yesterday’s lunar eclipse was memorable! The night began with clouds and rains. Initially it was the shadows of clouds! We were ready with two telescopes and a binocular. When the Moon entered the penumbra, the eclipse began. But the Sun is so bright that even after being partially covered, lowering of brightness of the Moon is negligible. But later when the Moon entered the umbra (when the Sun was completely obstructed by the Earth), then the edge of the Moon got darkened. Still clouds continued. Just for a few seconds they would give an opening and the Moon would become visible. Its eclipse was clearly visible. From the Full Moon, it gradually became a crescent! And as more and more area of the Moon came inside the umbra, it became reddish! It was a treat to watch it! 

As far as photos are concerned, due to clouds, I could not take great photos. My friend- Gireesh Mandhale took great photos through his 8 inch telescope. They can be seen here.

 

Wonderful experience of watching the Space station and glorious night sky!

Hello. Last Saturday on 8th March, me and my friend Gireesh Mandhale conducted a sky watching programme at Anjanvel Agro Tourism near Lonavala. We had excellent skies with wonderful stars! On the women’s day, everyone was thrilled to see the Space station with Sunita Williams onboard! Also, crescent Venus, movements of moons of Jupiter, plenty of craters on the Moon, clusters in the dawn, white Milky way band, the morning trek, meditation and last but not the least, the Sun- spots! Overall it was so much of joy and satisfaction. Sharing its experience with you.

लातूरच्या पानगांवमध्ये आकाश दर्शन व विद्यार्थ्यांसोबत संवाद

विज्ञान प्रसाराची "सुदिशा"

नमस्कार. काल 28 फेब्रुवारी रोजी विज्ञान दिनानिमित्त सुधाकरराव कुलकर्णी स्मृती प्रतिष्ठान व मराठी विज्ञान परिषदेच्या पानगांव जि. लातूर शाखेद्वारे आयोजित कार्यक्रमामध्ये मुलांसाठी व मोठ्यांसाठी आकाश दर्शन सत्र घेण्याची संधी मिळाली. लातूरचे खगोलशास्त्रज्ञ श्री. राजकुमार गव्हाणे सरांमुळे हा सहभाग घेता आला. आकाशात आपण तारे वर्तमानात जरी बघत असलो तरी त्यांचा प्रकाश भूतकाळातला असतो, तशी प्रतिष्ठानच्या प्रा. डॉ. संतोष कुलकर्णी सरांसोबतच्या जुन्या नात्याची नव्याने ओळख झाली! माझं गाव परभणी, त्यामुळे लातूर तसं जवळचंच! लातूरमधल्या मित्रांच्या, स्नेही जनांच्या व आधीच्या लातूरला केलेल्या सायकल प्रवासाच्या आठवणीही ताज्या झाल्या.

कुलकर्णी सरांसोबत लातूरहून निघालो तेव्हा सरांनी सावध केलं की, पानगांवचा रस्ता इतका सोपा नसणार! आणि आकाशात अमावस्येमुळे चंद्र जरी दिसणार नसला तरी रस्त्यावरचे खड्डे चंद्रावरच्या विवरांची उणीव जाणवू देणार नाहीत! महाराष्ट्रातले जे अनेक रस्ते दुर्गम मनाली- लेह रस्त्याशी स्पर्धा करू शकतात, त्यात हाही रस्ता नक्कीच असेल! ह्या रस्त्यावरून प्रवास करणं म्हणजे संयमाची‌ कसोटी आणि ध्यानाचा धडा! चंद्रावरच्या विवरांना चुकवत व गुरूत्वाकर्षणासोबत घसरगुंडी करत जावं लागलं! पण सरांसोबतच्या गप्पांमुळे  प्रवास छान झाला. पानगांवमध्ये सुधाकरराव कुलकर्णी स्मृती प्रतिष्ठानचं केंद्र आहे. इथे मुलांसाठी "सुदिशा" म्हणजेच "सुट्टीच्या दिवशीची शाळा" हा उपक्रम राबवला जातो. आणि मराठी विज्ञान परिषदेच्या शाखेच्या स्वरूपात विज्ञान प्रसाराचं कामही केलं जातं. इथे सरांची खूप स्वप्नं साकार करण्याची धडपड सुरू आहे.

आकाश दर्शनाची सुरूवात दिवसा तारा बघून झाली! दिन में तारा दिखाने का मौका मिला! फिल्टर लावून सूर्य निरीक्षण. सूर्याचे 99.99% प्रकाश किरण शोषल्यानंतर सूर्य संत्र्यासारखा लालसर व सौम्य दिसतो. जणू "मार्तंड जे तापहिन!" अशा सूर्याचं व त्यावरच्या डागाचं निरीक्षण बाल तारे- तारकांनी केलं. हे डाग म्हणजे सूर्यावरच्या ज्वाळाच आहेत. पण इतर ज्वाळांपेक्षा कमी प्रकाशित असल्यामुळे काळसर भासतात. आणि दिसताना बिंदुवत दिसत असले तरी हे डाग पृथ्वीपेक्षाही मोठे असतात!

आकाशात चंद्राची व शनिची उणीव जाणवणार होती. त्यामुळे चंद्र व शनिचे माझ्या दुर्बिणीने घेतलेले फोटोज व व्हिडिओज दाखवले. चंद्र व शनिचं पिधान- चंद्रामुळे झाकला जाणारा शनिही पॉवर पॉईंटच्या मदतीने दाखवला. तसंच 2020 मध्ये झालेली शनि- गुरूची युतीही दाखवली. आकाशगंगेचा पट्टा कसा दिसतो हेही मुलांना सांगितलं. ह्यावेळी विद्यार्थ्यांसोबत संवाद करता आला. विद्यार्थ्यांनी स्वत:चा परिचय करून दिला. त्यांना आकाशात काय बघायचं आहे, हे सांगितलं.

Festival of light in the sky!

Sky watching event in Anjanvel near Lonavala!

✪ Finally the comet is seen!
✪ Star show in a dark night sky
✪ Thrill to watch a shadow on Jupiter surface caused by its moon
✪ Rain of stars in the sky
✪ Wonderful landscape in the mountains
✪ Bedsa caves- two thousand years back!
✪ Anjanvel- the week-end spent well!

Hello. Recently we could experience the light festival in the sky. We could enjoy sky watching in a serene campus of Anjanvel agro tourism near Lonavala, Maharashtra, located amid wonderful mountains and forts. We could also share this joy of sky watching with others. Hereby I wish to share the experience with you. After many cloudy nights, me and my friend Gireesh Mandhale reached Anjanvel farm house. Glorious mountains and wonderful terrain! Crystal clear blue sky is assuring us that sky watching would be excellent here! We reached when it was getting dark. Venus is already shining in the west. In a hurry we set up the telescopes and prepared ourselves for the comet! Slowly faint stars appeared in the sky. As the darkness grew, small stars started shining! And yes, here is the comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan- ATLAS) at its expected position! With a large 8" aperture, a modest 4.5 " aperture telescope and a 15 X 70 binocular, it was clearly visible. As the eyes adjusted gradually, its tail is also visible. It was not visible to the naked eyes.

Saturn to be occulted by Moon tonight on 14th October 2024!

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) easily visible in the evening

 
✪ Wonderful opportunity to witness Saturn- Moon occultation
✪ Saturn suddenly will disappear behind dark part of the Moon and will reappear from behind its lighted part!
✪ In Maharashtra, the timing is around 11.45 pm to 1.40 am
✪ Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is visible in evening near Venus
✪ Need dark skies and clear view of West of the comet
✪ Comet can be photographed with smartphone pro mode
✪ Both are wonderful events to experience
✪ Season of sky watching started!

Hello all.

Greetings. Tonight we have opportunity to witness and enjoy two sky wonders. The first is the Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS). This comet has now become visible in the Evening sky. For next few days, from around 14th October to 19th October, it will appear in the Western sky near the brightest planet Venus. Best chance of observing this comet is coming 10 days. In ideal sky watching conditions- away from city lights, it will be visible to the naked eye as a small smudge. With binoculars and small telescope, it will be more clear. You can track its daily sky position on astronomical app such as stellerium. It can be photographed also by using a smartphone. For this, you need to use the pro- mode. Set the shutter speed to 4 seconds or 8 seconds. Set the ISO to 800 or 1600, depending on how dark sky you have. Set the focus to infinity. Have some support for mobile and keep it tilt towards west. Then set the timer to 5 seconds. You need to keep the mobile steady for some time (timer seconds + shutter speed duration). Then you can photograph it. After some attempts this comet can be photographed.

Thrilling experience of spotting comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)!

✪Thrilling experience of spotting it through my telescope

✪ Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is visible through binoculars
✪ Need dark skies and precise sky- location of the comet
✪ Its position changes rapidly
✪ Will be brightest around 1st  February

Hello all. Some of you may be knowing that one comet- C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is visible these days. It is not bright enough to be seen only through eyes as of 24th January. But it is visible through binoculars or a small telescope. What you need is a location with dark sky. That means a place at least 20 kms away from any city lights. You also need a detailed sky mapping app like Sky safari along with proper sky orientation and knowledge of major constellations. But just these would not be sufficient. You would also need some practice of watching sky objects, particularly dim objects.

Sky watching session with kids and elders!

✪ International space station like a bright moving star!
✪ Saturn rings, Jupiter moons and orange Mars
✪ Beautiful Pleiades cluster- A scene of 400 years ago
✪ Moon craters and surface features
✪ Vast universe thrashes egoistic delusion
✪ Wonders to be watched just through eyes
✪ Zestful parents and energetic kids

Hello. Currently conditions are best for sky watching. Except for a few passing clouds, we can enjoy beautiful sky in the night. I got opportunity to show kids and elders the wonders of sky on the eve of 8th December when Ayurveda Vyaspeeth, Parbhani arranged a sky watching session. For this, first of all I thank Dr. Kanhe madam, Dr. Sandeep Chavan sir and their team, the organizers, the kids and also their parents. Here I would like to share which wonders we did enjoy and what fun we had. Recently I had taken such sessions for three consecutive days in Aurangabad, but the sky was not this clear there. On 8th December, the sky was so clear.

When some kids were still to come, we observed an interesting object. From north, a bright artificial satellite was visible. It was as bright as Jupiter and it was slowly moving towards East. It was visible for five- six minutes and then it went to South- East side and got out of sight. When I saw its speed and brightness, I felt this must be International Space Station- ISS. On the next day, I checked its timing and visibility location and then it was confirmed! So the kids who had come on time could also see the space station!

We started telescopic observation from Saturn. Everyone could enjoy its rings! Then we saw Jupiter and its four moons. Also within short time, we could also experience change in positions of the moons. Mars was in opposition recently (i.e. Sun- Earth- Mars in one line) and therefore it is much closer to the earth- at around 7.5 crore kms. Its red disk was visible in the telescope. The most beautiful object was Krittika cluster- Pleiades M45. Kids counted number of stars there. This cluster is located around 400 light years from us. That means the light departed from the cluster reaches us after 400 years. The light that travels 3 lac kilometers in a second! That means the stars we observe there are actually from the year 1600!

While observing this so much vast distance and stars much greater than Sun- forget our earth- makes us speechless. It is something like meditation. We always have delusions about us like I am someone special, this or that. Or my sorrow is greatest in the world. But when we see this infinitely vast sky, these delusions fade away! After the Pleiades, we saw the most thrilling objects for many- the Moon. Initially we saw with 20 magnification and later on also 50 magnification. Anytime one sees it, it is just beautiful and everyone likes it!