New light for JYOTHI KENDRIYA VIDYALA telescope by Anil, ABAA.

As we all know from the last post, Anil, member of ABAA, got the JYOTHI KENDRIYA VIDYALA telescope back to observing state and his work on the images of Annular eclipse 2010. He has completely redesigned the telescope with lots of innovation. Here is the link to his blog where you can read in detail the process involved in rebuilding the JYOTHI KENDRIYA VIDYALA telescope. You can also read about his 4" Refractor.

You can goto Anil's blog by clicking here. Great Work Anil.

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ABAA outreach at JYOTHI KENDRIYA VIDYALA

ABAA. Conducted the outreach program at JYOTHI KENDRIYA VIDYALA, Kanakapura road, Bangalore on the 23rd of Jan. The program was aimed at high school students. Mr Prakash Subbanna gave the introduction and it was followed by astronomy talk by Chandrashekar G.

After the talk students got see the Moon, Jupiter, Mars, open clusters through telescopes of ABAA members and also from JKV's telescope. ABAA would like to thank JKV's physics teacher Miss. Nagrathna for organizing the session.

The telescope at JKV was reconditioned and modified by Anil. The school can now use it show the celestial bodies to the students. ABAA always looks forward for such collaboration with Schools and Colleges.

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Composite Image of Various stages of Annular Eclipse

Here is a composite of 37 images of various stages of Annular Eclipse 2010 taken from Dhanushkodi by Mr Prakash Subbanna, Vice President, ABAA. The Photos were taken through Canon 50D with 400mm lens. The parabolic motion of the Sun in the composite image is made by Mr Prakash to show only the progression of various stages of the annular eclipse, it should not be confused with the actual motion of the Sun. Please Click on the Image to see larger version.

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Photos of Annular Eclipse 2010 by Dilip Kumar

Here are the photos of Annular Solar Eclipse of January 15, 2010 taken from Dhanushkodi, Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu. These photos were taken by veteran amateur astronomer and astrophotographer Mr Dilip Kumar. Everyone would have seen his fantastic image of Total Solar Eclipse of 1995, if not seen please visit ABAA. Total Solar Eclipse, Partial Solar Eclipse, Lunar Eclipse and now Annular Solar Eclipse, Dilip has all types of Eclipse in his pocket now. Congratulation Dilip.

Click Here for full set of Photos by Dilip Kumar.

Equipment: 6" Maksutov f/10, on equatorial mount, with 2.5" dia. Seymor filter, prime focus, with Nikon D80 camera. Exp. 1/60 at 1600ASA.

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Annular Solar Eclipse 2010 report and photos by Keerthi Kiran

Here is the report and Photos put together by Keerthi Kiran, Member of ABAA.

We had a wonderful time in Rameshwaram - Dhanushkodi. The Annular Eclipse trip was a huge success and we got some amazing views. Around 50 members of ABAA (Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers) were present at the venue. Activities performed were

1. Viewing the eclipse through Solar filters

2. Photographing the eclipse

3. Videographing the eclipse

4. Measure variation in light intensity and temperature during the eclipse

Equipments used:

100-400L lens

5"Maksutov

50-500mm lens

6" Maksutov

6" f/7 Equatorial

8" f/8 Equatorial

6" f/8 Dobsonian

Welding Helmet

Many Nikon Film SLRs

Nikon D50 DSLR

Canon 400D, 450D, 50D DSLRs

Handycams

Many digicams, solar goggles, welding glasses(#13) and so on.

Solar Filters Used:

Seymour Solar filter

Thousand Oaks solar filter

Baader Filter

Mylar filter

Here are some photos of the same. Please leave your comments:

Here are some photos of the setup and members:

Me with my Telescope...all set..

Lights...camera...action...

Public enjoying the Eclipse

Public having fun during Eclipse

hmmmm...improvisation..way to go Viji

I got a lot of support from many members of ABAA especially Mr. Subramanya who planned the logistics for the trip and also allowed me to take pictures through his 6" f/7 scope.

Subramanya with his telescope

Measurement of the change in light intensity was done by Jayanth and Rahul of ABAA.

The experiment was very successful. It was noted that the light intensity at the time of maximum eclipse was 11% as that of the full sun. This tallied with the photographical data of the illuminated sun (10.7%).

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Annular Solar Eclipse 2010 Photo by Naveen Balakrishna

Here are the photos of Annular Eclipse taken by Naveen Balakrishna, Jt. Secretary and Treasurer of ABAA, from Dhanushkodi, Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu. He used his 6 inch Newtonian telescope with Mylar filter to take these photos.

Click here for more photo of the ASE photos taken by Naveen.

Equipments used:

Canon EOS 300x with 100 ASA film

Canon EOS 400D

6 Inch telescope

Mylar filter

All are Prime focus pics

Shutter speed 1/4000 for all pics.

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Annular Solar Eclipse 2010 Photo by Anil

Here is a composite of verious stages of the Annular Eclipse 2010 as seen from Bangalore. As we know, it was a partial solar eclipse in Bangalore. Anil used Panasonic pvgs 180 camcorder mounted on a tripod with solar filter, to capture these images.

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Annular Eclipse 2010 a report and Photo from G Chandrashekar

Members of ABAA witnessed this celestial wonder from Rameswaram in the East Cost of India. The skies were just fantastic throughout the event with exceptional weather. The gathering was 50+ most of the time with occasional visitors (both local fishermen and tourists). A 5" telescope was setup entirely for the viewing purpose and people enjoyed the view of the orange disk with the distinct sunspots.

Annular Solar Eclipse Sequence 2010

The picture showing the entire event was taken by Chandrashekar of ABAA. The collage was prepared by our in-house Photoshop expert Anil. Totality (annularity!) as measured from the time in the photographs lasted for 9 minutes 30 seconds. I could not measure the exact duration of the entire eclipse since I missed photographing the first contact. I was caught on the wrong foot since I was setting up the 5" scope at that time. By extrapolating a bit from the pictures the event seems to have lasted 3 hours 52 minutes (probably a little more, others to confirm). Again, due to the unavoidable excitement of viewing the event through the telescope I missed to capture the exact moment of third contact on camera.

Regards,
Chandra

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Annular Solar Eclipse 2010 Photographs and Reports

Members from Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers(ABAA) had gone to Dhanushkodi, Rameshwaram to observe, Photograph and take readings of Annular Solar Eclipse on January 15th, 2010. Reports are starting to come, Mr Prakarsh Subbanna, Vice president of ABAA says "Most of the team ABAA members arrived at the viewing site which was located on the western sea shore just a few kms from Dhanushkodi. It was a spectacular site to watch and feel the difference in lowering of the temperature. ABAA team were successful in showing the eclipse to the visitors and fisherman around". Here are a set of photos taken by him More Photos and reports by members will be uploaded soon please visit again. (please click on the images for larger version)

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Annular Solar Eclipse January 15, 2010 [Partial Solar Eclipse in Bangalore and all parts of Karnataka]

After waiting for more than three decades, this month we have a chance to observe the Annular Eclipse. On January 15th, 2010 we will be able to watch the ASE from many cities in South India. Karnataka will witness the Eclipse as Partial Solar Eclipse, ABAA members will be visiting Rameshwaram which is very close to the central line to observe the event and photograph the Annular Solar Eclipse.

We all know that Annular eclipse takes place when the angular diameter of the Moon is less than that of the Sun.

We will examine the conditions of the Sun and Moon for this Eclipse.

On January 3rd Sun will be closest to Earth with approximate distance of 14,71,01,455 km and on 15th of January the Sun will have a distance of 14,71,53,269.484 km. Using the distance and diameter we can find out the angular size of the object. Distance of Sun we already know and the diameter of Sun is 1,392,000km, dividing diameter by distance and multiplying the result with 57.3 we get angular size of the Sun.

Angular size = (diameter / distance ) * 57.3

on 15th Sun will be at 14,71,53,269.484 km

the Angular size of Sun = (1,392,000/ 14,71,53,269.484) * 57.3

= 0.542 degrees

Applying the same for Moon

Diameter of Moon is 3474km and distance of Moon on 15th is 4,04,714km. Moon will be farthest from Earth on January 17th.

Angular size = (diameter / distance ) * 57.3

= (3474 / 4,04,714) * 57.3

= 0.4918 degrees

As we can see Moon's angular diameter is much smaller than that of the Sun, this results in Annular Eclipse.

Details for Bangalore(January 15, 2010 the Annular Solar Eclipse will be visible as a Partial Solar Eclipse in Bangalore, Karnataka and rest of India):

Start time : 11:17 51° 35' 47" East

Maximum : 13:17 53° 56' 21" West

End Time : 15:10 37° 50' 9" West

Sun coverage at maximum will be around 84% from Bangalore

As stated above, in all parts of Karnataka the the Eclipse will be a Partial Solar Eclipse. Below a list is given as a reference for start, maximum and end times[approximate] on January 15th 2010 for places in Karnataka.

Times in IST

Location	Start Time	Maximum	End Time
Bidar	11:31	13:26	15:13
Gulbarga	11:27	13:27	15:11
Bijapur	11:20	13:20	15:09
Belguam	11:14	13:14	15:06
Raichur	11:24	13:24	15:12
Bagalkot	11:19	13:19	15:09
Koppal	11:18	13:18	15:10
Gadag	11:17	13:17	15:09
Dharwad	11:14	13:20	15:08
Udupi	11:08	13:15	15:06
Shimoga	11:12	13:19	15:08
Bellary	11:19	13:24	15:11
Davangere	11:14	13:21	15:09
Chitradurga	11:15	13:22	15:10
Chikmagalur	11:11	13:18	15:08
Mangalore	11:07	13:15	15:06
Hassan	11:11	13:19	15:08
Tumkur	11:15	13:22	15:10
Mercara	11:09	13:17	15:07
Mysore	11:12	13:19	15:09
Chamarajanagar	11:12	13:20	15:09
Kolar	11:18	13:25	15:12

Here are details for few cities in India

INDIA( all Times in UT)

Location	Start Time	End Time	Maximum	Totality Duration
Ahmadabad	05:57:16.2	09:33:32.6	07:52:21.6
Ambasamudram	05:37:05.7	09:36:28.8	07:46:08.7	08m23s
Aruppukkottai	05:40:53.1	09:38:26.1	07:49:18.8	06m58s
Bangalore	05:46:31.4	09:41:07.4	07:53:29.7
Bombay	05:46:43.5	09:34:30.4	07:48:10.7
Calcutta	06:37:15.5	09:59:05.9	08:27:34.8
Delhi	06:23:15.8	09:40:59.6	08:09:10.3
Hyderabad	05:59:24.0	09:45:17.8	08:02:00.3
Jaipur	06:15:42.8	09:39:11.3	08:04:37.8
Kanpur	06:25:18.6	09:48:12.2	08:14:56.1
Karaikkudi	05:44:19.1	09:40:04.7	07:52:05.5	07m06s
Kumbakonam	05:48:10.5	09:41:55.6	07:55:08.5	04m02s
Lucknow	06:27:28.0	09:48:58.7	08:16:22.5
Madras	05:55:32.4	09:45:13.9	08:00:40.5
Madurai	05:41:47.0	09:38:56.7	07:50:03.5	03m18s
Nagappattinam	05:49:17.7	09:42:19.8	07:55:59.5	08m00s
Nagercoil	05:35:56.2	09:35:44.9	07:45:07.1	09m51s
Nagpur	06:09:58.8	09:47:09.6	08:07:46.4
New Delhi	06:23:04.2	09:41:00.7	08:09:06.0
Palayankottai	05:38:02.4	09:36:54.5	07:46:55.5	09m05s
Patna	06:34:42.2	09:55:27.8	08:23:51.9
Pudukkottai	05:45:04.3	09:40:29.0	07:52:42.1	05m03s
Pune	05:48:34.2	09:36:47.1	07:50:44.5
Quilon	05:34:31.1	09:35:19.6	07:43:58.5
Rajapalaiyam	05:38:56.2	09:37:32.6	07:47:42.9	03m34s
Sivakasi	05:39:47.2	09:37:55.7	07:48:24.9	05m47s
Thanjavur	05:47:02.9	09:41:25.1	07:54:15.8	03m36s
Tirunelveli	05:37:57.5	09:36:52.7	07:46:51.6	08m57s
Trivandrum	05:34:47.5	09:35:20.7	07:44:11.6	07m16s
Tuticorin	05:39:32.6	09:37:35.4	07:48:09.3	09m44s
Virudunagar	05:40:35.9	09:38:20.0	07:49:05.1	05m36s
Vishakhapatnam	06:14:29.9	09:52:15.1	08:13:35.9

Here is a list of Past and Future dates of Annular Eclipse that were and will be visible from India.

1025 Nov 23rd South India

1087 Aug 01 South India

1093 Sep 23rd South India

1107 Dec 16th Middle India

1119 May 11 Middle India

1130 Oct 4th South India

1147 Oct 26th Middle India

1148 Oct 20th Middle India

1162 Jan 17th North India

1174 Nov 26th North India

1184 Nov 05th South India

1189 Feb 17th Middle India

1191 Jun 23rd Middle India

1206 Mar 11th North India

1217 Aug 04th North India

1290 Sep 05 North India

1292 Jan 21st North India

1344 Oct 7th North India

1376 Jul 17th South India

1483 May 18th North India

1474 Oct 11th North India

1517 Jun 19th South India

1528 Nov 12th Middle India

1556 Nov 02 South India

1561 Feb 14th North India

1590 Jul 31 North India

1610 Dec 15th South India

1615 March 29 South India

1644 Sep 01 North India

1665 Jan 16th Middle India

1676 Jun 11th South India

1692 Feb 17th North India

1719 Feb 19th North India

1720 Aug 4th North India

1746 Mar 22nd North India

1758 Dec 30 Middle India

1763 Apr 13th North India

1774 Mar 12th Middle India

1793 Sep 05th North India

1840 Mar 04th South India

1847 Oct 09th Middle India

1857 Sep 18th North India

1872 Jun 06th South India

1890 Jun 17th North India

1901 Nov 11th South India

1933 Aug 21st North India

1944 Jul 20th Middle India

1965 Nov 23rd North India

1976 Apr 29th North India

2010 Jan 15th Sout India

2019 Dec 26 South India

2020 Jun 21st North India

2031 May 21 South India

2074 Jan 27 South to North

2085 Jun 22nd South India

Happy Observing and Clear skies

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COORG SKY SHOW

The Sky show at Field Marshal Cariappa College, Madikeri, on 29th and 30th December 2009 was mixed bag. It was an event managed by TEAM ABAA, with lecture by Chandrashekar, on Guide to night sky as a part of International inter-disciplinary conference of Astronomy.

Weather god did not permit us to do the show on day one. In fact it was raining...!!!

Day 2 was better with sky clearing up for about 2 hours after Sunset and we were able to show 300+ public the Moon & Jupiter.

People and the organizers were really pleased at the end of the show and have promised to have more sky shows in co ordination with ABAA.

2 telescopes were used, 8 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain and 4 inch refractor.

All in all a satisfactory outreach to the public of Madikeri.

TEAM ABAA: prakash subbanna, chandrashekar, anil and Mani.

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