06 January 2011

ABAA relocation

As you are all aware that due to lack of space in the basement, JNP has provided us with a new independent place. The work on the new place was going on for some time now and its finished.

The New location is at the entrance of JNP near Ticket counter.

ABAA will move to the new place on Sunday, 9th January.

Due to this ABAA will not have ATM and Discussion sessions on 9th and 16th of January. The activities will resume from 23rd of January.

Looking forward for your continued support and participation.

Thank you.

ABAA

04 January 2011

Star Party at ShivanahaLLi

Hi,
Wish you all a very happy new year.
As planned last week, ABAA conducted a star party for its members on Jan 1st night. There were about 20 participants. The crowd was a mix of first timers to very experienced amateur astronomers.
The venue was ShivanahaLLi, a village near Bhannerghatta national park. ShivanahaLLi has been one of the primary observing sites for ABAA members since 25 years and it promises excellent southern skies.
The highlight of the night were Akarsh's 17.5" reflector telescope and Anil's 4" refractor telescope. The participants enjoyed beautiful sights of planets, nebulae, galaxies and star clusters through the telescopes.
There were two astrophotography setups. One prime focus and another piggy back setup. Participants were given a demo as to how to photograph the celestial wonders.
Unfortunately the clouds moved in by midnight and dint clear up till early morning.


The objects observed:
Planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Venus
Nebulae: M42, M43, M78
Open Clusters: M41, M35, M45, M36, M37, M38
Glalaxies: Andromeda Galaxy, M32
and so on.

We like to thank Akarsh Simha for his telescope, Ramakrishna Mission for letting us use their premises and Leela madam for food.
We request the participants to give their feedback on this observation session.