29 November 2010
27 November 2010
Kalpaneya Yatre 2010
Kalpaneya Yatre 2010 is a first-of-its-kind ten-day astronomy festival for lay audiences, taking place on the grounds of the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bangalore, during November 26 – December 5, 2010.
Astronomy-based exhibits and models, sky watching, interactive experiments, activity corners, face-to-face interactions with astrophysicists, lectures, films, and art activities by children are among the offerings. The exhibition is in Kannada and English. The festival is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Bangalore
Association for Science Education, Srishti School of Art, Design and Techonolgy, Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Indian Space Research Organisation, and Raman Research Institute.
website: kalpaneyayatre.org
The lectures, theatre, film and art events are listed below.
Events at Kalpaneya Yatre:
===================== Public Lectures ========================
26 Nov Yaaminiya Yaatrikaru 3:30pm Vishwanath Palahalli (IIA)
28 Nov Cauldrons of Creation: How Stars Live and die 3:00pm Firoza Sutaria (IIA)
29 Nov Time for a Change: Astronomy & the Indian Calendar 4:00pm TV Venkateswaran (Vigyan Prasar)
30 Nov Stories of Chandrayan 4:00pm Shivakumar (ISTRAC)
1 Dec Planets Across the Universe: the Inhospitable & the Habitable? 3:30pm Rathnasree Nandivada (Delhi Planetarium)
2 Dec The Violent Universe 3:30pm Biman Nath (RRI)
3 Dec The Mysterious Universe 3:30pm G Srinivasan
4 Dec Hrithik, 8-legged Freaks from Space, and Us: The Search for Life in the Cosmos 3:30pm Jayant Murthy (IIA)
==============Art and Astronomy =====================
CHINNARA CHANDRAYANA & SATELLITE STORIES by children
AWE AND WONDER: An evening with artists and astronomers
27th November 5.30 - 7.30 pm
Artist Rohini Devasher and amateur astronomer Naveen Nanjundappa will
share their work.
Rohini is an artist from Delhi who has exhibited throughout India and internationally. Fascinated by science fiction, she has created a body of work using print media and drawing evoking the bizarre possibilities of life forms based on her research into organic growth patterns. However, about a year ago she made a brave shift in her practice. An
amateur astronomer herself, she decided to investigate her own and other people's fascination with the night sky. She will present her research adventure which took her eclipse chasing to Kerala and to the Himalaya Hanle Observatory but most significantly to the heart of many people's personal connection to the planets and stars which they become familiar with through stargazing.
Naveen is from Bangalore and is Vice-President of the Bangalore Astronomical Society. Like most people in BAS he spends his evenings on his roof observing the night sky and sharing his observations with the BAS community. Besides this, he has for many years found ways to bring huge numbers of other people some sense of where we are in the universe through skywatching activities. These include his colossal '30 Days of Astronomy' project done at virtually no cost and with very little fanfare. He will talk about his own motivations for being an astronomer
and wanting to share telescope observing with others.
City life has tended to disconnect people from astronomical events. Naveen and Rohini will present and then discuss with the audience what it is to be aware of the skies. Afterwards you are invited outside for skywatching and to experience Rohini's sound installation in the Planetarium garden.
=======================Theatre====================
Unscientific Storytelling
A multimedia performative presentation of stories from science (50 min)
27th November, 3.30 pm
28th November, 5.30 pm
Lecture Hall 1
Unscientific Storytelling is an interwoven and fragmented narrative of our personal connections to science and the ways it permeates our micro and macrospheres.
The performance broadly explores the role of imagination and inquiry in science education and the role of scientists' biographies in understanding their dialogue with science.
Developed by Gauri Sanghi, Rajasee Ray and Deepak Srinivasan
Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology
*Gauri Sanghi & Rajasee Ray *are students of design at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology. *Deepak Srinivasan* is an artist, media practitioner, researcher, facilitator.
===================== Film Festival =========================
A Film festival curated by Experimenta Film Society
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2010
Space, The Final Frontier (65mins)
1. Jordan Belson ‘Allures’ USA 1961
2. Telenews ‘Trailblazer in Space’ USA 1961 35mm (on DVD) sound b/w 9min
3. Charles & Ray Eames ‘Powers of Ten’ USA 1977 16mm on DVD colour sound
9mins
4.Khodataev, Komisarenko & Merkulov ‘Interplanetary Revolution’ Soviet
Russia 1924 DVD b/w silent 8mins
5. Space and India, Films Division documentary India 16mm colour sound
15mins
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2010
A Wonderful New World (65mins)
1. Ford ‘A Wonderful New World of Fords’ USA 1960
2. Pramod Pati ‘Explorer’ India 1968, 35mm, b/w, sound, 8mins
3. Superstudio ‘Supersurface’ Italy 1972 DVD colour sound 8mins
4. Neil Beloufa 'Kempinski' France 2007 miniDV colour sound 13.58mins
5. Mika Taanila ‘Futuro - a new stance for tomorrow’ Finland/Suomi 1998
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2010
‘Om Dar-B-Dar’ (101mins) **
Kamal Swaroop’s ‘Om Dar-B-Dar’ India 1988 35mm Sound Colour 101 mins Hindi
Om-Dar-Ba-Dar is a fantastical portrait of life in a mythical small town. Om is involved in science, but is also attracted to magic and religion. Above all it seems as if his only outstanding skill is his ability to hold his breath underwater for a long time.
** The filmmaker Kamal Swaroop will be present at the screening.
18 November 2010
Antimatter trapped by LHC
Scientists at LHC claim to have trapped a large number of anti-hydrogen atoms that too with a long life (read the article to know how many were trapped and how long they lived!)
The discovery has to potential to lead us to a better understanding of the world we live in . . . and just how everything we know of was created!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11773791
The discovery has to potential to lead us to a better understanding of the world we live in . . . and just how everything we know of was created!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11773791
15 November 2010
Green Laser - something to know
Many of us use the green laser as a very useful tool in star parties and in teaching newbies to learn the constellations. But there are certain things one should know about the dangers involved with this useful "toy". Here is an informative link:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/observingblog/99956999.html
Let us take care to use this useful instrument safely!
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/observingblog/99956999.html
Let us take care to use this useful instrument safely!
09 November 2010
Updates on comet Ikeya-Mukarami
All eyes are now on the newly found comet Ikeya-Mukarami (C/2010 V1).
The comet is now located in Virgo and is shining with a brightness of Mag 9 (which means it will be visible through telescopes and not be visible to the naked eye). It currently has a 3' coma (about 1/10th the size of the full moon).
The most recently available orbit indicates that the comet has already passed perihelion, and is just now emerging into the morning sky following conjunction with the sun. It spends the next several months climbing higher into the morning sky, until it reaches opposition at the end of May 2011. A "normal" brightness behavior would suggest that the comet could be visually detectable for a long time, fading only to about 11th magnitude by the time it is at opposition.
There is, however, more and more evidence that indicates the comet has recently undergone an outburst. Observer Alan Hale notes that on November 8 it appeared about half a magnitude fainter, and was distinctly less condensed, than it was on the 4th.
It is thus somewhat likely that it might fade away fairly quickly. Because the comet is traveling in a low-inclination direct orbit it is also possible that it is a short-period object, and if that turns out to be true it is conceivable that it might be found identical to some comet observed in the past.
The comet is currently located just over a degree south of Saturn. According to latest orbital elements, here are the predictions:
Its elongation will slowly increase over the coming days.
It will travel to the east-southeast through Virgo
It will pass some two degrees northeast of the bright star Spica by third week of November.
It crosses into Libra shortly after mid-December and then into northern Scorpius during the latter part of January 2011.
It will reach its stationary point in early April
It will reach Opposition by end of May.
A "normal" brightness behavior would suggest only a half-magnitude or so of fading from its present brightness by the end of 2010 and a still relatively bright 11th magnitude when the comet is near opposition, however the outburst scenario that is starting to look increasingly likely suggests a fairly rapid fading during the coming weeks, and it may well be beyond the range of visual detectability by the end of this year.
Here are some pics of this fresh comet...
The comet:
http://www.spaceobs.org/images/C2010V1-crop-web.jpg
Widefield:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VJxlsSAndzP73wp8f-Yjt17FIMLW8U1-gFbgUYeKtZKR4TZCgc2XfyvQcU0NhyFHh1wiM5ZqufH57tddZW3av1I3CXOb7dkzYM3_HZ7O1H-nEKcS4ptmzIP_sj94CINr3hYeCuy6cYI/s1600/Ikeya-Murakami+7nov10_FBroms.jpg
A short video of the evolution of the comet over the last few days:
http://remanzacco.blogspot.com/2010/11/evolution-of-morphology-of-comet-c2010.html
More info on the comet here:
http://www.earthriseinstitute.org/coms48.html#481
Regards,
Keerthi.
The comet is now located in Virgo and is shining with a brightness of Mag 9 (which means it will be visible through telescopes and not be visible to the naked eye). It currently has a 3' coma (about 1/10th the size of the full moon).
The most recently available orbit indicates that the comet has already passed perihelion, and is just now emerging into the morning sky following conjunction with the sun. It spends the next several months climbing higher into the morning sky, until it reaches opposition at the end of May 2011. A "normal" brightness behavior would suggest that the comet could be visually detectable for a long time, fading only to about 11th magnitude by the time it is at opposition.
There is, however, more and more evidence that indicates the comet has recently undergone an outburst. Observer Alan Hale notes that on November 8 it appeared about half a magnitude fainter, and was distinctly less condensed, than it was on the 4th.
It is thus somewhat likely that it might fade away fairly quickly. Because the comet is traveling in a low-inclination direct orbit it is also possible that it is a short-period object, and if that turns out to be true it is conceivable that it might be found identical to some comet observed in the past.
The comet is currently located just over a degree south of Saturn. According to latest orbital elements, here are the predictions:
Its elongation will slowly increase over the coming days.
It will travel to the east-southeast through Virgo
It will pass some two degrees northeast of the bright star Spica by third week of November.
It crosses into Libra shortly after mid-December and then into northern Scorpius during the latter part of January 2011.
It will reach its stationary point in early April
It will reach Opposition by end of May.
A "normal" brightness behavior would suggest only a half-magnitude or so of fading from its present brightness by the end of 2010 and a still relatively bright 11th magnitude when the comet is near opposition, however the outburst scenario that is starting to look increasingly likely suggests a fairly rapid fading during the coming weeks, and it may well be beyond the range of visual detectability by the end of this year.
Here are some pics of this fresh comet...
The comet:
http://www.spaceobs.org/images/C2010V1-crop-web.jpg
Widefield:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VJxlsSAndzP73wp8f-Yjt17FIMLW8U1-gFbgUYeKtZKR4TZCgc2XfyvQcU0NhyFHh1wiM5ZqufH57tddZW3av1I3CXOb7dkzYM3_HZ7O1H-nEKcS4ptmzIP_sj94CINr3hYeCuy6cYI/s1600/Ikeya-Murakami+7nov10_FBroms.jpg
A short video of the evolution of the comet over the last few days:
http://remanzacco.blogspot.com/2010/11/evolution-of-morphology-of-comet-c2010.html
More info on the comet here:
http://www.earthriseinstitute.org/coms48.html#481
Regards,
Keerthi.
06 November 2010
Sky charts for C/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami) comet
Here are few approximate reference sky charts for the spotting comet C/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami). As the comet is bright, just scan the area shown in the sky charts, and comet should be in the field. Hope for clear skies. The comet can be spotted with binoculars or telescope in the early morning, in the constellation of Virgo. Charts are below rise times of comet C/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami)
Date: Rise(IST)
08 Nov 2010: 03:58:35
09 Nov 2010: 03:57:30
10 Nov 2010: 03:56:24
11 Nov 2010: 03:55:18
12 Nov 2010: 03:54:12
13 Nov 2010: 03:53:05
14 Nov 2010: 03:51:57
15 Nov 2010: 03:50:50
16 Nov 2010: 03:49:42
17 Nov 2010: 03:48:33
18 Nov 2010: 03:47:24
19 Nov 2010: 03:46:15
20 Nov 2010: 03:45:05
21 Nov 2010: 03:43:55
22 Nov 2010: 03:42:44
23 Nov 2010: 03:41:33
24 Nov 2010: 03:40:22
25 Nov 2010: 03:39:10
26 Nov 2010: 03:37:57
27 Nov 2010: 03:36:44
28 Nov 2010: 03:35:31
29 Nov 2010: 03:34:17
30 Nov 2010: 03:33:02
C/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami) on Nov 8
C/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami) on Nov 11th
C/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami) on Nov 16th
C/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami) on Nov 19th
C/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami) Nov 23rd
C/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami) Nov 27th
05 November 2010
New comet sighted using the good old technique - for a change!
This is an astroalert from Sky & Telescope. If sky is clear in the next couple of days those with binocs/small scopes should be able to spot this. Though it won't be an exciting sight, worth trying!!
regards,
Chandrainsky
Two observers in Japan have independently spotted an 8th-magnitude comet, low in the eastern sky just before before dawn. Kaoru Ikeya spotted the comet with his 25-cm (10-inch) reflector at 39x, while Shigeki Murakami used a 46-cm (18-inch) reflector at 78x, as reported in IAU Circular 9175 of November 3rd from the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT),.
What's truly astonishing is that both Ikeya and Murakami did it the old-fashioned way: by looking into the eyepiece of a telescope! Use of the time-honored technique has become a rarity in this age of powerful professional surveys and digital imaging techniques.
Brian G. Marsden (Minor Planet Center) has calculated a preliminary orbit for the comet, which is officially designated C/2010 V1. It is moving in a parabolic orbit and is just past perihelion, at 1.7 astronomical units from the Sun (that is, well outside the orbit of Mars). So while this comet won't be getting any brighter in the coming weeks, it should stay within reach of binoculars as it moves slowly southeastward across Virgo. On November 4th, J. J. Gonzales in Spain and Carl Hergenrother in Arizona called it roughly magnitude 7.5 in their binoculars, while Alan Hale in New Mexico put it at 9.0. To all three observers, it resembled a fuzzy round glow with no tail.
The following ephemeris gives the comet's coordinates (equinox 2000.0) at 0 hours Universal Time on selected dates and its angular elongation from the Sun.
Comet Ikeya-Murakami
Date
2010 R. A.
h m Dec.
o ' Elong.
o
Nov. 5 12 38.0 -02 26 32.6
Nov. 7 12 43.1 -03 06 33.2
Nov. 9 12 48.2 -03 47 33.8
Nov. 11 12 53.3 -04 27 34.4
Nov. 13 12 58.3 -05 06 35.0
Nov. 15 13 03.4 -05 46 35.6
Be sure to check the online version of this AstroAlert on Sky & Telescope's website for updates when the orbit is improved:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/resources/proamcollab/astroalert/
Also stay tuned to our website's observing highlights. Good luck, and clear skies!
Roger W. Sinnott
Senior Contributing Editor
Sky & Telescope
regards,
Chandrainsky
Two observers in Japan have independently spotted an 8th-magnitude comet, low in the eastern sky just before before dawn. Kaoru Ikeya spotted the comet with his 25-cm (10-inch) reflector at 39x, while Shigeki Murakami used a 46-cm (18-inch) reflector at 78x, as reported in IAU Circular 9175 of November 3rd from the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT),.
What's truly astonishing is that both Ikeya and Murakami did it the old-fashioned way: by looking into the eyepiece of a telescope! Use of the time-honored technique has become a rarity in this age of powerful professional surveys and digital imaging techniques.
Brian G. Marsden (Minor Planet Center) has calculated a preliminary orbit for the comet, which is officially designated C/2010 V1. It is moving in a parabolic orbit and is just past perihelion, at 1.7 astronomical units from the Sun (that is, well outside the orbit of Mars). So while this comet won't be getting any brighter in the coming weeks, it should stay within reach of binoculars as it moves slowly southeastward across Virgo. On November 4th, J. J. Gonzales in Spain and Carl Hergenrother in Arizona called it roughly magnitude 7.5 in their binoculars, while Alan Hale in New Mexico put it at 9.0. To all three observers, it resembled a fuzzy round glow with no tail.
The following ephemeris gives the comet's coordinates (equinox 2000.0) at 0 hours Universal Time on selected dates and its angular elongation from the Sun.
Comet Ikeya-Murakami
Date
2010 R. A.
h m Dec.
o ' Elong.
o
Nov. 5 12 38.0 -02 26 32.6
Nov. 7 12 43.1 -03 06 33.2
Nov. 9 12 48.2 -03 47 33.8
Nov. 11 12 53.3 -04 27 34.4
Nov. 13 12 58.3 -05 06 35.0
Nov. 15 13 03.4 -05 46 35.6
Be sure to check the online version of this AstroAlert on Sky & Telescope's website for updates when the orbit is improved:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/resources/proamcollab/astroalert/
Also stay tuned to our website's observing highlights. Good luck, and clear skies!
Roger W. Sinnott
Senior Contributing Editor
Sky & Telescope
01 November 2010
Planets for the Month
Mercury: Mercury will be close to the Sun in the western horizon and its only after 15th of November that Mercury will be little easy to detect in the evening sky after sunset.
On 20th Mercury will be 1degree and 40 minutes of red planet Mars. The planet Mars will be north east of Mercury.
| Date | Set |
| 01/11/10 | 06:25:00 PM |
| 11/11/10 | 06:43:00 PM |
| 21/11/10 | 07:03:00 PM |
Venus: Venus will be in a good altitude to observe from second week of November. In the constellation of Virgo Venus will be in thin crescent phase and towards the end of the month, about 20 percent of the planet will be illuminated.
| Date | Rise |
| 01/11/10 | 05:51:00 AM |
| 11/11/10 | 04:53:00 AM |
| 21/11/10 | 04:10:00 AM |
Mars: Mars will be visible in the western just after sunset. As the planet is close to the Sun, it will be difficult to make any detailed observation of the planet.
| Date | Set |
| 01/11/10 | 07:22:00 PM |
| 11/11/10 | 07:12:00 PM |
| 21/11/10 | 07:02:00 PM |
Jupiter and Uranus: These two planets are well placed for observations as they will be close to Zenith at the time of sunset. Both planets will remain in this favorable position for observations all month.
Saturn: Saturn in now a morning planet. It will be well placed for observation in the later part of the month as it will rise to a comfortable altitude before twilight.
| Date | Rise |
| 01/11/10 | 04:24:00 AM |
| 11/11/10 | 03:49:00 AM |
| 21/11/10 | 03:14:00 AM |
Neptune: Neptune in the constellation of Capricornus is also well placed for observations.
| Date | Set |
| 01/11/10 | 01:22:00 AM |
| 11/11/10 | 12:43:00 AM |
| 21/11/10 | 12:04:00 AM |
Phases of Moon:
New moon: 06/11/10
First quarter: 13/11/10
Full moon: 21/11/10
Last quarter: 28/11/10
Sun: The Sun will be in the constellation of Libra most part of the month and will move to Scorpio at the end of the month.
Leonids Meteor Shower:
This year there is some good news and little bad news regarding the Leonids shower. First the good news, the Maximum of the Leonids this year will happen at 2:45am IST on 18th November, making it a high probability of observing large number of meteors. Little bad news is that Moon will be at the western horizon, Moon will be close to Full phase and on 18th it will be bright with 85 percent illuminated, it will set at 3:15am. For best results its best to observe on 17th to 19th . Leo will rise at 12am.
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