URANUS RETROGRADE MOTION 2023

Uranus is in retrograde motion now, starting from 30th Aug 2023. All planets move from west to east with reference to stars, this is the direct motion. Months before reaching the opposition, we notice the daily angular motion of the outer planet, in this case, Uranus keeps reducing and at a point it appears stationary. The planet’s motion will be eastward until the stationary point.

After this we see the planet moving westward with respect to stars and the angular motion also increase but in westward direction. This movement, westward, we call it retrograde motion.

Months after Opposition, the opposition of Uranus will take place on 13^th November 2023, again we observe the angular motion reducing and becoming stationary at one point, this will be Jan 28th 2024, and the planet will start moving eastward again with slowly increasing in angular motion as days passes.

Uranus will move 4 degrees west in the retrograde motion before turning east again.

Using binocular or telescope you can track the movement and measure the changes. Even with necked eye it is possible but interval of each observation should be far enough (in days) to notice the changes.

If you pick delta and rho Arietis, you can notice the movement of Uranus from delta to rho…

 

Happy Observing 

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Best Times to See Milky Way Galaxy from India

The Milky Way is one of the brightest and famous arms of our galaxy. This is in the region of Scorpius and Sagittarius constellations, this region is also the center of our galaxy. It is a magnificent view when seen under dark skies away from the city light pollution. The Milky Way will appear as a hazy band in the sky, rich with stars, with the brightest region at Sagittarius and dimmer toward north. Many people mistake it for clouds, if you get the doubt, wait for some time and the Milky Way will move along with the stars.

The band of the Milky Way extends from constellations Sagittarius, Sagitta, Cygnus, Cassiopeia to Perseus in the north. To enjoy the full Milky Way band, a place with an unobstructed view of the horizons is essential.        

The Milky Way will be in opposition in the middle of June, that means as the Sun is setting in the west, the Milky Way will be rising in the east. June and July are the best months to enjoy the Milky Way all through the night. I thought making this list of rise, meridian transit and set times of the Milky Way would be useful, so I made one.

Here are the Times for viewing the Milky Way.  

June 15: The Milky Way will rise at 7pm, it will reach meridian, highest altitude in the sky, at midnight and the Milky Way  will set at 5:30am. The Milky Way will be visible all night. 

July 15: The Milky Way will rise at 5pm, reach meridian, highest altitude in the sky at 10:30pm and the Milky Way will set at 3:45pm.

August 15: Milky way will be at meridian, highest altitude in the sky at 8:30pm and the Milky Way will set at 2am.

September 15: By the time the Sun sets, the Milky Way will be at meridian, highest altitude in the sky and it will set at midnight.

October 15: Milky Way will set at 9:30pm.

November 15: Milky Way will set at 7:30pm.

The Sun will be in Sagittarius in December so the Milky Way is not visible. 

Jan 15: The Milky Way will rise at 5am, in twilight.

Feb 15: The Milky Way will rise at 3am.

March 15: The Milky Way will rise at 1am.

April 15: The Milky Way will rise at 11pm and will reach meridian, highest altitude at 4:30am.

May15: The Milky Way will rise at 9pm and it will reach meridian, highest altitude at 2:30am.

As the best months to view the Milky Way galaxy are in the months of June and July, this will make it difficult for south India due to the arrival of Monsoon. To see the band full night or to photograph the band, it is better to move to places where the monsoon has not yet reached. 

You can use the list when going on a trek in a remote place. Check the times during the month and enjoy the view of the Milky Way. 

     

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Mercury in the evening Sky

In the evening sky, low in the horizon, if we carefully look we can find the smallest planet in our solar system. After sunset, in a place where there are no obstruction like buildings or trees, in this unobstructed view of the western horizon we can spot planet mercury. Since mercury orbits close to the sun we can only find the planets close to the horizon in evening or morning skies.

During its orbit around the sun there are two favorable points where we can observe the planet. This is the maximum separation of angle between Sun and planet. This point of maximum separation is called Greatest elongation. For planet mercury this greatest elongation angle is between 18 degrees to 28 degrees. This is the reason why most people miss the planet, since it is so close to horizon.

On November 6^th the planet will reach greatest elongation giving us a good opportunity to catch a glimpse of this planet with naked eye, binoculars and telescopes. The angle for this elongation is 23 degrees, this means just after sunset the planet will be 23degrees above western horizon.

Spot planet after sunset in western sky.

The planet will be at a magnitude of -0.2, although it is bright the drawback is that it is immersed in twilight making it difficult to spot but as twilight fades its easy to spot.

With a telescope we can see the gibbous phase of mercury with an angular size of 6min of arc. The planet will be in half phase on 11^th of November and from there on the illuminated side of mercury will start decreasing. This is a nice time to see and enjoy and also understand the phases and orbit of mercury. Since the planet is coming closer to earth the angular size will keep increasing and it will be 9mins of arc before the planet sinks into the glare of the sun and then reach inferior conjunction on 27^th of November.

Clear Skies.

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July Total Lunar Eclipse

There are very few astronomical events for which we need not leave our house, or have telescopes, filters or worry about light pollution. One such event is Lunar eclipse, an astronomical event that can be seen from where we live and without any optical aid or equipment.  

This time on 27th July the eclipse happens when moon is high in the sky so no worries of buildings and trees blocking the view.  

Here are the times of the eclipse. Moon will enter Penumbral shadow at 10:45pm on 27th July this is hard to notice as the change in brightness is very less. Moon will start entering the Umbral shadow at 11:55pm, partial eclipse phase, from here we easily see the change in brightness. Moon will be completely inside Umbral shadow from 1:00am, here we say Moon is in total eclipse phase.

 The totality will end at 2:44am when Moon will start becoming brighter. As moon comes out of totality we can see partial eclipse phase as some portion of Moon will be in dark and other will be in brightness. Moon will come out of Partial phase at 3:45am. The Moon will come out of Penumbral shadow at 4:48am.

We urge you watch this amazing celestial show which is viable from all our India

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Watch Lunar Eclipse at Planetarium, Bangalore

Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium is organizing Lunar Eclipse viewing at planetarium campus, Bangalore. Interested public can visit planetarium and enjoy the eclipse and get questions answered about eclipse and astronomy.

The event is from 6:15pm to 8:45pm on January 31st. 2018. Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers (A.B.A.A) members will also be there to help public understand and enjoy the eclipse.

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Venus Watch at ABAA

After I announced about Venus being in its brightest phase many people showed interest in looking at Venus through telescope following Sunday. On Sunday we were happy to see public and members coming in large numbers to watch Venus in crescent phase. After sunset we put the telescope out and focused on to Venus, members of ABAA were present there in showing and explaining all about Venus. Using the 6 inch telescope of ABAA people saw amazing sight of the crescent phase, and immediate reaction of most people was “is it Moon?”, that lead to discussions and members helped them in getting idea of orbits and phases of inner planets.

ABAA is open on all Sundays from 5:30pm and always ready to show the celestial wonders to people and members showing interest. People can come and see moon and planets, learn about them and also learn about telescopes and how to use them. Observing through a telescope has steep learning curve, its best to learn about them before buying or going out for observing and ABAA can really help in that section. ABAA can help in choosing the best telescope for you or help you in building your own telescope, you can come to ABAA on any Sunday evening and discuss your needs.

Here are photos of Sunday sessions of Venus watch

    

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ABAA NEWS: Discussion on Altazimuth CO-Ordinate System

Every Sunday evening we meet at ABAA and discuss topics related to astronomy. This Sunday, 7th October, members had a discussion on Altazimuth coordinate system and using telescopes on altazimuth mount. Here are few photos of the session.

Anybody who is interested in Astronomy and/or telescope making can join ABAA's sessions every Sunday after 5:30pm, All are welcome.

ABAA members discussing altazimuth coordinate system

ABAA member Sanath Kumar taking questions from other members 

ABAA members during altazimuth coordinate system discussion

ABAA member Anirudh Mirmira explaining concept of Altaz co ordinate system

ABAA member Leela Kalyanaraman summarizing the concepts 

ABAA member Ravindra Aradhya explaining concept of dobsonian telescope

Members during discussion

Jayanth Basavarajaiah, President of ABAA involved in explanations 

ABAA members demonstrating pointing of dobsonian telescope

ABAA members Anirudh Mirmira and Ravindra Aradhya in discussion session

ABAA members explaining Altitude in dobsonian telescope

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