COMET C/2024 G3(ATLAS) FROM BANGALORE

The most anticipated comet of the year successfully survived its close approach to the Sun on January 13th and even became a daylight comet. It was visible with small optical aids during the daytime, and many amateur astronomers managed to observe and photograph it under daylight conditions. Now, the comet is visible in the western evening skies during twilight hours.

The comet is still bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. To spot it, find a location with a clear horizon, free of obstructions like buildings or trees. This might be a bit challenging in cities like Bangalore. Just after sunset, start scanning the twilight sky for the comet. At first glance, it may appear as a dim, elongated, fuzzy object. As the sky gets darker, the comet will become more prominent. Binoculars can be helpful in spotting it, but remember to wait until the Sun has completely set below the horizon. The chart provided below will aid in locating and tracking the comet in the coming days.

The comet is currently approximately the same distance from us as the Sun—150,000,000 km—and this distance will continue to increase, causing the comet to appear dimmer. For those in Bangalore and nearby areas, the comet is well-placed in the sky; you only need a clear horizon. However, as the comet fades in the coming days and its brightness drops below magnitude 2, light pollution will become a significant factor. Try to observe it from a location with minimal light pollution.

Towards the end of the month, binoculars will be essential for spotting the comet. While it will appear slightly higher in the sky at sunset, it will also be dimmer. A dark sky and optical aids like binoculars or telescopes will greatly enhance your viewing experience at this time.

Bright comets are rare, but when they do appear, they offer a wealth of beauty and valuable insights into the formation of the solar system. Don't miss the opportunity to spot this rare visitor in the evening sky and enjoy the magnificent view.

Share

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 

Share

Comet PANSTARRS closest to Earth on July 14th

 

Comet PANSTARRS, C/2017 K2, will be closest to earth on 14th July 2022. The comet at its closest to earth will have a distance of 1.8AU or 269,276,167km in the constellation of Ophiuchus, this distance puts the comet beyond the planet Mars orbit.. The comet is bright enough to be seen in binoculars and small telescopes, the comet has a magnitude of 8. The comet PANSTARRS is well placed for observation, at the time of Sunset the comet will have an altitude of 45 degrees from the horizon, this gives plenty of time to observe, the comet will set at 3:45am.

Comet PANSTARRS, C/2017 K2, is easy to spot in the sky thanks to its closeness to the M10 globular cluster. The comet will be well within the field of view of binoculars, 20X80, until 18th July. Globular cluster M10 is a bright object at 6.6 magnitude, once M10 is the field it won’t be difficult to spot the fuzzy comet . The size of the comet will be roughly the size of M10. 

On 15th July the Comet PANSTARRS, C/2017 K2, will be closest to M10 with a separation of 25 arc minutes. At this small separation the comet and the globular cluster will be in the same field in the telescope, making it a wonderful sight and also to compare the brightness and size of the comet. Hope you all get a chance to view and photograph the comet. 

Share

Brightest asteroid Vesta in Opposition

 

The brightest asteroid Vesta is in opposition today, March 4^th 2021. It is easily visible through small binoculars even in the light polluted city conditions. Vesta will rise in the east as sun sets in the west. sun, earth and Vesta will be in the same line with earth at the center, this is called opposition. 

Vesta Opposition

Vesta is now placed in the constellation of Leo very close to the bright 3^rd magnitude star Theta Leonis. You can spot the asteroid Vesta just 1 degree 15 minutes north east of Theta Leonis. Around 8pm the asteroid will be well placed for spotting but if you have buildings or trees blocking the horizon then you may have to wait until 10pm to spot the asteroid.

Vesta in Leo

Looking through the binoculars or telescope the asteroid will appear as a star, with no hint of shape. This is because of the distance between the earth and Vesta which is now at 1.36 AU(203,453,379km) and the size to the asteroid is 262km in radius.

Vesta Position in Leo

Vesta will be closest to the earth on March 9 2021.

Following Vesta:

With a pair of binoculars or telescope you can notice the movement of Vesta. Choose a couple of stars in the field of view and make a sketch of the field or you can take a photo of the field. With regular observations over the days can show the movement of Vesta with non-moving stars in the field.

Vesta is moving fast at 1 minute of arc in March. If you continue to track Vesta every night or every couple of days you will notice that the distance moved by Vesta is slowing down and in middle of April 2021 Vesta will appear stationary for couple of days and slowly increase the speed as days follow.

Vesta tacking 

You will also notice that from March to April the asteroid Vesta will be moving towards western direction in the Sky, but from first week of May the asteroid will appear moving towards eastern direction in the sky. This is due to the fact that Vesta will be in retrograde motion until April and appear to move towards west and later it will start moving in east. 

Along with angular velocity and direction you will also notice that the asteroid Vesta magnitude also starts dropping. Now in March 2021 Vesta magnitude is 5.9 and post retrograde, that is after April the magnitude of Vesta will drop to 7.2 and it will keep dropping. You can notice this drop in brightness comparing with the stars you have chosen for reference.

Finding and tracking Vesta not only improves the skill of finding objects in the sky using star hopping, it will also make the hobby interesting helping in understanding the concepts like field of view, angular motion, retrograde motion and Magnitude system.

Good Luck Observing!

Share

Partial Solar Eclipse from Bangalore 21 June 2020

After the partial solar eclipse on December 26, 2019 which was visible from Bangalore, now after six months we have one more partial solar eclipse visible from Bangalore. 

On June 21^st Sunday we are going to witness the partial solar eclipse in the morning sky. The eclipse will start at 10:12:56 and at this time Sun will be 58 degrees above the eastern horizon. With proper solar filter or using different safe observing methods its a good idea to start observing couple of minutes before the given time. The start of eclipse is when you see moon disc starts coming inside Sun's disc, this is called first contact, when Sun and Moon discs touch each other. As we observe the dark disc of moon will start covering more and more of the Sun's disc and after reaching a certain point the disc of moon starts to move away. This is called Maximum eclipse, the point or time when Moon covers the maximum surface of Sun's disc. This will occur at 11:47:38 and at this time Sun would have moved higher in the sky at close to 77 degrees from eastern horizon. As we continue observing or photographing we will see that the dark disc of moon getting smaller and it will come out of Sun's surface completely at 13:31:44 marking the end of eclipse, the time of moon disc coming of Sun is called last contact. At this time Sun will be in the western part of the sky at close to 70degrees from the western horizon. 

Solar Eclipse Bangalore 21 June 2020

As we all know June 21st is Solstice, on this day Sun's reaches the northern most point from equator at 23.5degrees. From June until December Sun will move in southern direction. Sun on June 21st will be on the border of Taurus and Gemini constellations. The borders of constellations are set by International Astronomical Union (IAU). The shapes and borders differ in different regions and cultures, Astronomers use the shapes and borders set by IAU.

This eclipse is an annular eclipse and parts of north India will witness the ring of fire, that is Sun will appears like a ring with moon obstructing the disc of Sun leaving only edges around the Sun glowing. The reason for this ring is because of different apparent sizes of Sun and moon. These two objects subtends an angle of half of degree in the sky, if one of them is smaller or bigger we get annular eclipse. If moon has an angular diameter smaller then the Sun we have annular eclipse as moon cannot cover the entire disc of Sun. Here are the angular sizes of Sun and Moon on June 21^st Sun will have a of Diameter: 31'28.4" and Moon will have a Diameter: 31'16.0". As we can see Moon is smaller and this is the reason for annular eclipse. The difference in sizes happens due to elliptic orbit of earth around the Sun and elliptic orbit of moon around the earth. 

Eclipses are rare and we have to travel long distances to be in the center path, we have to go to north India around Kurukshetra to see the ring of fire, annular eclipse on June 21st. Last year on December 26^th we had to go to Kerala and Tamil Nadu to witness the annular eclipse. Since we are unable to travel in these lock down situations, we will have to wait until May 21^st 2031 to enjoy the solar eclipse in India. The path of annular in 2031 will be in south India.

If some one decides not to leave Bangalore for eclipse but wants central path of eclipse to come to Bangalore, they will have to wait for the year 2085. Yes, on June 22^nd 2085 people in Bangalore can see the ring of fire, the annular eclipse. Mark your calendars, it just 65 years away.

For now we have to be content with partial eclipse on Sunday and hope for clear skies. Happy observing every one, observe safely with proper filters or pin hole camera projection on the wall. NEVER LOOK AT SUN DIRECTLY.

Share

SPOTTING THE LANDING SITE OF CHANDRAYAAN 2

As the landing date for the Chandrayaan 2 approaches which is on 7th September  it is curious on where it is going to land. Amateur Astronomers who keep observing the celestial objects are more curious and would love to know the position of landing so that they can spot the landing area on the moon with their telescopes. Most of the craters are visible with small telescopes and there are lot of maps that are available online to spot the craters.

About the craters Manzinus C and Simpelius N

ISRO sources say that the landing site will be between craters Manzinus C and Simpelius N on the high lands between them. As amateurs will know the letters next to the crater names says that these are smaller craters around the big crater. Here Manzinus is a big crater with a diameter close to 100 km diameter and smaller craters near its vicinity are given capital letters for example Manzinus crater has Manzinus C, Manzinus D, Manzinus G, Manzinus E etc,. This is same with all craters, so Simpelius N is a small crater close to Simpelius crater which is close to 70km in diameter.

Locating the Landing site of Chandrayaan 2

To find the crater its good to start with the best known bright crater on the south side of the moon, the Tycho crater. After finding Tycho, the next hop is to near by crater Magnius, this is also easy to find because of the size of the crater, the Magnius crater is close to 160km in diameter. Next hop is to Crater Zach which is also easy to find due its appearance. Continuing in the same line to almost limb of the moon the landing sites of Chandarayaan 2 can be found, the craters Manzinus C and Simpelius N. Crater Manzinus C is easy to find because of the diameter it has, close to 20km, but the Simpelius N is little challenging at 8km diameter.

Location of Chandrayaan 2 Landing Site

Best time to Spot the Landing site of Chandrayaan 2

To attempt to spot the craters Sun has to light it up, as I am writing this article on 21st of August the craters are in the dark, the next chance will come on 6th September, when moon is half lit and the craters will be easy to spot until 17th of September. For future reference the craters are best seen from half moon after new moon to 3 days after full moon. Happy Spotting.

Share

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.

Share

Watch Brightest Venus on Friday

After Sunset in the western twilight sky we see a bright star outshining all the starts in the evening sky, this is the planet Venus. The visual apparent magnitude of the planet Venus is now -4.6 and the apparent magnitude of brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, in the constellation of Cains Major is -1.46 this makes Venus 18 times brighter than Sirius. 

Brocken Inaglory, Venus-pacific-levelled, CC BY-SA 3.0

On February 17th Venus will reach its brightest crescent phase and this is called Greatest Illuminated Extent, the amount of illuminated crescent and the angular diameter of the planet Venus. Venus will have an angular diameter of 39 arc seconds and fraction of illumination is .273 of the angular diameter. After this day the illuminated side will start decreasing and we will see the crescent getting thinner. By second week of March the illuminated fraction will be only .085 of the diameter of the planet and magnitude would have come down to -4.4 still brightest in the evening sky. 

View Through the Telescope on 17th of Feb

View Through the Telescope on 10th March

The planet Venus will slowly fade into glare of the Sun and will reach inferior conjunction on March 25^th. In April we will see Venus in early morning sky before sunrise and again the Greatest Illuminated Extent will happen on April 30^th. Time to take out the telescopes and observe Venus in coming days, if you don't have one you are always welcome at ABAA on Sundays evening and see the Venus through our telescope. Venus sets at 9pm now and in middle of March the planet will set at 7:30pm.

Share

Looking and Observing

When crowd gather around binoculars and see the Moon for the first time through binoculars, their reaction is that, the moon looks the same even without the aid of binoculars. Ask them to spend some time at the binoculars and slowly they will start enjoying the view, as they start to Observe the details on the moon surface. This is true even with low power telescopes.

This is the difference between looking and observing which I am sure most people would have experienced in their initial stages.

Even when it comes to other celestial wonders, the situation is the same spend very little time at eyepiece and there is little to be seen but spend more time at eyepiece and details we can see are amazing.

Let me give an example of difference between looking and observing. Take a look at the image and at first sight it appears the same, little closer look will show couple of differences but as on spending time and studying the details will show lots of differences in the images.

When at eyepiece spend as much time as possible studying the object, for example if it is the moon study the shape of the craters, the shadow patterns at different phases of moon and so on. If it is a galaxy, study the dust lane, the arms and structure.  Cluster offers their own challenges like resolving and types of stars in the cluster. We cannot pick up such fine details if we are in a hurry, more time at eyepiece more details we will pick up.  Change the magnification, use different filters, study the object in different telescopes, you will be amazed on how on objects appears in different magnification, filters and apertures.

I always advice people not to fill the pages with number of objects they saw in a single night, but to fill the pages with the details on what they observed. There is no rush, take time in observing and keep challenging yourselves on how much more details you can see and minimum aperture needed to see the details. 

Why just Look when you can Observe!

Share

Venus and Jupiter Conjunction on July 1st

In the western evening sky we have 2 bright objects, one closer to horizon is Planet Venus and next is Planet Jupiter. As we are observing from past couple of weeks, we have noticed something curious, Venus and Jupiter are getting closer to each other.

These two planets appear getting close to each other, this is as seen from earth, the fact is Venus, the brightest planet in the sky and Jupiter the largest planet in the solar system are 0.5AU and 6AU respectively from earth (1 Astronomical Unit =14,95,97,871 km).  

We will continue to track these planets in coming days and we will notice that the separation will get even smaller. The separation of these planets as seen from earth is measured in angles.

In the middle of June the separation between Venus and Jupiter will be 14 degrees and on 20th the separation will be reduced to 6 degrees.

Minimum separation between Venus and Jupiter will happen on July 1st with a separation of 24 minutes, close enough to fit both planets in field of view of telescope. Venus and Jupiter will set at 9:30pm on 1st July.

Share

Daytime Occultation of Moon and Saturn August 4th

Daytime occultation, second of this year will be of Moon Occulting Saturn. Earlier this year in February we saw Moon occulting Venus in the daytime, both Venus and Moon were easily visible because of their brightness.  

 

On August 4^th, we will see Moon occulting Saturn in the daytime, but we will need telescope to see Saturn as the surrounding sky will be very bright.

Stellarium generated image.

 

The occultation will begin 2pm IST as seen from Bangalore, its always a good practice to start observing as early as possible. Saturn will disappear from dark side of the moon and emerge from the sunlit side at 2:40pm.

Do not try to locate Saturn with the telescope if you are new to finding planets during daytime. As bright Sun will be very close, accidental viewing of Sun through the telescope will be disastrous to the eye.

Here are the times and positions of the Planet for those who have setting circles

August 4th Occultation.

Time	Right Ascension	Declination	Altitude	Azimuth
13:45	15:00:00	-14:44:27	14:36	109:18
14:00 Start	15:00:00	-14:44:27	18:00	110:27
14:40 End	15:00:00	-14:44:27	27:15	114:20
	Deg:Mins:Secs	Deg:Mins:Secs	Deg:Mins:Secs	Deg:Mins:Secs

Its a matter of luck to have clear skies in this monsoon season, but its always better to be prepared and hope for the best. 

Clear Skies 

Share

Talk on Principles of Astrophotography

ABAA invites you for the talk on Principles of Astrophotography by well known astrophotographer Dr. Suresh Mohan. Astrophotography is both challenging and rewarding field. Lot of hours go into making a good celestial photograph, from polar alignment of the telescope to imaging and dark room methods. Dr Suresh Mohan will cover these topics in his talk which are very important in making good and quality astrophotos.

Topic: Principles of Astrophotography

Speaker: Dr. Suresh Mohan.

Date: 09/10/2011

Time: 12:30pm to 2:30pm.

Venue: Basement, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium.

 
All are cordially invited for the talk.

Share

National Science Day exhibition from JNP and ABAA

On the occasion of Nation Science Day, held every year on Feb 28, JNP and ABAA made an effort to popularize astronomy among people. JNP had put up exhibits of different types of telescopes and ABAA volunteers were there to explain the working of telescopes and their application in different branches of astronomy.

From morning ABAA volunteers helped students and public understand the working of telescopes in detail. They explained how the refractors and reflector telescopes work, their optics, light ray path and also covered advantages and disadvantages of refractors and reflectors.

It was great to see that even on a busy week day ABAA members took time out and came to help people understand telescope and create awareness on Astronomy. ABAA thanks all its volunteers for making time and helping the cause. ABAA thanks JNP for their support during the event and hopes of more such activities.

ABAA Volunteers:

Namratha S

Priya S Srivatsa

Bharath A J

T S Madhava

Here are few Photos of the event

Priya S Srivatsa explaining refractor telescope

Namratha S explaining telescope to students

Namratha S explaining telescope to students

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Namratha explaining optics to public

Bharath A J explaining refractor

Kamalesh explaining Newtonian telescope

Madhava T S, long time member and active member of ABAA.

Bharath giving details to media

Namratha explaining telescope to media

Students looking through telescope.

Share