Sunspot pictures taken today

Sunspot activity is back! The recent intense activity made headlines. I took a few pictures today (19th Feb 2011). Here is a picture taken at 4.36 pm. 

Exposure Details: Canon 400D, 300mm lens + 1.4TC @ f/4, 1/160 sec, ISO200.

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Astro News: Giant Ring of Black Holes

Just in time for Valentine's Day comes a new image of a ring -- not of jewels -- but of black holes. This composite image of Arp 147, a pair of interacting galaxies located about 430 million light years from Earth, shows X-rays from the NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (pink) and optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope (red, green, blue) produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Md.

Arp 147 contains the remnant of a spiral galaxy (right) that collided with the elliptical galaxy on the left. This collision has produced an expanding wave of star formation that shows up as a blue ring containing in abundance of massive young stars. These stars race through their evolution in a few million years or less and explode as supernovas, leaving behind neutron stars and black holes.

A fraction of the neutron stars and black holes will have companion stars, and may become bright X-ray sources as they pull in matter from their companions. The nine X-ray sources scattered around the ring in Arp 147 are so bright that they must be black holes, with masses that are likely ten to twenty times that of the Sun.

An X-ray source is also detected in the nucleus of the red galaxy on the left and may be powered by a poorly-fed supermassive black hole. This source is not obvious in the composite image but can easily be seen in the X-ray image. Other objects unrelated to Arp 147 are also visible: a foreground star in the lower left of the image and a background quasar as the pink source above and to the left of the red galaxy.

Infrared observations with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and ultraviolet observations with NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) have allowed estimates of the rate of star formation in the ring. These estimates, combined with the use of models for the evolution of binary stars have allowed the authors to conclude that the most intense star formation may have ended some 15 million years ago, in Earth's time frame.

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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, 9^th 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

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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.

From Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers

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.

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Planets for the Month

Mercury: After reaching greatest elongation on December 1, Mercury will be visible in the western sky after sunset. Planet Mercury will be around 15degrees above western horizon just after sunset. If seen through a telescope, Mercury's crescent phase can be seen. Towards the middle of the month Mercury will be close to Sun and will be very difficult to observe. On 20^th of December, Mercury will be in inferiour conjunction with Sun. Mercury will be visible in the morning sky towards the end of the month.

Date	Set/Rise
07/12/10	07:15:00 PM
14/12/10	06:46:00 PM
27/12/10	05:34AM (Rise)

Venus: Venus is well placed for observations in the morning sky. Venus will be dominating morning sky with brightness of -4.5magnitude. Venus will be in the constellation of Virgo till middle of December and move to Libra and stay there till the end of the month.

Date	Rise
07/12/10	03:32:39 AM
14/12/10	03:24:35 AM
27/12/10	03:18:39 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
07/12/10	06:52:05 PM
14/12/10	06:47:51 PM
27/12/10	06:40:49 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.

Date	Set
07/12/10	12:57:07 AM
14/12/10	12:31:36 AM
27/12/10	11:42:21 PM

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
07/12/10	02:17:47 AM
14/12/10	01:52:27 AM
27/12/10	01:04:39 AM

Neptune: Neptune in the constellation of Capricornus is also well placed for observations.

Date	Set
07/12/10	10:58:28 PM
14/12/10	10:31:30 PM
27/12/10	09:41:40 PM

Phases of Moon:

New moon: 05-Dec-2010

First quarter: 13-Dec-2010

Full moon: 21-Dec-2010

Last quarter: 28-Dec-2010

Sun: The Sun will reach its maximum southern declination of 23.5 degrees on 21^st December at 23:46UT that will be 5:16am IST on 22^nd. This is called winter solstice.

Geminids Meteor Shower:

Geminids Meteor shower will be good this year as Moon will set early around midnight, giving lots of dark skies to observe and photograph the showers. The radiant (the point where the meteor shower originate) lies close to start Castor, alpha Geminorum. The constellation Gemini will rise around 7:30pm and will reach zenith around 1:30am. Maximum will happen on 14^th of December, but observation a day before and after is advised for better results.

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Kalpaneya Yatre 2010 Schedule

Schedule

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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.

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