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Celebrate the moon
The year 2009 has been declared as the year of astronomy. It is marked by visibility of the elusive celestial bodies. May 21 witnessed the clearly visible Venus and Mars around the moon in the early morning sky and on June 23 Pluto was in opposition to the sun as seen from the earth. On September 17 would witness Uranus in opposition to Pluto. The 40th anniversary of the historical moon mission which saw Neil Armstrong step on its surface will be celebrated on July 20. Come July 22 and you will watch another astronomical marvel. “There will be a complete solar eclipse on this day visible in certain parts of the country mostly in the North Eastern region. A good place to observe the total eclipse would be from or near Patna in Bihar. In the city and other parts of Andhra Pradesh you could see a partial one,” informs Mr. B.G. Sidharth, Director, B.M. Birla Science Centre. Post solar eclipse, the Astronomy Club of Hyderabad will conduct sky shows during night to enable children and others watch planet Jupiter with its four moons, Saturn and its ring system, moon and its craters, mountains and bays, through hi-definition telescopes,” informs Srinivas Jhawar, Founder, Astronomy Club of Hyderabad.
Another regular astronomical feature is the unique harvest moon. Also known as September’s full moon, this phenomenon has a special place in agricultural history. Throughout the year, the moon rises 50 minutes later than the previous day. However, with the approach of autumnal equinox (day and night are of equal length), the difference between the rising time drops considerably. The moon rises just after the sunset providing extra time to the farmers and helps in completing their harvesting work. Hence, it is called the harvest moon. “October has in store a host of astronomical extravaganza right from World Space Week (October 4-10) to National SPACE (Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators) Carnival and SPACE Annual Meet. The year will come to an end with a partial lunar eclipse on December 31,” informs Souvik Saha, Business Development & Media Relations Officer, Kuiper Research & Educational Services Pvt. Ltd.
July 22 will witness total solar eclipse in some parts of the world
-Watch the eclipse only through solar filters.
Visit www.astronomyindia.org/shop to get one
-Watch meteor showers throughout the year: Orionids (Oct 21), Taurids (Nov 03), Leonids (Nov 17) and Geminids (Dec 13 )
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Declared as the Year of Astronomy, 2009 will witness a host of celestial wonders.
Phenomenal:A partial eclipse