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News channels have started filling in the news about the brand new Solar Eclipse in town.
This eclipse occuring on July 22nd could have been the “Great Indian Eclipse” – due to the long time of totality (longest in 21st century, with 6+ minutes of totality – although this may not happen in India), had it not occured in the month of July, and at the specific time of the day it occurs.
Solar Eclipse of 1999; Image from Wikipedia
(Image taken from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_eclips_1999_4_NR.jpg )
It is monsoon season in India now, and the weather gods may not co-operate with skywatchers. And the eclipse occurs at sunrise, so the Sun is pretty low in the horizon when totality starts.
But whoever can catch it, be it in India, or China, would have their chance of their life time.
“This eclipse is a bad omen” – ” 3 eclipses in one month happened during Mahabharat war”, “The last time this eclipse occured was 360 years ago”, Not good for …. blah blah blah”…. – there is quite a lot of negative publicity in Indian media already.
How much of this could be truel? Hard to seperate wheat from the chaff.
I am surprised at how easy it is for the media to fool people. Again and Again they have done it. So predictably. Last year they reported how rare it was to see two eclipses in a row. This year they might talk about how rare it is to see 3 eclipses in a row!
Here are some eclipse fun facts (not in any specific order)
- Eclipses repeat in about every half-year (called eclipse seasons)
- Each eclpse season lasts for about 40 days. If the Sun and the Moon are in the right places around the nodes (rahu & ketu) , and more importantly, if you are at the right location you might see an eclipse
- There can be a maximum of 7 eclipses occuring in a calendar year, but that’s kind of rare
- In each eclipse season – one, two or three eclipses can occur – 2 solar and one lunar, or 2 lunar and one solar
- All eclipses in an eclipse season may not be visible from the same place on the earth, but it is not all that rare to see two eclipses in the same season at a place. For example, this seasons 3 eclipses can be seen from some parts of Indonesia. . (Two of the lunar eclipses in this season are penumbral, and so there is nothing to see, really – That’s another matter
)
So if you get an e-mail telling how rare this eclipse triad occuring on July 7th, July 22nd and August 6th is – please hit delete, and do not forward it to anyone!
-neelanjana
Exactly 25 miles long, that is. That is how far the summit of Mt Hamilton is from Downtown San Jose. But what makes this 25 miles really long is the change in elevation – from 85ft above sea level to 4209 ft above sea level.
I made this ‘long‘ trip couple of weeks ago. Sort of funny, because Mt Hamilton and the domes on top are part of the horizon in my view every day for the last 10 years! So near, but so far! Here are some pictures from that drive.
The 4000+ ft change in elevation means there is no shortage of twists and turns and curves. The moment you go past one blind curve, you will face the next! Be ready for motion sickness!
Curves and Turns!
James Lick Observatory is located atop Mt Hamilton. This was the first mountaintop observatory ever built, around the end of 19th century.
An old picture of the observatory
When it was built, it had the world largest Refracting telescope (36″ inches) . This telescope is still functioning, and being made good use of.
The 36 inch refractor
Now there are few more telescopes atop Mt Hamilton; A 120 inch reflector, a 36 inch reflector and a 100 inch Automatic Planet Finder -to name a few. These are a short walk away from the original observatory, but public access to these domes is limited.
Newer Domes
Mt Hamilton being one of the highest peaks around the south bay, there is an uninterrupted view in all directions.
The picture on the top of my blog page with a view of the Moon rising behind the observatory in Mt Hamilton is taken from – “Astronomy Picture of the Day” ; courtesy NASA.
More information about Lick Observatory can be found here.
-neelanjana
No. This is not about Bollywood or Hollywood stars, but about two stars in my own life!
We have two stars right at home, because we named our kids after two bright stars in the sky – one, a bright blue-white star and the other, a bright orange-red star.
This was the conversation I overheard on the morning of Mothers Day, when the ’stars’ were wishing my wife.
Star 1 : “amma, The day I was born, I loved you!‘
Star 2 : “It’s supposed to be “From the day I was born”, and there is should be a comma after that, but that’s OK..“
Star 1 : “There is more to Mother’s Day than correcting people’s mistakes!”
How true! I wish a happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, a day belated.
On second thoughts, I think I am not late at all..
Because mothers indeed deserve every day of the year to be Mother’s Day!
-neelanjana
Many people in South India celebrate Yugadi on 14th of April every year. This includes districts from coastal Karnataka as well.
You may wonder how this festival falls on the same day everyday? This is because it is a festival based purely on the solar calendar – instead of the luni-solar calendar which is used to calculate the date the dates for most other Indian festivals.
This is the day when the Sun enters mESha rAshi (Aries). But if you are used to read your predictions from the newspapers everyday, I’m sure you’d have noted they assign Aries to those who are born between March 21st to April 21st.
So where is the catch? Who is right?
Both , in their own ways.
The year used to be calculated from the Vernal Equinox. Back in that time when constellation boundaries were drawn, the Vernal Equinox also coincided with the time when Sun entered the boundary of Aries and hence the Zodiac begins with the constellation Aries. This point (where the ecliptic, and the celestial equator crossed each other was termed the “First point of Aries”, since it actually was close to the beginning of this constellation boundary. This was made the starting point (zero degrees) for all celestial calculations.
Due to precession, Vernal Equinox falls behind (in time) every year and now it occurs around the 20th/21st of March. The western astronomy found a way to get out of this problem by moving this reference point, and so the “First point of Aries” does not occur near the real boundary of the constellation Aries. However, it is still called by the same name, and causes some confusion. By doing this, the Vernal Equinox, always falls at the time when the Sun is at the “First point of Aries”.
Indian astronomy, on the other hand, does not move the reference point for the calculation of festivals. Hence, the mESha sankramaNa is celebrated on the day Sun enters the real boundary of Aries, and not when the Sun is at the “First point of Aries”. The equinox and the beginning of the year have been thus de-linked.
Here are couple of sky simulations showing the position of the Sun, around these days.
Around March 20th,2009 – Beginning of the ‘tropical’ year
Around March 20th,2009 - Near Vernal Equinox
Around April 13th, 2009 – Near the beginning of the traditional Indian solar year:
Solar position near the beginning of Indian solar new year
-neelanjana
Today is the Vernal Equinox. In plain English, it is also called the Spring Equinox, or the first day of the Spring.
The day is called Equinox to imply it is the day of the equal day and night. Wherever you on the Earth, that is. Whether you are near the tropics or near the poles. Little hard to believe, but true.
If you are standing somewhere on 13 degree North latitude in Bengalooru, India, here is how the Sun’s path goes aound the sky. The yellow line indicates the path of the Sun, and the little yellow disk represents the Sun.
Path of the Sun as seen from a place 13 Degree North, on Vernal Equinox
On the other hand, if you were somewhere in the temperate lands, such as the San Fransisco bay area, this is how the Sun’s path would look like.
Solar path on Vernal Equinox, from a place 37 degrees North
Now, this is what happens if you go much to the North – say somewhere near Anchorage, Alaska.
View from further North
What if you go down South, to Sydney, Australia or Johannesburg, South Africa?
At each place, you may notice the Sun rises in the true east, and sets in the true west. And this is the reason why the day and night are of equal length everywhere today.
-neelanjana
All the pictures were captured using the solar simulation tool here:
Just now it occured to me today is the full Moon day in the month of Phaalguna. Also known as Holi and Kaamana habba. This day is believed to be the day when Shiva burned Manmatha into ashes with his third eye. According to the Mahabharata, this day also happens to be the day on which Arjuna was born. He wasn’t called Phalguna for nothing – He was born on the full moon day of the month of Phaalguna, when the Moon was near the star Uttara Phalguni (Denebola, or Beta Leonis).
If you think it is a close chance that the Moon was near the star Phalguni, in the month of Phalguna – rest your thoughts right there. It is [ntrntional, because the months are in fact named after the stars near which the Moon appears when it is full during that month. So, in the month of Chaitra, you can find the full Moon near the star Chittta (or Chitra, Alpha Virgo) and in the month of Vaishakha you would find the full Moon near the star Vishakha (Alpha Libra) and so on for the other 10 months of the year.
Before the invasion of numerous Hindi TV channels and movies to the south of India, Holi in our town was never called Holi. It was called Kaamana Hunnime (The full moon of Kaama) or simply Kaamana Habba (The festival of Kaama). There were no colors that were thrown at people walking in the streets. It was marked by a bonfire in the full Moon night, where old stuff from homes around the block was thrown into the fire. May be this was a way of spring cleaning, I really don’t know! But the bonfire under the full Moon night was surely a fun event.
Kaamana habba was dear to me for another reason. Kaamana habba signalled that the end of the school year was nearby. The Yugadi festival would follow in couple of weeks, and closely behind would be the rathotsava at my native village. The rathotsava at the village meant that we’d have uninterrupted fun!
Where have those days gone? They seem to have totally disappeared, at least from my life.
-neelanjana
Astronomy is indeed one of the oldest sciences. And even in the age of the Hubble telescope, visual astronomy surely helps a lot in discovering the secrets of this universe.
2009 is declared as the International Year of Asrtonomy. So whenever you get a chance, head out to a dark spot and enjoy the sights of the night sky. Check out your local astronomy clubs. Amature skywatchers are one of the most freindly people you would come across!
For more information on this visit: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
-neelanjana
As the year is coming to a close, we can witness the last planetary conjunction for the year.
Jupiter and Mercury are coming closer in the evening sky. Normally Mercury is a very elusive planet to find, not because it is faint but because it is always very close to the horizon whenever it is visible – early morning or early evening. In the absence of a marker star or planet to locate Mercury, it could be a hard find. And that’s what makes this conjunction interesting.
Jupiter and Mercury are very close in the evening sky now, and if you watch just after the sunset from a location with a clear view of the western sky, you should be able to spot the planets without much difficulty. Venus is a little higher in the evening sky too shining brightly. Mercury now has an apparent magnitude of -0.7. To give a comparison, except for Sirius, the brightest star visible to the naked eye, no other star in the night sky appears much brighter than this. The proximity to Jupiter makes it easy to spot the planet. That’s all. And of course, the twilight might make it appear little fainter than what a -0.7 magnitude object should look like.
Here are a few screen-shots taken using Stellarium. This is taken for an observer in south Karnataka, India (about 13degrees North). However, if you are somewhere else, the same timings should work for you too; but remeber that the Moon is the fastest moving body in the Sky. So the relative position of the Moon (with respect to the planet pair) might be different than what these pictures show.
Here is the evening sky of 12/30/2008. (about 15 minutes after sunset)
Evening Sky - 12/30/2008 ; Just after sunset.
Here is the evening sky on 12/31/08; About 15 minutes after sunset.
12-31-08; Evening sky
Evening sky on new year's day - 2009
Notice the relative movement of Mercury and Jupiter. Also notice the crescent moon moving out of the view (in the screenshot) as it goes higher in the sky. In the sky, of course, it would appear larger and higher.
I managed to get a glimpse of the planets last night, since the clouds moved away from the western horizon just in time. Tonight, it is to be seen how the weather god Varuna, c0-operates .
If you have clear evenings the next few days , do not forget to head out right after sunset and check out!
-neelanjana
It was almost noon by the time Saraswati finished her daily pooje. She observed she was singing aloud when she was doing mangalaarati to the deities. If her husband was home, she would only mumble the song to herself. In reality, she was quite a good singer, but lacked the confidence to sing in front of him because he was indeed very well versed in music. That was the cause for the hesitation to sing before him. He might say a thing or two about her sangatis. Or he might even bring the tamboori, and show how to sing those sangatis to sound better. That’s why the walls of their ancestral home heard Saraswatis singing voice only when Srinivasa was away. She often wondered if he could dedicate himself to music if not for the family business. Saraswathi just thought how nice it would have been to listen to his singing all day. It was several months since he had touched his tamboori. His singing was so overpowering and made her emotional that she would feel that Lord Krishna’s brindavana was right here at Kshemapura. The only other person she new who had a comparable voice was that of Vaikuntha Dasa of her hometown.
Saraswati felt very strange at thinking Belooru as her hometown even after being married for almost twenty years and living in Kshemapura! It reminded her that she had not visited her parents for couple of years. She was indeed worried when there was a talk of her marriage, and when she knew the suitor was from the hilly rainy country. Her hometown was a real beauty. Such a peaceful and tranquil town with the three hundred year old Chennakeshava temple as the anchor for all activities in the town! What to do? Once a girl gets married, she has to think her husband’s home as her own. She was indeed very happy when she arrived in Kshemapura first time. So green! But when the rains arrived she was terror struck at the force of the torrential rains that would not budge for four or five months! But now she preferred the rainy season since she saw more of her husband at home doing his music practice. As she went into the kitchen, Saraswati started counting how many more months till Ashadha arrived.
****
Srinivasa looked at the pendant Nagachari gave. Yes, it was looking good. May be few less emeralds would have made it look even better. He started to write the pattern for the necklace to match this pendant. Then noticing that Nagachari was still waiting, Srinivasa reminded him that the work should be finished soon because it had to get to the Palace before the festivals. As Srinivasa was completing his sketch, he thought of the hours he was spending at his store these days. Hebana was almost eighteen. It was time for him to take more responsibility in the business, Srinivasa thought. May be then he would have some time to pursue his first love, music.
Srinivasa’s father had trained him to be a jeweler right from the days he was a young lad. But among Srinivasa’s children, only little Madhvapati shows interest in coming to the store. Madhwa often watched has father designing the jewels, and also attempted to some of his own. The older two boys were not coming to the store even once in a bluemoon! May be it was time to make sure they come somewhat regularly, or else it might spell problems! But as Srinivasa recollected that he never came to the store regularly as a young boy, he thought all was not lost with Hebana and Abhinava yet.
In fact, Srinivasa’s father was quite lenient. He even had told his wife not to distract Srinivasa with household errands if he was practicing music, or studying all those books related with music and poetry. But Srinivasa still remembered what he had told one day : “Seenappa, I have seen the plight of musicians who depend on the kings and landlords. Thankfully, you have a business to carry on. Practice music as much as you want, but do not leave our family business. Keep your music to please yourself” Srinivasa had indeed followed his advice to the word. With riches that allow him to lend money to kings and chieftains, why should he leave the gold and gem business and stand at the doorsteps of the king? ‘Now, I am the king of my business or my music’, Srinivasa thought but when he remembered that it was amost three weeks since he touched his tamboori, it was not so pleasing. As he was sensing the unpleasantness of this, Madhwapati came in from the inner room to show a pattern he had sketched for an ear ring, and helped Srinivasa’s mind to dwell on something else.
****
It was the usual time when Abhinava would sit for his music practice. Father was very strict when it with music. Whether he taught any new lesson or not, the kids had to do their practice like a ritual. They had to practice all the varases daily in three speedszZ! Of the three brothers, Abhinava had the best voice. Although Srinivasa never explicitely said anything, Abhinava knew that he was always giving some extra attention to his lessons.
Abhinava suddenly remembered the comment Venkatesha, his friend from across the street had made sometime ago. “Ha! Your dad seems to have a lesson plan no other music teacher in this world has! I wonder how you would manage to sing with a teacher like him !” – he had remarked in front of all his friends when they were playing. Abhinava was felt angry, as well as humiliated.
Next day he had gathered courage to ask his father: “Appa, Is it true that you are teaching us in some new way that no other music teacher follows? Other kids make fun of me for that”
Abhinava remembered that Srinivasa did not even blink at this remark, let alone get angry. He had told calmly: “Yes. No other teacher teaches with the system I am teaching you and your brothers. You know what? I made these excercises myself so that it helps in making you musically aware much faster than you other wise would be. Why shoud you worry? I am sure that this system works well, and that is why I teach this way. Stop worrying, and sing Sri Gananaatha”
Saraswati was sure that Abhinava’s mind was wandering somewhere else. She softly patted his back, and asked him if he forgot what to sing next. Abhinava came back from his thoughts and started to sing the prabhandha in devagaandhara raga that his father had taught a few weeks earlier.
****
(to be continued)
If you did not know, a nice planetary conjunction is coming up.
Watch the evening sky after the sunset for the next couple of weeks. Venus, and Jupiter, both very bright objects even from a light polluted sky are drawing closer.
On November 30/ December 1st, these two will be the closest. Don’t miss it - particularly so if you missed the conjunction of these planets early in the year in February 08.
Here is a simulation of the conjunction on YouTube.
And BTW, some people believe the “Star of Christmas” was indeed a very close planetary conjunction.
-neelanjana
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