Universe Cafe

Stars of Somalia: Tomorrow is late

2011-08-08T11:47:00.006+05:30

People in the Horn of Africa, living under the same sky as we live, are suffering from hunger and drought. Join us on August 13 to help the famine victims of Somalia.

Ever since the ancient times human being has been staring at the stars above, wondering what they are. One of these dazzling stars is the Sun, which is closer than any other star to the Earth. Our Sun has witnessed everything happened on Earth; the formation of life, all creatures, existence of human and his eagerness for knowing and finding more about the Universe. The Sun has been a witness to every crisis on earth; happiness and misery as well as war and peace. But recently the Sun is much more displease than any other time as with every dawn it observes the same old story of poverty and starvation in North Africa; this time even wider and much more tragic. The story of the drought crisis, civil wars, and enforced immigration of Somalis to find a secure place to survive, is a remarkable conflict of men against nature and men against his own race.

Many cultural and scientific organizations and NGOs around the Globe are trying to make peace and invite people to put an end to the battle of men against nature. StarPeace believes that all of us should participate in helping of the victims. According to the news, the situation is critical, and the experts warn us that even a small delay has a great impact: “Tomorrow is Late”. StarPeace invite all the members and cooperators to hold a public stargazing night in their cities and towns on August 13 to organize a fund raising event in order to help the drought victims of Somali. Donation might be inadequate, but it may well be sufficient to provide the victims a meal.

We all hope the innocent Somali children, who are enduring a hard time in refugee camps, will soon spend their nights under the twinkling stars of the Sky without suffering from hunger and fear.

More info:
Stars of Somalia: Tomorrow is late
StarPeace

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Sources:
Text - StarPeace / Poster - StarPeace / Image - Filipe Moreira

Beauty of the Earth and Sky

2011-05-10T23:31:00.005+05:30

"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day" ~Vincent Van Gogh

For Global Astronomy Month 2011, we held an astrophotography contest "Earth and Sky" in collaboration with The World at Night. The theme of the contest was "Dark Skies Importance”. The submitted photos were judged in two categories: “Beauty of the Night Sky” and “Against the Lights.” We received many entries from around the world. Below is the winning photos from both categories. Going through them will make you realise that words of Van Gogh's couldn't be more right.

Against the Lights category

The first prize in the Against the Lights category goes to Thomas Kurat for his photo “Alps at Night”. It shows the starry sky above a misty Alpine valley and village lights in Austria.

The second-place winner in the Against the Lights category is Mehdi Momenzadeh from Iran for his panoramic photo “Isfahan Milky Way”.

Third place: “Lisbon Sky Lights” by Miguel Claro from Portugal. The photo shows stars and the crescent moon trail over a landmark bridge in Lisbon dominated by the city’s light pollution.

Fourth place: “Venus above Reunion Island” by Luc Perrot.

Fifth place: “Lights from the Hidden City” by Ben Canales. The photo is taken from mountains near Portland in the United States and displays how the lights from the city illuminate clouds in the night sky.

Beauty of the Night Sky category

The first prize in the Beauty of the Night Sky category goes to Stephane Vetter for his photo “A Starry Night of Iceland” which displays the northern lights and the Milky Way above arctic landscape of Iceland.

“Galactic View from Planet Earth” by Alex Cherney from Australia is the second-place winner in the Beauty of the Night Sky category.

Third place: “Beauty of Southern Sky” by Luc Perrot. The French night sky photographer made this panoramic image from Reunion Island in the southern Indian Ocean.

Fourth place: “The Great Wall at Night” by Xiaohua from China. The photo displays the Milky Way above one of the gates to the Great Wall of China.

Fifth place: “Startrails above an Alien Lake” by Grant Kaye. The image shows startrails around the north celestial pole as captured from the bizarre looking structures at shores Mono Lake in California.

Credit: Images and content courtesy of TWAN. Original source: Earth and Sky photo contest.

Help SETI, Help You!

2011-05-03T01:07:00.010+05:30

The recent funding cutback on Allen Telescope Array is quite disappointing, but it’s more disappointing to see people questioning why we should spend so much money on keeping such science alive.

Here’s late Carl Sagan in his own words saying why we should.

To view this is a graphical perspective, John at μcosmologist put together a very nice infograph showing how much we spend on other things compared to the cost to run SETI for a year ($2.5 million).

Below is a part of the infograph. Full version is here. (Many thanks to John for putting this together.)

After watching the video above and the infograph below, if you think you can spare some dollars to help to SETI to get back on track, head to SETI website to donate. The science SETI does is for everyone, for the people. So...

Help SETI, Help You!

Image credit: John at μcosmologist

Pass it on when you're done with it

2011-04-21T19:15:00.004+05:30

Another orbit around the Sol concluded on April 18 and another is unfolding. It was an interesting year with many developments, both personally and professionally.

I'm pretty overwhelmed with all the birthday wishes from friends around the world. I want to "Thank You" each and everyone who sent greetings.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to do what I did last year for the birthday, because the kids were busy with a New Year program. But after seeing this moving campaign video done for Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society, I decided to donate my eyes on the morning of my birthday.

Hopefully, someone will get use of my eyes, when I'm done with it.

6th worldwide GLOBE at Night 2011 campaign

2011-02-20T09:41:00.006+05:30

Less of Our Light for More Star Light
- Join the 6th worldwide GLOBE at Night 2011 campaign: Feb. 21 - March 6

With half of the world’s population now living in cities, many urban dwellers have never experienced the wonderment of pristinely dark skies and maybe never will. This loss, caused by light pollution, is a concern on many fronts: safety, energy conservation, cost, health and effects on wildlife, as well as our ability to view the stars. Even though light pollution is a serious and growing global concern, it is one of the easiest environmental problems you can address on local levels.

Participation in the international star-hunting campaign, GLOBE at Night, helps to address the light pollution issue locally as well as globally. This year, 2 sets of campaigns are being offered. For the first campaign from February 21 through March 6, 2011, everyone all over the world is invited to record the brightness of the night sky. The second campaign runs from March 22 through April 4 in the Northern Hemisphere and March 24 through April 6 in the Southern Hemisphere. The campaign is easy and fun to do. First, you match the appearance of the constellation Orion in the first campaign (and Leo or Crux in the second campaign) with simple star maps of progressively fainter stars found. Then you submit your measurements, including the date, time, and location of your comparison. After all the campaign’s observations are submitted, the project’s organizers release a map of light-pollution levels worldwide. Over the last five annual 2-week campaigns, volunteers from more than 100 nations contributed 52,000 measurements, one third of which came from last year’s campaign.

To learn the five easy steps to participate in the GLOBE at Night program, see the GLOBE at Night website. You can listen to last year’s 10-minute audio podcast on light pollution and GLOBE at Night. Or download a 45-minute powerpoint and accompanying audio. GLOBE at Night is also on Facebook and Twitter.

The big news is that children and adults can submit their measurements in real time if they have a smart phone or tablet. To do this, you can use the web application. With smart phones and tablets, the location, date and time are put in automatically. And if you do not have a smart phone or tablet, there are user-friendly tools on the GLOBE at Night report page to find latitude and longitude.

For activities that have children explore what light pollution is, what its effects are on wildlife and how to prepare for participating in the GLOBE at Night campaign, see the Dark Skies Rangers activities. Monitoring our environment will allow us as citizen-scientists to identify and preserve the dark sky oases in cities and locate areas where light pollution is increasing. All it takes is a few minutes during the 2011 campaign to measure sky brightness and contribute those observations on-line. Help us exceed the 17,800 observations contributed last year. Your measurements will make a world of difference.

Resources:
- GLOBE at Night website.
- Follow GaN on Twitter (use #lightpollution and #darkskies to Tweet).
- Join GaN on Facebook.
- Star Maps for GaN campaign.
- Submitting Measurements.
- Web App for Reporting.
- Audio Podcast on GaN.
- Powerpoint presentation on GaN.
- Accompanying Audio for the Powerpoint presentation.
- Dark Skies Activities.

RIP Mimi Burbank - a wonderful person

2010-11-30T18:08:00.008+05:30

Mimi and one of her favorite activities - playing with the kids !

It is with great sadness I share with you that my good friend and a good supporter of Astro Book Drive, Mimi Burbank passed away on 28th of November 2010, just few days after her 69th birthday.

Few months back my friend, Larry Klaes introduced me to Mimi and suggested that she could use some help via my project - Astro Book Drive, which works on getting astronomy reading materials to groups in developing countries. Ever since the introduction, Mimi and I have been good friends and in regular contact, we have never spoken via phone or met in person. It was always via email and Facebook. I dearly regret that I missed two opportunities saying hello to her on Skype.

Even though it was only been few months since I got to know Mimi, I learned that she's genuinely caring person about life in Uganda and tried everything in her capacity to improve it. I was always amazed at the strength she had.

We were discussing ways of improving Astronomy in Uganda and how I could help them to get some materials. She went to meet Dr. Simon Anguma and Dr. Edward Jurua at Mbarara University to discuss these further and explored the idea of setting up an Astronomical Society for Uganda and how Astro Book Drive could help them. As a result Simon and Edward took forward the idea of setting up the society. Mimi and I decided it was best to start the book drive in January 2011.

Though she's not with us anymore, the book drive for Uganda will continue as planned and it will be dedicated to Mimi - a wonderful person, may she rest in peace.

Ask an Astronomer

2010-11-27T13:09:00.009+05:30

It's not usual to have professional astronomers visiting Sri Lanka, in fact the number of Sri Lankan Professional Astronomers are probably less than a dozen and most of them resides abroad except Prof. Kavan Ratnatunga, a retired research astronomer who's settled in Colombo enjoying his hobbies and serving as the President of Sri Lankan Astronomical Association. Of course whenever any of our astronomers visit Sri Lanka for holiday, I never miss the opportunity to get hold of them and organize events locally. It's not everyday you meet an astronomer, and students find it fascinating to meet and discuss astronomy with a "real" astronomer.

Other than the Sri Lankan astronomers, we have been visited time to time over the years by a foreign astronomer - Michael Snowden - who's very fond of Sri Lanka, and a long term friend of late Sir Arthur C Clarke. I met Micahel through Prof. Kavan in 2005 and ever since we have been good friends and done quite a few programs together. In his last visit in March 2010, I organized a discussion session called "Ask an Astronomer" for few high school students which turned out to be very well received. The objective of the session was to gather couple of students who are serious about pursuing higher studies in Astronomy and give them an opportunity to interact with an astronomer directly, learning, raising their questions, sharing their views...

Michael returned last month again, and as usual I organized couple of events with him. We managed to do another session on "Ask an Astronomer" with 6 high school students. The discussion started with Michael talking about Exoplanets - a much discussed topic these days and then the students got the opportunity to join the discussion raising questions and talking various aspects of Astronomy. Also another important subject discussed during the session was higher education in Astronomy! Each student talked about their field of interest in astronomy and was advised how they can achieve it, what are the available options, etc... Overall the session went well clearing some doubts, sharing more knowledge and most of all inspiring them to continue the path to higher education in Astronomy.

This was a much needed session as Sri Lanka currently is in a critical place as there are only 2 students doing higher studies in Astronomy or related fields. Although the interest in astronomy among students is high, many hesitant to continue that enthusiasm to do higher studies mainly due to lack of guidance, financial support, less awareness of opportunities, etc... Via Sri Lanka Astronomical Association, we hope to hold more of these sessions to help the students and encourage them to pursuit their dream.

The session was also a part of "ET are you out there - Voyager Campaign" and was held on the 30 October 2010 at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo.

Michael Snowden with students.

John Dobson webcast videos available!

2010-11-27T06:51:00.005+05:30

John Dobson

Perhaps no name is better known in the global community of astronomy enthusiasts than that of John Dobson, popularizer of the widely-used Dobsonian telescope design that now bears his name. Now age 95, he has had a lifetime of outreach and activism. His determination to bring astronomy to the people was a driving force behind the creation of the sidewalk astronomy movement.

Dobson, who paved the way for astronomy outreach beyond professional facilities, was interviewed in the first episode of a new series of webcasts, "Living Legend Series" - a project of Astronomers Without Borders - on Saturday, November 13, 2010.

Watch the 5-part webcast videos:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Astronomers Without Borders' Events for December 2010

2010-11-24T07:55:00.006+05:30

To keep you busy in the coming month - December 2010, Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) has organized two great events.

Event: Cosmic Treasures: Online Observing Event with Virtual Telescope
Date: December 9
Time: 22:00 UT
URL: http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/projects/online-observing/495.html

Cosmic Treasures is an online event giving you a unique opportunity of experiencing Universe through the Virtual Telescope at Bellatrix Observatory in Italy. You will be able to see beautiful cosmic treasures of the Universe such as galaxies, nebulae and clusters of stars in real time, with live commentary by astrophysicist Dr. Gianluca Masi.
This is a free event and open to anyone. You can also chat with others online during the event, interact with the Dr. Masi in real time, or just watch and listen while exploring the Universe. Experience One People, One Sky as we share the sky together.

Event: Seasons without Borders 4
Date: December 21
URL: http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/projects/seasons-without-borders/488.html

When the Northern Hemisphere will experience their “shortest” day while the Southern Hemisphere will celebrate their “longest” day of the year, AWB invites astronomy groups around the world to join in with the 4th Seasons Without Borders event to celebrate solstice which will occur on December 21st, 2010, officially at 23:38 UTC.

Join with AWB in December to explore the beauty of Universe and enjoy the feeling of One Sky One People.

Follow AWB on Twitter and join the Facebook page and group.

Save the Dates: April 2011 is Global Astronomy Month

2010-11-23T16:46:00.010+05:30

April 2011 will again be a busy month for amateur and professional astronomers, educators and astronomy enthusiasts as Global Astronomy Month (GAM) returns for its second edition. The annual event, organized by Astronomers Without Borders, celebrates the Universe in the spirit of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 cornerstone project "100 Hours of Astronomy."

Astronomy clubs, science centers, schools, educators, and other astronomy enthusiasts worldwide are invited to reserve dates in April 2011 for public outreach, hands-on activities, observing sessions and more while sharing the enthusiasm with others across the globe during Global Astronomy Month. Everyone is invited either to join the global programs or initiate their own activities during April 2011.

This is the second edition of GAM, after its launch last year, when Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) coordinated seven global events dedicated to remote observing, fighting light pollution, world peace, observations of the sky and cultural manifestations, as well as encouraging the organization of local events.

GAM2010 Trailer

A growing list of global programs are scheduled for GAM 2011. The month kicks off with the lord of the rings on April 2/3, designated as Saturn Watch. With the planet at its closest to Earth, it's a perfect night to admire the unequaled beauty of the ringed planet. On April 9 the Global Star Party will unfold as darkness sweeps around the Earth. This is the night to set up your telescopes and share the wonders of the sky with others. From April 10 to 16 it's Lunar Week as our gaze turns toward Earth's natural satellite. Just as the Moon has captured our imagination for millennia, it never fails to fascinate with close-up views of its craters and mare. Educational and cultural events dedicated to the Moon are also planned. On April 17 we switch from night to day, dedicating ourselves to our closest star on SunDay. The month closes on a high point with a peak - of meteors. On April 21/22 get comfortable in something warm and spend the night scanning the sky for meteors caused by debris left behind by Comet Thatcher. An incredible show awaits during Lyrids Watch.

More programs are to come as GAM grows with every group of people that joins us in the celebration of the Universe. Among these are Remote Observing Programs and a Cosmic Concert.

If you need another reason to join us during Global Astronomy Month, try these:

* GAM lets your science center or astronomy club participate in an internationally recognized project;
* GAM provides several events to attract visitors to your institution or astronomy club;
* GAM allows you to connect with your local community, including public authorities and the media;
* GAM gives you the chance to inspire young people to look up and wonder. Show your commitment to educating young people.

"There's something for everyone", says Mike Simmons, President of Astronomers Without Borders. IYA2009 showed the way to involving more people than ever," and GAM is riding that wave of excitement in the discovery of our Universe."

Join the celebration in April 2011 as Global Astronomy Month brings together thousands of passionate individuals and hundreds of organizations worldwide to share their enthusiasm in innovative new ways, connecting people through a great sense of sharing the Universe! It's a month of celebrating Astronomers Without Borders' motto - One People, One Sky!

Save the dates - April 2011 is Global Astronomy Month.

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More information:

* Website: http://www.gam-awb.org
* Twitter: http://twitter.com/GAM_AWB
* Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Global-Astronomy-Month-2011/139709899412771

Astronomers Without Borders

Astronomers Without Borders is dedicated to fostering understanding and goodwill across national and cultural boundaries by creating relationships through the universal appeal of astronomy. Astronomers Without Borders projects promote sharing, all through a common interest in something basic and universal - sharing the sky.

For further information please contact:

Mike Simmons
President, Astronomers Without Borders
Chair, GAM2011 Working Group
mikes@gam-awb.org
+1 818 486 7633

Thilina Heenatigala
GAM2011 Coordinator
thilina@gam-awb.org
+94 716 245 545

Oana Sandu
GAM2011 Public Relations Coordinator
oana@gam-awb.org
+40 724 024 625

Webcast of Briefing on Discovery of First Habitable Exoplanet

2010-09-30T04:44:00.005+05:30

The planetary orbits of the Gliese 581 system compared to those of our
own solar system. Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation.

Steven Vogt and Paul Butler lead a team that discovered the first potentially inhabitable exoplanet.

Steven Vogt of UC Santa Cruz and UC Observatories and Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington join NSF's Lisa-Joy Zgorski to announce the discovery of the first exoplanet that has the potential to support life.

Credit: National Science Foundation

More info:
"The Lick-Carnegie Exoplanet Survey: A 3.1M⊕ Planet in the Habitable Zone of the Nearby M3V Star Glie" (pdf) - full paper published on APJ
Newly discovered planet may be first truly habitable exoplanet - University of California - Santa Cruz
Earth-Like Planet Can Sustain Life - Discovery News
What is an exoplanet?

Wish John Dobson a happy 95

2010-08-02T22:26:00.011+05:30

John Dobson

John Dobson is arguably one the most influential personalities in amateur astronomy in the last couple of decades. He has almost single-handedly revolutionized backyard astronomy by bringing it out to the street, making it possible for everyone to enjoy the beauty of the Universe!

As an amateur astronomer his contributions to the world of amateur astronomy are immense. He is most notable for being the promoter of a design for large, portable, low-cost Newtonian reflecting telescopes that bears his name, the Dobsonian telescope - a telescope that brought amateur astronomy to a whole new level.

On September 14 2010, John is turning 95 and here's your chance to send birthday wishes to him!

How to send the birthday messages:
1) Email your message to wishdobson95@gmail.com.
2) Leave your message as a comment to this article.

Make sure to include your name and location (city, country)

Do you have any photos taken with John Dobson? We would like to make a community album for him as well. Email your photos to wishdobson95@gmail.com please include: when and where was the photo taken.

The birthday wishes will be put together by Thilina Heenatigala (Astronomers Without Borders) and these will be presented to John Dobson by Donna Smith (Sidewalk Astronomers).

Let's get together and wish John Dobson many more healthy orbits around the Sun!

John Dobson in January 2010

Some links:
A Brief Biography of John Dobson
Articles by John Dobson
Articles About John Dobson
Official John Dobson page on Facebook

A Sidewalk Astronomer - a DVD featuring John Dobson
The Moon is New - science fiction book by John Dobson
John Dobson's 90th Birthday - a commemorative Book
Beyond Space and Time - book by John Dobson

Image credit: Louisville Astronomical Society.

Report: "A Match Under Starlight"

2010-07-28T00:10:00.005+05:30

Beginning of July 2010 concluded one of the most exciting sporting event - FIFA2010. While many football fans around the world celebrated the victories and the losing, Astronomers Without Border's National Coordinator for Iraq - Azhy Hasan came up with the idea to celebrate the World Cup with a touch of astronomy and peace - "A Match Under Starlight".

Amateur Astronomers Association of Kurdistan celebrated the event by gathering a youth group to play a football match which was followed by an observation session. Players enjoyed beautiful views of Saturn and medals for participating in the match. Azhy who organized this event took the extra effort to show the unity of other AWB member countries by displaying the national flags and playing the national anthems. You can see some unforgettable photos and a video of the event here.

Group from Iraq says "YES TO PEACE"

This wonderful event was also celebrated by UNAWE - Romania. With the collaboration of “Angela Gheorghiu” School from Adjud, Vrancea, UNAWE Romania, organized a football game with 23 children aged between 5 and 9. All the children were awarded with a "Stellar Football Player" diploma for their enthusiasm and spirit. You can see this wonderful effort in a report with photos put together by Catalina Movileanu of UNAWE - Romania here.

kids with national flags pinned to shirts playing football

Another event to celebrate the project was organized by “Rudolf Walter” foundation – Timisoara branch, the Astronomical Observatory of Timisoara, and the “Antares” astro-club of Timisoara. Kids at the “Rudolf Walther” foundation (a model institution where disadvantaged kids are educated and cared for) got to play football which was followed by 3-D projections and captivating talks. The kids got a special treat as well, Andrei Juravle – owner of astrovest.ro – donated a telescope. You can read a report of this event with photos put together by Virgiliu Pop of Romanian Space Agency here.

Virgiliu Pop kicking off the match

Many thanks to everyone who participated in this wonderful project highlighting world peace and the joy of togetherness. We hope you will join us in future events.

Credit: The beautiful poster of the project was designed by Azhy Hasan.

Totality and Victory

2010-07-12T07:44:00.020+05:30

Total Solar Eclipse of 11 July 2010

FIFA 2010 World Champions - Spain

Above two images definitely sums up everything happened yesterday - Sunday 11 July 2010 - and it was one of those days you completely rely on technology and be thankful about it. Being able to watch two amazing events, FIFA 2010 Finals and the Total Solar Eclipse via internet simultaneously and share it with others was a great experience.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, blocking its rays and casting a shadow. The eclipse took place on the 11 July 2010 followed an 11,000km (6.900-mile) path over the South Pacific. The longest time of eclipse - five minutes and 20 seconds - was over the sea.

It's reported that some 5000 astronomers were spread out across the atolls of French Polynesia catch this spectacular solar eclipse. And few among this group took the extra effort to web-stream the Eclipse online for the rest of the world to watch!

As an effort to expand their outreach, I contacted few eclipse chasers, researched more and compiled a list of web-streams to one place, so everyone can easily access. This effort was publicized via Facebook, Twitter and other email groups. Should note that many of my twitter and facebook friends did a great job by sharing it with more people.

The first live web stream came via a group from Wakayama University at Hao (French Polynesia). Below are some screen captures from their web stream.

Few minutes into the Totality it got clouded and Wakayama web-stream went off line. Then a group called Shelios started a web-stream. Below are some screen captures from their web-stream.

During the 5-hour event, sky watchers spent as much as 4 minutes completely enveloped in the Moon's shadow watching in awe as the solar corona revealed itself to the human eye.

As soon as the eclipse ended, photos started pouring in, and it was a well treat for everyone. Below are some of the best images available up to now ( 5:30UT 12 July 2010). Enjoy!

Photo by Donald Gardner (Atoll de Hao, French Polynesia)

Photo by Constantinos Emmanouilidis (Mangaia, Cook Islands)

Photo by AFP (Martin Bernetti)

Photo by Bill Kramer (Paul Gauguin - South of Tahiti)

Photo by Alson Wong (Paul Gauguin - South of Tahiti)

Photo by Stefan Krause from El Calafate-Argentina

Shelios expedition crew after the Eclipse and celebrating the Spain victory

It was a fantastic Sunday with the Total Solar Eclipse and the FIFA 2010 finals. If you missed the eclipse live feed, check the below video complied by Reuters.

First video from Reuters

Image: above images are copyrighted by the respective photographer.

Blind Date With An Asteroid

2010-07-11T04:34:00.008+05:30

Asteroid Lutetia, seen from Rosetta's OSIRIS imaging system.
(click on the image for a High-Res)

We know how blind dates are, always not sure of what to expect! This was how exactly felt by ESA scientists and rest of the world watching the live web cast of ESA's Rosetta spacecraft's flyby of 21 Lutetia; the largest asteroid ever to visited by a satellite.

After weeks of maneuvers and optical observations, Rosetta is perfectly lined up to skim by the asteroid only 3,162 km (2,000 miles) away. ESA hosted a live web cast at 16:00 GMT on July 10 which was followed by many around the world.

I managed to watch the live web feed while Tweeting (@ThilinaH) and sharing updates on Facebook as well. It was a great experience and below are some stunning images of the Asteroid Lutetia.

At a distance of 36000km the OSIRIS Narrow Angle Camera (NAC)
took this image catching the planet Saturn in the background.
(click on the image for a High-Res)

Approach images of Asteroid Lutetia. The first image was
taken at 06:18 (about 9.5 hours before closest approach,
510000 kms from the asteroid), the last one at 14:15 (about
1.5 hours before closest approach, 81000 km from the asteroid.).
The resolution changes from 9.6 km/px to 1.5 km/px.
(click on the image for a High-Res)

an animation of the approach
(click on the image for a High-Res)

Zoom in on a possible landslide and boulders at the highest resolution.
(click on the image for a High-Res)

Rosetta took multiple images of asteroid Lutetia during the fly-by.
Shown here is the final sequence of images before closest approach
(CA): CA-8, CA-4:40, CA-2, CA-1:50.
(click on the image for a High-Res)

Farewell Lutetia.

(click on the image for a High-Res)

Rosetta will continue on to its primary target, comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will rendezvous with the comet in 2014 and accompany the comet for months, mapping it and studying it. Then in November 2014, Rosetta will deploy Philae to land on the comet nucleus.

Rosetta's route through the inner Solar System.

Rosetta orbiting the comet with Philae in view in this artist's impression.

Until then the ESA scientists will spend time getting to know this newly found friend (then stranger), analyzing data.

You can watch the replay of the web cast at: http://bit.ly/liverosetta

Credit: ESA 2010 - MPS for OSIRIS Team, MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA. Astrium.

Watch Live Webcast of ESA's Rosetta Flyby of Asteroid Lutetia - 10 July 2010

2010-07-10T20:34:00.007+05:30

On 10 July, ESA's Rosetta spacecraft will fly past 21 Lutetia, the largest asteroid ever visited by a satellite. After weeks of manoeuvres and a challenging optical navigation campaign, Rosetta is perfectly lined up to skim by at 3162 km (2000 miles). This event will be live webcasted by ESA at 16:00 GMT (above).

Rosetta is expected to pass Lutetia at a relative speed of 54 000 km/hr, when both are located some 454 million km from Earth. As Lutetia is a major scientific target of Rosetta's mission, most of the orbiter and lander instruments will be on for flyby, studying the asteroid's surface, dust environment, exosphere, magnetic field, mass and density.

The OSIRIS (Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System) camera system is expected to obtain visible-spectrum images before and at closest approach.

Rosetta launched in 2004, is on its way to a 2014 rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

For a complete time-line of events and more information can be found at ESA web page.

21 Lutetia asteroid

Source: ESA

Watch Live - Total Solar Eclipse of July 11, 2010

2010-07-09T20:32:00.008+05:30

A spectacular total solar eclipse will occur on July 11, 2010 over the ancient statues of Easter Island, where those lucky enough to have made it to the Pacific will witness the last total eclipse to occur until November 2012.

But some of the Eclipse Chasers/Groups are taking the extra effort to web-stream the Eclipse online for the rest of the world to watch!

Below you can find a list of links to the website where you can watch the stream. If you know more web-streams, please email to thilina.heenatigala@yahoo.com

DATE: 11 July 2010
TIME:
(P1) Partial begin 17:09:41 UT
(U1) Total begin 18:15:15 UT
Greatest eclipse 19:34:38 UT
(U4) Total end 20:51:42 UT
(P4) Partial end 21:57:16 UT

Starting time of solar eclipse around the world in their local times:

1. India – Sun 23:45
2. Adelaide – Mon 03:45
3. Amsterdam – Sun 20:15
4. Bangkok – Mon 01:15
5. Beijing – Mon 02:15
6. Boston – Sun 14:15
7. Brisbane – Mon 04:15
8. Dubai – Sun 22:15
9. Frankfurt – Sun 20:15
10. Hong Kong – Mon 02:15
11. London – Sun 19:15
12. Mexico City – Sun 13:15
13. New York – Sun 14:15
14. Paris – Sun 20:15
15. Riyadh – Sun 21:15
16. Tokyo – Mon 03:15
17. Zurich – Sun 20:15

Web streams:

LIVE! ELIPSE 2010

Shelios Association/Universidad Politécnica de Madrid's Ciclope Group

Mision Eclipse (Spanish)

Exploratorium

Shelios 2010

Saros.org

MiC Paris (Japanese)

Solar eclipse of July 11, 2010

A total solar eclipse will occur on July 11, 2010. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring Earth's view of the Sun. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across the surface of the Earth, while a partial solar eclipse will be visible over a region thousands of miles wide.

The path of the Moon's umbral shadow crosses the South Pacific Ocean where it makes no landfall except for Mangaia (Cook Islands) and Easter Island (Isla de Pascua). The path of totality ends just after reaching southern Chile and Argentina. The Moon's penumbral shadow produces a partial eclipse visible from a much larger region covering the South Pacific and southern South America.

You can also join via Facebook event. Enjoy and share with your friends!

Source: NASA GSFC(images/data)/Wiki(data)

Completing 24 orbits around the Sun

2010-04-22T18:03:00.016+05:30

Last Sunday 18th of April, I celebrated completing my 24th orbit around the Sun. It’s pretty amazing to think that I have traveled so much across the Space.

Rather than celebrating it in a very contemporary way, I thought of doing something I always wanted to do, but never got around it.

In Sri Lanka we have lot orphanages, most of them are filled with kids. Some of these kids never seen their parents or some were abandoned or some lost, which ever way they ended up at an orphanage, and they hardly get anything we have in our day-to-day lives.

For my birthday I decided to spend some time with the kids at this orphanage (girls’ home) near my place. With my family, few relatives and close astronomy friends we spent a whole day with the kids enjoying the beauty of the Universe. We did give them lunch, but I guess the better food is the food for the brain - knowledge.

Below are some unforgettable moments from the day.

The day started with a lecture "Universe and Everything in it". It was interesting to see the reactions of the kids when they started realizing how small we are and how big is the Universe.

Using Earth Ball to demonstrate day-night, why it's round, why someone from south or sides never falls off was fun. Many thanks to Carolina Ödman from UNAWE for sending the Earth Ball.

Explaining Solar System

Small exhibition set-up

while I was giving the talk, my friends were preparing the next activity

next activity was Solar System scale model

we asked kids to guess where would be the planets be if we put the whole solar system inside the orphanage land

kids were marking the positions of the planets

more planets to mark

all were surprised to see the real positions of the planets!

and then it was the lunch time

after lunch, kids playing around and of course now they have more questions than they had before

:-)

next activity was the "Egg Rocket". Here I'm giving a brief introduction to Rockets and the activity

kids were divided into 5 groups for the activity

they had to build a rocket model with the egg inside, egg is the Astronaut!

hard at work! very focused!

thinking how to save the astronaut or rather "Eggonaut"

this is my dad giving some tips, guess he knows enough astronomy by now :-)

after building the rocket, all of them were dropped from a height of one floor.

Guess it's R.I.P. for that "Eggonaut"

anxiously waiting till we check the next one

time for the GAM birthday cake. my dad made this (yes, our family has been doing bridal, weddings, cakes, etc... for twenty years - which explains one of my hobbies - fashion designing)

they sang "happy birthday" in both Sinhalese and English, how nice :-)

then we made a banner with hand prints, it was way too fun and kids loved it.

:-)

middle logo is the "Universe Awareness" logo

lots of hands!

as the final activity, we did a "Water Rocket" demonstration

launch was delayed due to some technical difficulties

and up it goes

the kids with the banner we all made which hangs in my room now

it was a day to remember

I want to thank my family who helped with the preparation and friends – Laika, Pinky, Abi, Desh who helped on the day with the activities.

I hope my little contribution would at least make few kids interested in Science. Astronomy is a multifaceted as a brilliant-cut diamond, an infinite font of ideas and imagination. So much to learn and so much to learn of. Through this beautiful subject we can make a better place and help to understand our Universe as a whole and at the same time improving life here on Earth.

Galle Astronomy Workshop

2010-04-21T15:26:00.013+05:30

An astronomy workshop was held in Galle (South) Sri Lanka on the 26 – 27 of March 2010 for students and teachers of Sacred Heart Convent. The workshop was conducted by Sri Lanka Astronomical Association as a part of UNAWE – Sri Lanka, Saturn Observation Campaign, Dark-Sky Astro-Tourism project and pre-Global Astronomy Month (GAM) program.

The workshop is one of the long running annual programs in Southern Sri Lanka and this is the 7th consecutive time it’s been held. About 150 students and 20 teachers participated in the workshop.

Below is a photographic report of the program.

-------------------------------------------------------

Officials of Sri Lanka Astronomical Association started the 3.5hours journey to Galle (South) at around 3pm.

It has become more of a tradition to stop at the beach on the way to South

Sunset

The students welcome the officials with roses

students at the opening ceremony

head teacher of the astronomical society of Sacred Heart Convent

opening lecture: Observational Astronomy by Thilina Heenatigala

Teachers enjoying the beautiful views of Saturn and Moon

for most it was the first time to view through a telescope

students lining-up to catch the glimpse of Moon and Saturn

The younger students performed astronomy themed dramas which was a brilliant way to educate the kids by kids.

lets launch a rocket!

"solar system family"

a group of students who performed the Solar System family.

From grades 7 to 9, there's little astronomy included in the local curriculum. To cover the whole curriculum a lecture was delivered by Dimuth Prasad.

Dimuth Prasad giving a talk

After the lecture a group discussion session was held. Each group discussed various aspects of astronomy.

intense discussion

Group discussion was followed by a Q&A session.

Back to observations. Students learned how to identify constellations using star maps.

the students gave souvenirs to the conductors

And as usual didn't fail to stop by the beach on the way back to Colombo.

Lets go to Mars

2010-03-25T20:40:00.006+05:30

Planet Mars always has been an interesting celestial object throughout generations. It never fails to grasp the human curiosity. The very Red planet people used to worship, now is a target for more scientific work – possible colonizing in the future being one of them.

On 12th March 2010, a workshop was organized for about 15 schools in Colombo North and Gampaha District. The program was hosted by Astronomical Society of Dharmaloka School, conducted by Royal College Astronomical Society (RCAS) with the guidance of Sri Lanka Astronomical Association (SLAA).

The participants were divided into ten groups and given the task of building a Mars Colony. Interesting combining their little knowledge about the planet with Biology, Physics and Mathematics skills, the groups came up with various ideas and created models to express them.

After two and half hours of time, it was the time for the judges to review the models. Each team presented their models. And finally the Team 1 walked away with the first place for getting higher scores in original idea, practicality, design, and team work.

As a final note, the General Secretary of Sri Lanka Astronomical Association – Thilina Heenatigala briefed about Mars and how far have we come exploring Mars.

Some interesting moments from the workshop:

preparation

brainstorming

more discussions

hands on

presenting to judges

a model

another team presenting their model

General Secretary of SLAA; Thilina Heenatigala, addressing the crowd

All the models at display

Ask an Astronomer

2010-03-25T16:32:00.009+05:30

It’s not everyday you get to talk to a professional astronomer and ask all those questions you have.

Recently a good astronomer friend of mine – Michael Snowden – was in Sri Lanka. Michael and I decided to spend an evening with few students who are keen on astronomy. Five students coming from various backgrounds were invited as a result.

The discussion started with Michael explaining the historical side of modern astronomy and compared how things have progressed today. Then the students got the opportunity to talk about their favorite fields in astronomy. The topics varied from Astrophysics, Modern Telescopes, and Life in the Universe to big old question – the birth of the Universe.

The session was held on the 21st of March 2010 at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo.

Some photos from the session:

Students with Michael Snowden

Yashodara Abeykoon (high school Biology student)

Shamil Asitha Kuruppu (high school Mathematics Student)

Sheloni De Silva (high school Biology Student)

Dimuth Prasad Welivitiya (Graduate student)

Prasanna Deshapriya (undregraduate freshman)

Michael Snowden and Thilina Heenatigala with the students

International Sidewalk Astronomy Night 4 – Sri Lanka

2010-03-25T14:42:00.006+05:30

March 20th 2010 celebrated the 4th International Sidewalk Astronomy Night. Sri Lanka joined the celebration for the 2nd time.

Royal College Astronomical Society(RCAS) brought two telescopes to the Galle Face Green on the night of 20th. Interestingly same day there was a big concert at the venue which become handy for the sidewalk session.

The public sidewalk session went on for two hours under heavy light pollution – specially from the concert. But with good music and food, people enjoyed beautiful views of Moon and Saturn.

Some photos from the event:

and finally the members of RCAS enjoying some ice cream!

Remembering Sir Arthur C Clarke

2010-03-25T13:10:00.005+05:30

It’s been two orbits since Sir Arthur Clarke(16 December 1917 – 19 March 2008) departed Earth and started his own personal final odyssey among Stars.

As a tribute to him, a commemorative public program was organized on 17th March 2010 at the British Council Colombo. The program was organized by Sri Lanka Astronomical Association in collaboration with Arthur C Clarke Estate and British Council.

Guest Speaker of the event: Nalaka Gunawardene gave an illustrated talk – “Sir Arthur C Clarke: Man Who Lived in the Future”.

some photos from the event:

Thilina Heenatigala - General Secretary of Sri Lankan Astronomical Association addressing the crowd.

Guest speaker Nalaka Gunawardene delivering his illustrated talk “Sir Arthur C Clarke: Man Who Lived in the Future”

Participants

Sir Arthur Clarke Exhibit at the entrance

Sir Arthur C Clarke: 90th Birthday Reflections

Global Astronomy Month 2010

2010-02-04T21:34:00.006+05:30

International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) was a widely successful year long event which attracted thousands of people around the world. One of the main highlights of IYA2009 was the unprecedented success of 100 Hours of Astronomy (100HA) in April 2009 demonstrated the power of international collaboration to astronomers around the world, creating even greater enthusiasm for a follow-up experience. The excitement of bringing people together from all countries regardless of age, race or beliefs – all awed by the wonders of the Universe – is something that will long outlive IYA2009.

Expanding the idea of 100HA, and with the momentum given the IYA, Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) has set the bar even higher, inviting all astronomy enthusiasts worldwide to celebrate the Universe for an entire month!

April 2010 brings together professional and amateur astronomers, educators and all astronomy enthusiasts worldwide to celebrate Global Astronomy Month – an international project that builds on the achievements of The International Year of Astronomy 2009 by combining a even wider array of activities with real-time international sharing under the motto, One People, One Sky.

Global Astronomy Month (GAM2010) is a community-based effort with more international collaboration and interaction than ever before. The primary idea of GAM2010 is to share ideas, experiences and successes, allowing more communities to organize their own events, and carrying new ideas and inspiration forward. GAM2010 is a “Butterfly Effect” generator within the astronomy community – an idea is carried around the globe, expanding each time it is repeated. There is something for everyone.

Working Group
Organizing GAM takes a lot of time, energy and expertise of many individual around the world. The GAM Working Group (WG) itself is widely diverse and spreads all corners of the globe.

Mike Simmons
President, Astronomers Without Borders
Chair, GAM2010 Working Group

Thilina Heenatigala
Coordinator, GAM2010

Oana Sandu
GAM2010 Public Relations Coordinator

Communications Working Group:
- Oana Sandu (Romania)
- Arif Solmaz (Turkey)

Online Programs Working Group:
- Manoj Pai (India)
- Marcelo de Oliveira Souza (Brazil)

Physical Events Working Group:
- Donna Smith (USA)
- Thilina Heenatigala (Sri Lanka)

Remote Observing Programs Working Group:
- Gianluca Masi (Italy)
- Valentina Romeo (Italy)

Resources Working Group:
- Valentin Grigore (Romania)
- Audrey Fischer (USA)

Solar Programs Working Group:
- Ricardo Reis (Portugal)

Website Working Group:
- Jessi Kingan (USA/Thailand)
- Avivah Yamani (Indonesia)

- Paul Trudel – Webmaster (USA)
- Paul Moss – Broadcast page (New Zealand)

More information:
Visit GAM website
GAM Blog
Follow GAM on Twitter
Become a fan of GAM on Facebook:

About Astronomers Without Borders
Astronomers Without Borders is an organization dedicated to fostering understanding and goodwill across national and cultural boundaries by creating relationships through the universal appeal of astronomy. Astronomers Without Borders projects promote sharing, all through a common interest in something basic and universal – sharing the sky.

Get in touch!
Interested in get in touch with GAM for project collaborations or sponsorship opportunities?
Write to GAM at info@gam-awb.org

Global Astronomy Month – Let’s Continue the Celebration of the Universe!

Remembering the fallen heroes of Columbia

2010-02-01T16:25:00.009+05:30

The day started on a bright note for the crew of STS-107 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. They were awakened by a rousing rendition of Scotland the Brave in honor of mission specialist Laurel Clark’s Scottish heritage. Mission Control followed the wake-up tune with news the astronauts had been waiting for. It was time to come home. The seven members of the crew (Commander Rick Husband, pilot Willie McCool and mission specialists Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Mike Anderson, David Brown and Israeli payload specialist Ilan Ramon) were coming to the end of a 16 day mission of scientific experimentation.

Shortly after 9:00AM EST, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated in the skies above Texas, killing all crew members aboard.

Please read my blog post from last year for more information on the disaster.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

As a kid I always wanted to become an astronaut, and that dream still lives on. On 1st of February, 2003, I was home watching the images and videos of the disaster over and over. It was a moment that everything around you stops. This incident felt so deeply but it only made me more encourage to pursuit my dream.

May the souls of our heroes rest between Stars!

Some unforgettable moments:

STS-107 reentry

an astronaut helmet

STS 101 mission patch on the ground

Columbia Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery

the crew cutting the official cake

STS 107 lift off

Columbia on the launch pad before its first mission (1981)

a cartoon which published on a Florida newspaper

The crew of STS-107. L to R: Brown, Husband, Clark, Chawla, Anderson, McCool, Ramon.

Image credit: NASA/Astronaut Memorial

Buzz Aldrin completes 80 Orbits – Send him wishes

2010-01-20T21:35:00.006+05:30

Today Buzz Aldrin turns 80. And you have the opportunity to send him wishes. The Planetary Society is gathering good wishes from all over the planet to present to Buzz. They will be personally delivering all the messages in a giant birthday card! Wish him now!

Buzz Aldrin (born Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history. On July 20, 1969, he was the second person to set foot on the Moon, following mission commander Neil Armstrong.

I’m affiliated a multinational organization called Space Renaissance Initiative (SRI). Last year Buzz joined for one of SRI committee meeting via telecon. It was fascinating to interact with him. All the words he spoke were very inspiring.

Buzz in 2009

Links:
Buzz Aldrin
Astronaut Bio: Buzz Aldrin

Image credit:NASA/ Phil Konstantin

Ring of Fire – An unforgettable experience

2010-01-19T14:55:00.014+05:30

Over the years I have being involved with many outreach events,but never was so excited as this, adding to that excitement, it was the first time all of us went to Jaffna – North of Sri Lanka.

Eclipse Team

Expedition to Northern Sri Lanka to catch the Ring of Fire started around 7.00pm on the 13th.

Team
1. Thilina Heenatigala – Sri Lanka Astronomical Association
2. Anuradha Jayathilaka - SkyLK
3. Hasitha Karunaratne - SkyLK
4. Imesh Perera – Astronomy & Space Study Center
5. Prasanna Deshapriya – Sri Lanka Astronomical Association
6. ArunaGammanpila - SkyLK
7. Plashthi Kanaththage - Astronomy & Space Study Center
8. Thishan Pavithra - Astronomy & Space Study Center
9. Bhasura Gunawardhana – Royal College Astronomical Society
10. Shamil Asitha Kuruppu - Royal College Astronomical Society

By the time we reach Jaffna, it was about 12noon on the 14th. First thing to do was to schedule a time to check our observing location. Around 5pm we went to Jaffna Hindu College ground, and checked for a good place to set up our equipments.

Observing a good observing location for the big day

discussing arrangements with the Jaffna Hindu College, Principal and the Staff

On 15th early morning we came to the grounds, the sky was clear and was promising a good view. Everyone started with whatever the duties they are assigned to, I went and gave a talk for the students of Jaffna Hindu College. It was bit difficult as we had to use a translator, Uma (Express Media) who was very helpful throughout the program. Communication had been a problem from the time we got to Jaffna, as majority of the people only speak Tamil. But regardless of the language barrier, we were able to communicate and get the message of the Eclipse across.

Testing the webstream

more testing

setting up the photography equipments

Good to GO!

just before Eclipse talk for the students at Jaffna Hindu College

interview for the Virakesarai Media

From the start of the Eclipse, we had the crowd flowing, from all ages and different backgrounds. One of our main goals was to do a live stream of the eclipse. But from the morning we had troubles as we couldn’t get a good signal to keep the connection. It was disconnecting every 2-5minutes which was very disappointing.

This Eclipse was particularly interesting as it was involved with many technological aspects. There were many groups who uploaded live photos from Colombo, Aunuradhapura, Chillaw, and Jaffna. And some tried to web-stream as well. Interesting the last eclipse to cross Sri Lanka was in 1955 where there were hardly any technology around, and the internet was yet to be born. It's interesting how things have evolved over the years and now people from the other side of the world or those who couldn't travel to catch the glimpse of the eclipse could easily experience it live via internet.

You can read an interesting view point by Nalaka Gunewardene, how Main Stream Media and New Media covered the event.

But regardless of the technical difficulties, we managed to share the beauty of the eclipse with the 2000 participants. The annular phase was screened to a projector, so that everyone can see at once. It was very interesting to see the enthusiasm of the local crowd, and the endless questions on Solar Observing.

first set of students came in. such a long line!

students waiting for their opportunity to view to eclipse

I'm next!

all the teacher were given proper instructions for safe viewing.

just before the annular phase, everyone eagerly waiting...

2000 participants were difficult to handle during the annular phase!

all eyes on the screen! Maximum annular phase!

Many groups from Colombo joined as well. Plenty of amateur/professional photographers joined together to capture the Ring of Fire.

Group from Colombo

photographers sharing their images

Eclipse Images

Regardless of the language difference we had, the Eclipse truly brought everyone together. Some of the Jaffna local participants expressed their views on our efforts and the experience they had, even though we didn't understand most of it, their faces showed how delighted they were.

"Fellowship of the Ring" - The Eclipse Team

All the 10 members of the Eclipse team worked hard to share the joy of this beautiful Ring of Fire with the locals and other visitors. It was an effort to remember for the rest of our lives. Hats off to all the team members. And we are thankful to all those who helped us to put this together, specially the Express Media staff.

Photo Credit: Thilina Heenatigala/Eclipse Team/Sinhalaya Travels.
Please feel free to use the photos and share them.

Big Dipper to Southern Cross

2010-01-06T00:53:00.009+05:30

Brilliance of the southern Milky Way which can be so bright on a clear moonless night that you can even cast a shadow from its light is something that people living in Northern Hemisphere only heard of. Same way, the never ending beauty of the Northern sky is such a mystery to Southern people.

“Big Dipper to Southern Cross” brings these two hemispheres together making “One sky, One people.”

Remote Observing Project
The year 2009 has been a truly astronomical year for earthlings from every corner of the world. It has inspired and given the opportunity to many to discover the beauty of the Universe. Using the momentum given by IYA2009, Astronomers Without Borders has organized a remote observing project – Big Dipper to Southern Cross – giving a kick start to 2010 bringing the celestial experience, living up to AWB’s motto – One People, One Sky.

There will be two telescopes -- one in the northern hemisphere and one in the south -- on two different nights will be going live. No experience is needed. This is a chance to watch as an experienced telescope operator and guide show how they capture the wonders of the night sky.

This event, part of the activities of Astronomers Without Borders’ Remote Observing Project, will be possible thanks to the support of the Virtual Telescope Project and Global Rent-a-Scope

In case of bad weather at the observing stations, the event will be run using backup images or rescheduled.

How to take part:
a) you just need a computer connected to the internet, with loudspeakers or headphones.
b) you also need to install the free Flash plugin. (If you can see and hear videos on YouTube then your system is ready).
c) just enter this page at the dates and times of the "double" event: 8 Jan 2010 (20:00-22:00 UT) for the northern event and 10 Jan 2010 (12:30-14:30 UT) for the southern one!

Northern Hemisphere – Virtual Telescope (Italy)
Virtual Telescope from Italy will broadcast images and narrative live, allowing people around the world to share in viewing and imaging the best northern celestial objects.

Date - Friday 8th of January 2010
Time – 20:00 UT – 22:00 UT

Southern Hemisphere – GRAS (Australia)
The brilliance and special objects of the southern sky will be captured by the GRAS Remote Telescope in Southern Australia.

Date – Sunday 10th of January 2010
Time – 12:30UT – 14:30 UT

Go to the Virtual Telescope's Big Dipper to Southern Cross page at the dates and times of the event.

Telescopes
Northern Hemisphere – Virtual Telescope (Italy)
Telescope: C14-f/8.7
Aperture/focal length (in mm) and f/d - 356/3100; f/8.7
Mount - Paramount ME robotic mount
CCD ST8-XME, Cl1, NABG
Scale 0.62"/pixel
Filters – LRGB, H-alpha 6nm, BVRI (Bessel)

Southern Hemisphere – GRAS (Australia)
Telescope: Deep Space - RCOS 12.5" - FL 1950 @ f/6.3
Design: Ritchey-Chrétien Cassegrain
Camera: SBIG ST-8 NABG
FOV Arc mins: 24.1 x 16.8
Resolution (Arc secs/pixels): 0.95
Pixel Array: 1530 x 1020
Megapixels: 1.5
Pixel Size: 9um
Filters: L, UBVRI, Ha, SII, OIII, Blue

Background info
I thought of sharing how the project came alive as well. It’s always interesting to see how much work put to get a good project going.

During IYA2009, there were plenty of Remote Observing sessions. One of the biggest advantages remote sessions have is the opportunity of being part of an observing event even if it’s day time for you, or if you are not able to access a good telescope.

Living in an island – Sri Lanka – closer to the equator, we never could see the North Star – Polaris or the beauty of the Magellan Clouds, unless of course you travel out. This gave me the idea to use the remote observatories around the world making it possible to witness the Northern and the Southern celestial beauties, thus giving birth to the Project – Big Dipper to Southern Cross.
First to approach was of course Mike Simmons of AWB, and he was more than happy to make it an AWB remote observing project. I had Gianluca Masi’s Virtual Telescope in mind for the Northern Telescope. Discussion and planning started, Mike brought Terry Bridges (100HA) and Gianluca Masi who confirmed his support by giving telescope time at the Virtual Telescope for the Northern phase. Arnie Rosner of Global Rent-a-Scope (GRAS) was very keen on giving telescope time at one of their telescopes in Australia and Tony Farkas (GRAS) helped through accessing GRAS telescopes.
For the Northern phase there were no problems as Gianluca Masi is very experienced handling remote sessions. We had to find best ways to access and host the GRAS telescope in Australia.
Finally with so much of discussion, testing and efforts from all of us, the project came alive. I should specially thanks Terry and Gianluca for spending time doing testing for the Southern facility.

Links
Big Dipper to Southern Cross (BDSC)
Virtual Telescope – BDSC
BDSC at Facebook
BDSC at IYA2009

Expedition to Northern Sri Lanka – Annular Solar Eclipse 2010

2010-01-03T23:47:00.007+05:30

An Eclipse of the Sun is one of those spectacular displays of nature one must watch in your lifetime. Eclipses have fascinated humans through recorded history.
The next Solar Eclipse to cross Sri Lanka on 2010 January 15th is an Annular and visible in Northern Sri Lanka. The northern territory was not accessible to public until recently due to civil war in Sri Lanka.

This will be a historical moment as it will be the first time most of us are traveling to North after 30 years of war. It is a perfect opportunity to celebrate the Peace in Sri Lanka through this natural phenomenon – Annular Solar Eclipse 2010.

Annular Eclipse of 15th January 2010 is visible within a narrow stretch of 300 km width across Central Africa, Maldives, South Kerala, South Tamil Nadu, North Sri Lanka, Burma and China. It will visible as a partial eclipse in much of Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Path of the Eclipse

For Sri Lanka, the annular is visible in Northern region. The Annular phase will have the longest duration of over 10 minutes from about 1:20 to 1:30 PM (local time) at an altitude of 55 degrees at the center-line of the eclipse which crosses Jaffna (North). About 84.2% of the center of Sun will be covered by the Moon, and the Sun will look like a ring of Fire. The instant of greatest eclipse occurs at 07:06:33 UT when the eclipse magnitude will reach 0.919.

The southern border (Blue) of the path crosses just north of Chilaw on the west coast and north of Nilavali on the East coast. The border crosses south of Anuradhapura, just north of Eppawala. The center-line (Red) crosses Jaffna where the Annular phase will have the longest duration of over 10 minutes from about 1:20 to 1:30 PM at an altitude of 55 degrees. About 84.2% of the center of Sun will be covered by the Moon, and the Sun will look like a ring of Fire.

Sri Lankan Observers

Groups from Colombo Planetarium, Arthur C Clarke Center, University of Moratuwa and Sri Lanka Astronomical Association will be traveling to North for the Eclipse. Some will be producing scientific data while others will enjoy the eclipse doing public out reach programs.

Expedition to North

Group of us representing Sri Lanka Astronomical Association, SkyLK.com, Astronomy & Space Study Center and Royal College Astronomical Society will be traveling to North to catch this ring of fire as well.
Our motive is to do a live web-stream the eclipse via SkyLK website. We will be getting the local crowd to join us to experience this wonderful phenomenon as well.

Jaffna (North), has better skies than Colombo, night of 15th we have planned to hold a little star party to bring more joy to the people from North as well.

TEAM

1. Thilina Heenatigala – Sri Lanka Astronomical Association
2. Anuradha Jayathilaka – SkyLK
3. Hasitha Karunaratne – SkyLK
4. Madusha Dedigamuwa – SkyLK
5. Imesh Perera – Astronomy & Space Study Center
6. Plashthi Kanaththage – Astronomy & Space Study Center
7. Prasanna Deshapriya – Sri Lanka Astronomical Association
8. Thishan Pavithra - Astronomy & Space Study Center
9. Bhasura Gunawardhana – Royal College Astronomical Society
10. Shamil Asitha Kuruppu – Royal College Astronomical Society

For more information please contact:
Thilina Heenatigala
e: thilina.heenatigala@yahoo.com
p: (+94) 0716 245 545

IMPORTANT: NEVER Look at the Sun directly with your naked eye.

Resources
Solar Eclipses
Solar Eclipse on 15th January 2010
NASA Eclipse Site
Fred Espenak’s Eclipse site
Lakdiva Eclipse page

Sources: NASA/GSFC, Prof. Kavan Ratnatunga, Fred Espenak, Thilina Heenatigala

Getting ready for another orbit around the Sun 2010

2010-01-01T21:34:00.005+05:30

Dear Earthlings,
We just finished a wonderful orbit around the Sun. I know it had its usual ups and downs, but astronomically speaking it was a year to remember.
It’s amazing how one program – International Year of Astronomy 2009 – managed to get people to discover the Universe we live in. The best part about IYA2009 is that it’s not over! The momentum given by IYA will continue to this year. Already there are some wonderful events to take place in 2010. Much to expect!

Apart from my usual celebrations in a 31st night, I managed to capture the Partial Lunar Eclipse. It was a wonderful view of the lunar eclipse against the dark sky.

This full Moon known as a Blue Moon as well. I wrote an article for the local paper during the last Blue Moon.

Don’t forget its 2010: Year We Make Contact!
If you are a Science Fiction fan, you’d probably know what I’m on about. This year signifies the 2010: Odyssey Two which is a best-selling science fiction novel by late Sir Arthur Clarke published in January 1982. It also adapted to a movie in 1984 called 2010: The Year We Make Contact!

You can see a nice article written regarding this topic by Nalaka Gunawardene at his Moving Images, Moving People! Blog.

I wish all my friends and Universe Café readers a wonderful year ahead. Let’s make this year a memorable one!

Ad Astra!

Remembering Carl Sagan

2009-12-20T15:08:00.002+05:30

Today we mark the thirteenth year death anniversary of a great personality, an astronomer, author and a science popularizer – Carl Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996).

The COSMOS series still manage to make me inspire in lot of ways and I consider it as the best series ever made.

10 Years After: Carl Sagan And Ann Druyan Reflect - Best Of Carl Sagan's Cosmos

I came across this interesting song "A Glorious Dawn" made from the series "Cosmos," which also includes Stephen Hawking "singing."

His teaching, his legacy will continue to inspire many science educators in generations to come.

"We are a way for the cosmos to know itself. " - Carl Sagan

Links to other posts I made over the years.
Star stuff contemplating star stuff : Remembering Carl Sagan

The Star Stuff Guy- Carl Sagan

Other links:
Carl Sagan Portal

Celebrating Sagan

The Discovery Enterprise: The Best of Cosmos - Remembering Carl Sagan

The Discovery Enterprise: One of Carl Sagan's Most Pertinent Messages for Humanity

92nd birth anniversary of Sir Arthur Clarke

2009-12-16T21:04:00.001+05:30

Dear Friends, Earthlings and ET’s (as Arthur would often say),

We have almost traveled two orbits around the Sun without the presence of Sir Arthur Clarke. Today, 16th of December 2009 mark his 92nd birth anniversary.

After completing 90 orbits around the Sun, Sir Arthur rests in peace; perhaps now enjoying wandering in space or spending time with the dinosaurs he used to dream of. His passing was a great loss to all of us around the world. Although his personal odyssey here on Earth is over, his unparalleled vision of the future will lives on through his writing; and will inspire many generations to come.

Royal College Astronomical Society pays respect to ACC

I was able to go to the cemetery today with few students from Royal College Astronomical Society who wanted to pay respect to Sir Arthur.
The first thing you noticed is the wording on the tombstone which says, “Here rests Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, he never grew up, but he never stopped growing”. These words were written by Sir Arthur himself.

I find below image very moving, I took it last year in one of my visits to Sir Arthur’s office in Barnes Place, Colombo, Sri Lanka. I remember he used to wear this jacket sometimes, and seeing it hanging it at his room reminds how dearly we miss him.

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Links to other ACC related posts I made over the years.

Sir Arthur C Clarke’s 90th birth day blog

90th birthday reflections video

Sir Arthur’s birthday celebration

Sir Arthur Clarke: Completes 90 orbits around the Sun!!!

Last EGOGRAM

Sir Arthur C Clarke dies at 90...

Funeral fixed for Saturday, March 22, 2008

"ACC - 9 decades"

Some pics from the funeral...

An Interview with Sir Arthur C. Clarke by Dr. Kavan Ratnatunga – 30th August 2000

IOR and AOG

Other links:
List of ACC posts at Universe Cafe

ACC page at Sri Lanka Astronomical Association

Sir Arthur Clarke’s 90th birthday blog

Image credit - Shahidul Alam (ACC potrait photo), Thilina Heenatigala

40 Years of Space Age & Beyond - Concludes successfully

2009-12-11T13:07:00.002+05:30

40 Years of Space Age & Beyond 2009 - IYA2009-Sri Lanka

Under the International Year of Astronomy 2009 programs, the Royal College Astronomical Society (RCAS) organized an innovative program called “40 Years of Space Age & Beyond” (FYOSA 09). The program which held from 8th to 9th of December 2009, consist of a workshop, Science Fiction Competition and Exhibition of Apollo 11 moon rocks.

The program gathered more than 6000 visitors which included students, teachers, parents and general public. The workshop and the SF competition had a participation of 30 schools around the country. It was two days filled with astronomical experience.

-FYOSA09 Trailer-

1) FYOSA workshop
2) Science Fiction Competition
3) Apollo 11 moon rocks exhibition

FYOSA workshop
8th December 2009

For the 9th consecutive year the RCAS workshop was held this year under the theme of “40years of Space Age & Beyond” - a look back at the 40years of space programs and future view of missions to space and colonization. The workshop is the long running annual project of RCAS and a much waited event in the local astronomy community.

The workshop kicked off at 10:30am with speeches by College Principle, Teacher in Charge and other guests which followed by an interesting lecture – “Moon Colonization” by Dr. Rohan Munasingha of Moratuwa University. The lecture covered all the aspects of moon colonization including scientific background and ongoing colonization ideas. The lecture was followed by a series of video clips on various important space missions since Apollo 11 and some future ones as well.

One of the highlights of the FYOSA 09 program is the Apollo 11 Moon Rock Display which was set up at the other side of the Workshop hall. The exhibition was officially opened by Dr Rohan Munasingha and Prof Kavan Ratnatunga. All the participated students and teachers were given an opportunity to witness the historical moon rocks.

The workshop also didn’t fail to add some entertainment with few songs by RCAS members. The first phase of the workshop concluded with lunch.
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The second phase was more exciting. The workshop had a participation of about 150 students and teachers, who were divided into 10 groups for the hands-on-activity – moon colonization. The activity held as a competition.
Advisor of RCAS, Mr. Thilina Heenatigala gave instructions to all the students regarding the activity. The students were given various materials and told to make a model of moon colonization. The lecture done by Dr. Rohan Munasingha was very helpful for all the students to understand the crucial issues when designing a moon colony.

Each of the group was given two hours and was judged for the best designed. It was an intense two hours filled with lots of brainstorming, and exchanging ideas, being active and interacting with each other. The groups were judged from the time activity kicked off and judging was done by Mr. Yohan Ferreira and Mr. Wajira Heenatigala. The activity was monitored by Mr. Thilina Heenatigala. It was coordinated by Mr. Abhiruchika Sriyarathna, Mr. Charith Siriwardana and Mr. Udara Chathuranga.

After two hours all the models were displayed in front of the stage and the groups waited for the announcement of the winner. After a while the final decision was made and one team walked away with NASA materials.

Each of the participated schools were given donation package of NASA materials containing CDs, DVDs, posters, Bookmarks, lithographs, etc… which is another initiative RCAS has been active for the past 5 years, which followed by the award ceremony of SF competition.

The program concluded with a promise by RCAS officials to bring more excitement in next year workshop.

Chief Guest: Dr. Rohan Munasinga
Guest of Honor: Prof. Kavan Ratnatunga
Workshop Advisor: Mr. Thilina Heenatigala

Coordinators:
Abhiruchika Sriyarathna
Charith Siriwardana
Udara Chathuranga.

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Science Fiction Competition

The Science Fiction competition is another annual project of the RCAS, which has been running since 1999 and was only open to RCAS members. But this year as a tribute to IYA2009, it was open to all the students around the country. The purpose of the competition is to give an opportunity to explore the vivid imagination of young minds.

There were entries from more than 20 schools around the country, both in Sinahala and English language and in three categories – Junior, Intermediate and Senior. The entries were reviewed by officials from Sri Lanka Astronomical Association and Astronomy & Space Study Center.

The award ceremony was held during the FYOSA 09 workshop. All the entries were given certificates and 3 winners selected in each category, were given special IYA2009 – RCAS medals, a gift pack of NASA materials and certificates.

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Apollo 11 moon rocks exhibition
8th & 9th December 2009

When Neil Armstrong and crew touched the Moon for the first time 40 years ago, they brought back lunar soil with them to Earth. Small potions of these moonstones were donated to various countries by former US President Richard Nixon. Sri Lanka was lucky enough to be one of the countries to receive these stones.

These moonstones were kept at the National Museum of Sri Lanka, but were not available for public display. With special arrangement via Sri Lanka Astronomical Association, RCAS was able to get the National Museum Apollo 11 exhibition set up for public display for two days.

The feedback was immense; the exhibition reached record of more than 6000 visitors for two days. It was a rare opportunity to witness the history as these moonstones are rarely on public display. Also, there were some unforgettable photographs from Apollo 11 mission displayed at the exhibition along with the moonstones.

The second day of the exhibition included Solar viewing through the RCAS telescope (Helen) and screening of various future mission videos.

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Thilina Heenatigala
National Node Secretary
IYA2009 – Sri Lanka

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Sri Lanka IYA2009 National Node

Sri Lanka Astronomical Association

International Year of Astronomy 2009
==============================

Some unforgettable moments:

Opening Ceremony

Moon Colonization Activity

students brainstorming

some of the groups

judges examining models

one group with their model

few of the groups

waiting to hear the winning team

groups with their models

one of the SF competition winners

junior category SF competition winner

the winning group from the Moon Colonization activity

Apollo 11 Moonstones exhibition

Opening Ceremony of the exhibition

part of the exhibition set up

students viewing the moon rocks

students at the exhibition

more students at the exhibition

students gathering up to witness the historical rocks

solar viewing

screening future mission videos at the exhibition

40 Years of Space Age & Beyond

2009-11-12T10:15:00.000+05:30

Under the International Year of Astronomy 2009 programs, the Royal College Astronomical Society has organized an innovative program called “40years of Space Age & Beyond”.

This is the largest school based IYA2009 program in Sri Lanka and it consists of a workshop, Science Fiction Competition and an Exhibition of Apollo 11 moon rocks which will be held from 8th to 9th of December 2009.

Royal College Astronomical Society (RCAS) has been in forefront among the school astronomical societies. It has a prestigious history of more than 40years. The society has inspired many students to pursuit science as a career and few made it to become professional astronomers as well.

The workshop is the long running annual project of RCAS and a much waited event in the local astronomy community. This year, it will have a look back at the 40years of space programs and a look ahead with future missions to space and colonization.
Each year the workshop gets a participation of students and teachers from 50 schools around the country. This year participants will get an opportunity to explore future moon colonization ideas by being part of an activity to construct moon colonies.
http://rcas.lakdiva.net/fyosa/workshop.html

The RCAS will be running an exhibition and a Science Fiction competition along with the workshop as well. The moonstones from Apollo 11 mission which were gifted to Sri Lanka by the former US President Richard Nixon will be on display for two days. This is a rare opportunity to witness the history as these moonstones are rarely on public display. There will be some unforgettable photographs from Apollo 11 mission displayed at the exhibition along with the moonstones.
http://rcas.lakdiva.net/fyosa/exhibition.html

The Science Fiction competition is another annual project of the society, which is open to all the students around the country. It’s launched with the purpose of exploring vivid imagination of young minds. The competition is underway and the award ceremony will take place along with the workshop.
http://rcas.lakdiva.net/fyosa/sf_competition.html

Feel free to publish this news in your website/blog or newsletter. And you are free to use any information and wallpapers from the website http://rcas.lakdiva.net/fyosa

Cheers!

Thilina Heenatigala
Secretary
IYA2009 – Sri Lanka Node
http://iya2009.lakdiva.net

Adviser
Royal College Astronomical Society
http://rcas.lakdiva.net/fyosa

Royal College Astronomical Society - SCI - FI 09

2009-10-28T11:36:00.002+05:30

Under the International Year of Astronomy 2009 programs, the Royal College Astronomical Society has organized an all island science fiction competition for school students.

Medium
Sinhala and English

Categories
Grades 6-8 “I met an alien”
Grades 9-11 “Moon Colonization”
Grades 12 – 13 “Evolution of life in our solar system”

Background and Objective

Science fiction differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically established or scientifically postulated laws of nature (though some elements in a story might still be pure imaginative speculation). Exploring the consequences of such differences is the traditional purpose of science fiction, making it a "literature of ideas". Science fiction is largely based on writing entertainingly and rationally about alternate possibilities in settings that are contrary to known reality.

Review of Entries
Entries should be forwarded to reach the society by December 2, 2009. Best entries will be awarded with certificates in a special function in December.

Rules and regulation
Grades 6 – 11: exceeding 1000 words
Grades 12 – 13: 1200 – 1500 words

All entries must be signed from the school principal.
Must follow the description of Science Fiction.
The entries will not be return.
Only one entry per person. Should be originals.
The competition is only open for Sri Lankan students.

Last date to submit your submissions is December 2, 2009.

Send your entries to:

Principal
Royal College Astronomical Society
P.Box 635
Rajakeeya Mawatha
Colombo 07.

Alternatively you can email them to:

scifi.2009@yahoo.com

For further details please call at: (+94) 719 209 097

Project Coordinator: Thishan Pavithra.

Entry viewer:
Mr. K. R. Sugathadasa.
Mr. Abhiuchika Sriyaratne.
Mr. Charith Siriwardana.
Mr. Udara Chaturanga

Project Adviser: Mr. Thilina Heenatigala.

Moon Impact by LCROSS – a historical event

2009-10-09T13:17:00.001+05:30

The final countdown begins for LCROSS spacecraft to impact the Moon on Friday, October 9, this will be a once in a life time opportunity to witness the event.

Based on the projections, scientists predict there should a visible ejecta cloud rising 6km above the lunar surface. NASA/Ames scientist Brain Day says, that it’s possible to view this impact with a 10inches or larger telescope. Many amateur astronomers and some ground based telescopes are already geared up to photograph and video the event.

Few hours from now a 2270kg (5000pounds) Centaur will slam into Cabeus crater, making an impact at a speed of 9000kmph (5600mph) creating a crater roughly about 60 or 70 feet wide, and 16 feet deep. This impact will eject roughly 385tons of lunar dust and soil. This impact will be followed by Sherpherding spacecraft which is also expected to slam into moon surface. Both spacecrafts will send data back to Earth through out the process, and scientist hope to see signs of lunar water.

Impact location

When: As a result of the latest TCM (Trajectory Correction Maneuvers), the time of impact on Friday, October 9, 2009:

--Centaur impact time: 11:31:19 UTC, 7:31:19 EDT, 4:31:19 PDT
--Shepherding spacecraft impact time: 11:35:45 UTC, 7:35:45 EDT, 4:35:45.

Note that the impact time may be changed as the event comes closer. Go to NASA LCROSS site for the up-to-date time changes. http://www.nasa.gov/lcross

Where: Both spacecraft are targeting Cabeus crater. The impact site coordinates are -84.675, 311.275 E.

Cabeus crater is located about 100 km from the south pole of the Moon.

You can download Targeting Coordinates, Timing, and Finder Charts at:
NASA http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/docs/LCROSS_Target_Update_100209.ppt

How to witness the event:
Many space/astronomy societies, planetariums, institutions, museums, amateur astronomers around the world will gather to hold events to witness the event.

List of events can be seen at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/impact/event_index.html
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/lcross/091009observations/index.html

Thousands around the world will watching it live via web tv.
NASA TV
SLOOH
Exploratorium

LCROSS

LCROSS background info

The LCROSS mission is a search for water on the moon. The LCROSS mission is going to do this by sending a rocket crashing into the moon causing a big impact and creating a crater, throwing tons of debris and potentially water ice and vapor above the lunar surface. This impact will release materials from the lunar surface that will be analyzed for the presence of hydrated minerals which would tell researchers if water is there or not. The two main components of the LCROSS mission are the Shepherding Spacecraft (S-S/C) and the Centaur upper stage rocket. The Shepherding Spacecraft guides the rocket to a site selected on the moon that has a high probability of containing water. Because they have only one chance with this mission in finding water, the researchers have to be very precise where they program the Shepherding Spacecraft to guide the rocket.

The launch

The Shepherding Spacecraft and Centaur rocket are launched together with another spacecraft called the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). All three are connected to each other for launch, but then the LRO separates one hour after launch. The Shepherding Spacecraft guides the Centaur rocket through multiple Earth orbits, each taking about 38 days. The rocket then separates from the Shepherding Spacecraft and impacts the Moon at more than twice the speed of a bullet, causing an impact that results in a big plume or cloud of lunar debris, and possibly water. While this is happening the Shepherding Spacecraft, which has scientific instruments on-board including cameras, is taking pictures of the rocket’s descent and impact into the moon. Four minutes later, the Shepherding Spacecraft follows almost the exact same path as the rocket, descending down through the big plume and analyzing it with special instruments. The analysis is specifically looking for water (ice and vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated materials. The Shepherding Spacecraft is collecting data continuously and transmitting it back to Earth before its own demise. This crash will be so big that we on Earth may be able to view the resulting plume of material it ejects with a good amateur telescope.

Names on the LRO

LRO

As a part of the shared Lunar Precursor Robotic Program – the first American mission to the Moon in over ten years – LCROSS was launched together with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is currently (as of October 2009) orbiting the Moon on a low 50 km polar mapping orbit. The LRO mission is a precursor to future manned missions to the moon by NASA. To this end a detailed mapping program will identify safe landing sites, locate potential resources on the moon, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.

Engineers are shown here with the microchip

In response to LRO's "Send Your Name to the Moon" initiative, the spacecraft carries a microchip with nearly 1.6 million names submitted by the public. The microchip encased in a radiation hardened container and attached to the back of the propulsion module access panel.

I included my name as well :)

Thilina Heenatigala
General Secretary
Sri Lanka Astronomical Association

Source: NASA, Wiki, Universe Today
Image Credits: NASA, GSFC, AMES, Thilin Heenatigala

Moon Rocks from the Apollo 11 Mission

2009-10-08T15:16:00.001+05:30

It’s been 40 years since the historical event that change the whole view of the mankind. Scientists says that there are still many answers to be gleaned from the moon rocks collected by the Apollo 11 astronauts on their historic moonwalk 40 years ago July 20.

Apollo 11 carried the first geologic samples from the Moon back to Earth. In all, astronauts collected 22 kilograms of material, including 50 rocks, samples of the fine-grained lunar "soil," and two core tubes that included material from up to 13 centimeters below the Moon's surface. These samples contain no water and provide no evidence for living organisms at any time in the Moon's history. Two main types of rocks, basalts and breccias, were found at the Apollo 11 landing site.

The Apollo 11 samples and samples from almost every Apollo mission until the last one in December 1972 have been securely housed on the 4th floor of the physics department's Compton Laboratory. Today, the remaining lunar samples in Compton Hall that arrived in 1969 from the Apollo 11 mission and from subsequent Apollo missions in the 1970s are being painstakingly prepared for a return trip to Houston to NASA's moon rocks repository, the Lunar Sample Building at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

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Distribution of the lunar sample displays

In November 1969, then-U.S. President Richard Nixon requested that NASA create approximately 250 displays containing lunar surface material and the flags of 135 nations, U.S. possessions and states.

Each presentation included 0.05 grams of Apollo 11 moon dust, in the form of four small pieces encased in an acrylic button, as well as the flag of the recipient nation or state, also flown on the first manned lunar landing mission.

The displays that were presented to foreign heads of state included the inscription:
Presented to the People of ____________ by Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America.

This Flag of Your Nation was carried to the Moon and Back by Apollo 11 and This Fragment of the Moon's Surface was brought to Earth by the Crew of That First Manned Lunar Landing.

Once gifted, each of the lunar sample displays became the property of the recipient entity and therefore was no longer subject to being tracked by NASA. All other lunar samples' locations are well documented by the U.S. space agency to this day (with exception to similarly gifted Apollo 17 goodwill moon rocks).

As property of the nation or state, the Apollo 11 lunar samples are now subject to the laws for public gifts as set by that country. In most cases, as in the United States, public gifts cannot be legally transferred to individual ownership without the passage of additional legislation.

Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin setting their feet on the moon on July 21, 1969 is a historical achievement. They brought 25 kg of moonstones collected from there recording as a first consignment which brought from a sub planet to the Earth by man are considered to be the most precious scientific specimens of all the time. Portions of the sample have been distributed to 106 “principle investigators” in the United States and 36 in eight other countries. The investigators, all eminent in their specialties included Sri Lankan – late Dr. Cyril Ponnamperuma were selected for this work.

Preliminary examination team at the spacecraft center at Houston was first to scrutinize the samples. Preliminary examination team member’s performed time critical tests considered necessary before prolonged absence from the moon and exposure to Earth’s atmosphere might cause changes in the samples. They also exposed 30 species of animals and plants to lunar samples to test whether “moon germs” caused disease.

A surprising discovery emerged from test for determining approximate age of the moon rocks are about 4billion years.

A part of these stones were gifted to Sri Lanka by former US President Richard Nixon in 1973 and at present kept in the Geological Unit of the National Museums Department.

Sri Lanka National Museum

Display of Moon Rocks

The National Museum of Natural History was established on September 23, 1986, now completes 23 years. A special exhibition titled "Moonstones and mineral resources in Sri Lanka” was held to coincide with the 23rd anniversary.

A poster of the exhibition

The exhibition hall

At this exhibition these moonstones and related important photographs were on display. Exhibiting of Sri Lanka Ministerial Resources is the other part of this exhibition. The schoolchildren and the public got a wide understanding about our resources through those gems, graphite, mineral sands, mica, silica, sand sulphur, clay and limestones found in Sri Lanka.

This exhibition held through 23.09.2009 to 07.10.2009 many schools students and public came to witness the historical moonstones.

Sri Lanka Astronomical Association hopes to collaborate with the National Museum of Natural History to hold more public viewing exhibition of the Moonstones.

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Thilina Heenatigala
General Secretary
Sri Lanka Astronomical Association

w: http://thilinaheenatigala.blogspot.com
e: thilina.heenatigala(AT)yahoo.com

Thanks to Mr. Wajith Abeysinghe – curator at National Museum of Natural History.
Data Sources: NASA archives, National Museum of Natural History, collectSPACE

All photographs are copyrighted by Thilina Heenatigala.

Images:

The four pieces of historical moonstones from the Apollo 11 mission

Apollo 11 lunar sample display

Wording at the bottom of the display

Another view of the display

A poster with the information related to Moonstones

Set of photographs – memories from Apollo 11

Other exhibits

Another set of photographs

Entrance of The National Museum of Natural History

Remembering Sputnik 1: 52nd anniversary

2009-10-05T12:22:00.001+05:30

We have come so far as 52 years after the launch of – Sputnik I. It’s the world’s first artificial satellite, about the size of a beach ball (58cm or 22.8inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. This single launch managed to put the stepping stone to many new political, military, technology and scientific developments to come. This was the Dawn of Space Age!

Some memorable images...

A replica of Sputnik.

This metal arming key is the last remaining piece of the first Sputnik satellite. It prevented contact between the batteries and the transmitter prior to launch. Currently on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

The State Commission for the Sputnik satellite shown in 1957

Sputnik 1 Assembly

Announcement of intention to launch an earth satellite during the IGY by the Soviets.

Sputnik 1 in much more detail. The name comes from a Russian word for "traveling companion of the world."

Launch of Sputnik 1

Soviet 40 copecks stamp, showing satellite's orbit.

Images courtesy: NASA

IYA2009-Sri Lanka-StarParty2009

2009-10-03T21:58:00.002+05:30

2009 September
Sri Lanka Astronomical Association

Report 08-B IYA2009-Sri Lanka

Star Party 2009

Commenced in 2004, “Star Party” is an observational astronomy competition where students groups from different parts of Sri Lanka compete together. It’s organized by the astronomical societies of Ananda College, Colombo and Mahamaya Girls’ College, Kandy. Since then it has been held annually and has gain reputation as an Observation Competition and Astronomy Workshop over the years.

For the 6th consecutive time “Star Party 2009 - Rendezvous of Celestial Surveillance" concluded successfully 26th of September, giving an unforgettable celestial experience to students, teachers, amateur observers and organizers as well.

Star Party 2009 project was named as the main IYA2009-Sri Lanka event and had a massive participation with more than 50 groups competing with each other. One of the key highlighted facts was the first time ever, a live web streaming continued through out the program via the StarParty and SkyLK websites.

The program kicked off with delivering a message across the importance & significance of International Year of Astronomy 2009 and how proud the students are to continue the event for the 6th time.

Along with the competition, a workshop was held as well. The workshop focused on the beginner level students. It covered basics of observational astronomy and mainly ran as training for the beginners to be able to compete next year. About 100 students participated in the workshop along with teachers. The students were divided into 5 groups and was introduced the basics of all aspects of astronomy- observational, cosmology, stars, black holes and extraterrestrial to new technology. The participants were also given a chance to experience the beauty of Jupiter – the mighty object observed by Galileo 400 years ago. At the observing site, they were taken a rid across the night sky introducing many celestial objects and constellations. It was an unforgettable moment for most students as it was the first time they are experiencing the beauty of the Universe they have been living for so long.

While workshop was running, other side of the event site, many students groups was busy catching the glimpse of Jupiter, Moon, Constellations and other celestial objects.
The observation site – Kandy- is one of the nicest places to observe in Sri Lanka, it’s less polluted and with fresh air-to-breath in, treats you with countless stars.

The competition also included two paper based exams as well which covered topics – Solar Observation, general Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology, and Rocketry. Everything concluded next day 26th morning with the distribution of the awards.

De Mazenod College, Kandana won the competition as Champions.
Sangamitta College, Galle became the runners-up.

Other awards.
Theoretical Round & Spot Test : Dharmaraja College, Kandy
Solar & Observational Astronomy : Royal College, Colombo
Constellation & Deep Sky Observation: Sangamitta College, Galle
Moon Mapping : De Mazenod College, Kandana
Planetary Observation : De Mazenod College, Kandana

This year event gathered an international attention thanks to support and dedication of few people. It was featured in Cosmic Diary, IYA2009, Cloudy Nights Telescopic Review, Portal to the Universe, Sidewalk Astronomers, and in many other web sites, forums and email listing.

Clearly Star Party has become the foremost biggest annual event among astronomy community in Sri Lanka. It is has influenced many student groups to go far as to study and sharpen there observation skills months before the competition. For many this is a competition, an event to experience the celestial beauty, but personally I find it as an event that gathers all the keen future possible astronomers and a place to meet old friends.

Thilina Heenatigala
National Node Secretary
IYA2009 – Sri Lanka
http://aalk.lakdiva.net

==========================================
Contact Details

Mr. Thilina Heenatigala.
National Node Secretary
Secretary
IYA2009-Sri Lanka

e. thilina.heenatigala@yahoo.com
m. (+94)–71-624-5545
w. http://thilinaheenatigala.blogspot.com
a. 27, Stalmaj H. S., Athurugiriya 10150, Sri Lanka.

==========================================

Some unforgettable moments

Teachers at the opening ceremony.

Students at the opening ceremony.

Students at the paper based round.

Students at the spot test.

Students observing.

Students writing observation reports.

Students at the workshop.

At the closing ceremony, everyone awaits with anticipation.

The Champions of Star Party 2009 – De Mazenod College, Kandana.

happy birthday H G Wells

2009-09-22T00:45:00.000+05:30

Herbert George Wells, the son of an unsuccessful tradesman, was born in Bromley on 21st September, 1866. After a basic education at a local school, Wells was apprenticed as a draper. He disliked the work and in 1883 became a pupil-teacher at Midhurst Grammar School. At Midhurst won a scholarship to the School of Science where he was taught biology by T. H. Huxley. Wells found Huxley an inspiring teacher and as a result developed a strong interest in evolution. He founded and edited the Science Schools Journal while at university. But was disappointing with the teaching he received in the second year and so in 1887 he left without obtaining a degree.

Wells spent the next few years teaching and writing and in 1891 his major essay on science, The Rediscovery of the Unique, was published in The Fortnightly Review. In 1895 Wells established himself as a novelist in 1895 with his science fiction story, The Time Machine. This was followed by two more successful novels, The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896) and The War of the Worlds (1898).

Wells was an outspoken socialist and a pacifist, and his later works became increasingly political and didactic. His middle period novels (1900-1920) were more realistic; they covered lower middle class life (The History of Mr Polly) and the 'New Woman' and the Suffragettes (Ann Veronica). He was a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, and social commentary.

Wells's first non-fiction bestseller was Anticipations (1901). When originally serialized in a magazine it was subtitled, "An Experiment in Prophecy", and is considered his most explicitly futuristic work. Anticipating what the world would be like in the year 2000, the book is interesting both for its hits (trains and cars resulting in the dispersion of population from cities to suburbs; moral restrictions declining as men and women seek greater sexual freedom; the defeat of German militarism, and the existence of a European Union) and its misses (he did not expect successful aircraft before 1950, and averred that "my imagination refuses to see any sort of submarine doing anything but suffocate its crew and founder at sea").

His early novels, called "scientific romances", invented a number of themes now classic in science fiction in such works as The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, When the Sleeper Wakes, and The First Men in the Moon. He also wrote other, non-fantastic novels that have received critical acclaim including Kipps and the satire on Edwardian advertising, Tono-Bungay.
H. G. Wells is one of those rare personalities we are gifted with, so much given and so much to learn of…

Star Party 2009

2009-09-21T22:28:00.001+05:30

Commenced in 2004, as the primordial observation competition is South Asia, STAR PARTY is a competition where students from different parts of Sri Lanka compete to win the competition that is focused on the fields of Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology and Rocketry. Since then it has been held annually and has seen reputation as an Observation Competition and Astronomy Workshop over the years.

STAR PARTY 2009 will be the largest IYA 2009 project of Sri Lanka, taking place at the premises of University of Peradeniya, Kandy, Sri Lanka from 6.00 pm (local time) (12:30 UTC/GMT or 08:30 EDT) onwards on 25th September 2009. The project will last for more than 12 hours and already 500+ participants confirmed for Star Party. The event is organized by the Anandian Astronomical Association, of Ananda College and Astronomical Society of Mahamaya Girls’ College, Kandy as an affiliated project.

This year they will provide a live feed of the event via http://starparty2009.com/sp-09-live/. You may also find custom information and archives of past events at the official site at http://starparty2009.com/. The live feed is especially aimed at educating the global community about the event and enabling everyone to better understand the universe, following the IYA general theme “Universe is Yours to Discover”.

Content and Image: Prasanna Deshapriya

The longest Solar Eclipse of the 21st century

2009-07-22T09:57:00.001+05:30

It was reported as the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century, but it was partial solar eclipse for us in Sri Lanka.

I used Panasonic DMC-LZ8 Digital Camera mounted to 14gadge welder’s glass.
The eclipse is part of saros series 136
Coordinates: 6.8670° N, 79.9830° E
Time:06: 45 - 07:20
Location: Athurugiriya, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
(GMT + 05.30)

And the clouds! :(

The eclipse is part of saros series 136, like the record-setting solar eclipse of July 11, 1991. The next event from this series will be on August 2, 2027. The exceptional duration is a result of the moon being near perigee, with the apparent diameter of the moon 8% larger than the sun (magnitude 1.080) and the Earth being near aphelion where the sun appears slightly smaller.

This will be the second in the series of three eclipses in a month, with the lunar eclipse on July 7 and the lunar eclipse on August 6.

Around the World.

The longest Solar Eclipse of the 21st century was visible through Asia from India to China into near darkness today (Wednesday) as millions gathered to watch the phenomenon.

It is the longest such eclipse since July 11, 1991, when a total eclipse lasting 6 minutes, 53 seconds was visible from Hawaii to South America. There will not be a longer eclipse than Wednesday's until 2132.

Unfortunately even in the 21st century there were many reports across the world that millions of people, gripped by fear, shuttered themselves in. India abounds in superstitions and fables based on Hindu mythology, one of which says an eclipse is caused when a dragon-demon swallows the sun.

Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, at 8:33 a.m

Anji, east China's Zhejiang Province, at 9:35 a.m.

Student in Vietnam

School girls viewing in Siliguri, India

Northern Indian city of Varanasi

Hindu devotees take a holy dip in the waters of river Yamuna.

Images Credit: Thilina Heenatigala/AP/Xinhua/ CNN iReports/ NASA/

One small step changed the human perspective

2009-07-21T19:24:00.001+05:30

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth,” were the words of President John F. Kennedy in 1961, as he announced the dramatic and ambitious goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

Few years from that announcement, on 16 July 1969, half a million people gathered near Cape Canaveral, Florida. Their attention was focused on three astronauts—Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins—who lay in the couches of an Apollo spacecraft bolted atop a Saturn V launch vehicle, awaiting ignition of five clustered rocket engines to boost them toward the first lunar landing.

On July 20, 1969, the human race accomplished its single greatest technological achievement of all time when a human first set foot on another celestial body.

Six hours after landing at 4:17 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (with less than 30 seconds of fuel remaining), Neil A. Armstrong took the “Small Step” into our greater future when he stepped off the Lunar Module, named “Eagle,” onto the surface of the Moon, from which he could look up and see Earth in the heavens as no one had done before him.

He was shortly joined by “Buzz” Aldrin, and the two astronauts spent 21 hours on the lunar surface and returned 46 pounds of lunar rocks. After their historic walks on the Moon, they successfully docked with the Command Module “Columbia,” in which Michael Collins was patiently orbiting the cold but no longer lifeless Moon.

The landing on the Moon is unquestionably the greatest technological achievement of the twentieth and possibly any other century.

Lunar Plaque

After more than 2½ hours on the lunar surface, the Apollo 11 crew left behind scientific instruments and a plaque (mounted on the LM Descent Stage ladder) bearing two drawings of Earth (of the Western and Eastern Hemispheres), an inscription, and signatures of the astronauts and Richard Nixon. The inscription read Here Men From The Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace For All Mankind. They also left behind a memorial bag containing a gold replica of an olive branch as a traditional symbol of peace and a silicon message disk.

Other plaques from Apollo missions.

Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages

The Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages are statements from leaders of 73 countries around the world on a disc about the size of a 50-cent piece made of silicon that was left on the Moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts.
Even though Sri Lanka was invited to submit a Goodwill message, recently I learned that we did not!
Read more on this at “No Moon, please – we’re Ceylonese: How Sri Lanka lost the Moon…

Apollo Landing Sites Imaged by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

The picture above shows the the Lunar Module, the part that stayed behind on the Moon when Armstrong and Aldrin blasted back up off the surface. It was essentially dead weight, so the LM was designed to split in half, with the top half (the aptly-named Ascent Module) going back up into orbit to meet with Michael Collins in the Command Module. From there they returned to Earth.

The Descent Module is about 4 meters or so across, and the image, above taken when the Sun was low on the horizon, clearly shows the DM and its shadow cast across the lunar surface. The region where they landed was fairly smooth, so the module is the only thing large enough in the image to cast an appreciable shadow.

LRC took images of the other Apollo sites as well.

All images credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University

Remembering the STS-107 astronauts of Space Shuttle Columbia who died tragically 6 years ago today!

2009-02-01T10:33:00.001+05:30

Today, we honor the brace heroes of STS-107 who died aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on this date in 2003.

Shortly after 9:00AM EST, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated in the skies above Texas, killing all crew members aboard.

More...

The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, with the loss of all seven crew members, shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107.

The loss of Columbia was a result of damage sustained during launch when a piece of foam insulation the size of a small briefcase broke off the Space Shuttle external tank (the main propellant tank) under the aerodynamic forces of launch. The debris struck the leading edge of the left wing, damaging the Shuttle's thermal protection system (TPS), which protects it from heat generated with the atmosphere during re-entry. While Columbia was still in orbit, some engineers suspected damage, but NASA managers limited the investigation on the grounds that little could be done even if problems were found.

NASA's Shuttle safety regulations stated that external tank foam shedding and subsequent debris strikes upon the Shuttle itself were safety issues that needed to be resolved before a launch was cleared, but launches were often given the go-ahead as engineers studied the foam shedding problem without a successful resolution. The majority of Shuttle launches recorded such foam strikes and thermal tile scarring in violation of safety regulations.During re-entry of STS-107, the damaged area allowed the hot gases to penetrate and destroy the internal wing structure, rapidly causing the in-flight breakup of the vehicle. A massive ground search in parts of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas recovered crew remains and many vehicle fragments.

Mission STS-107 was the 113th Space Shuttle launch. It was delayed 18 times over the two years from its original launch date of January 11, 2001 to its actual launch date of January 16, 2003. (It was preceded by STS-113.) A launch delay due to cracks in the shuttle's propellant distribution system occurred one month before a July 19, 2002 launch date. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) determined that this delay had nothing to do with the catastrophic failure six months later.

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board's recommendations addressed both technical and organizational issues. Space Shuttle flight operations were delayed for two years by the disaster, similar to the Challenger disaster. Construction of the International Space Station was put on hold, and for 29 months the station relied entirely on the Russian Federal Space Agency for resupply and crew rotation until Shuttle flights resumed with STS-114.

Source:
content-wiki, space.com
title-YOHAN FERREIRA

Partial Solar Eclipse 26th January, 2009

2009-01-28T19:06:00.001+05:30

Partial Solar Eclipse – 26th January 2009

The first Annular Solar Eclipse of the year 2009 occurred last Monday, January 26, 2009. The Eclipse of the Sun was visible in Eastern parts like West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshwadwip islands.

Observation sessions were held all around the world to celebrate the “International Year of Astronomy 2009” (IYA2009). The Solar Astronomy task group of IYA2009 collaborated with many countries to hold observing sessions and live web cast the eclipse, including Sri Lanka.

Observation sessions held in Sri Lanka.

This solar eclipse was visible to Sri Lanka as a partial eclipse and was visible from 2:03pm to 4:12pm.

Under IYA2009 – Sri Lanka programs, several different public observation sessions were held throughout the country. The National Node of IYA2009-Sri Lanka held an observation session at the Car Park of Arpico Super Center, Hyde Park Corner while Arthur C Clarke Center and University of Colombo held observation sessions at their institution premises with a live web cast of the eclipse.
To give a glimpse of the eclipse to the public outside of Colombo, The Colombo Planetarium held their observation session in Kurunagala with the involvement of schools in the area.
The schools themselves showed interest in the eclipse. Nalanda College Astronomical society organized “Helios” workshop to observe the Sun, with the involvement of few schools.

Biggest Full Moon of 2009

2009-01-11T01:56:00.001+05:30

I managed to photograph the biggest full moon of 2009. Only able to get few due to bad clouds.

Moon through a Nebula? :)

Movie of some images

Check below the article from SPACE.COM

2009, sure to wow even seasoned observers.

Earth, the moon and the sun are all bound together by gravity, which keeps us going around the sun and keeps the moon going around us as it goes through phases. The moon makes a trip around Earth every 29.5 days.

But the orbit is not a perfect circle. One portion is about 31,000 miles (50,000 km) closer to our planet than the farthest part, so the moon's apparent size in the sky changes. Saturday night (Jan. 10) the moon will be at perigee, the closest point to us on this orbit.

It will appear about 14 percent bigger in our sky and 30 percent brighter than some other full moons during 2009, according to NASA. (A similar setup occurred in December, making that month's full moon the largest of 2008.)

High tides

Tides will be higher, too. Earth's oceans are pulled by the gravity of the moon and the sun. So when the moon is closer, tides are pulled higher. Scientists call these perigean tides, because they occur when the moon is at or near perigee. (The farthest point on the lunar orbit is called apogee.)

This month's full moon is known as the Wolf Moon from Native American folklore. The full moon's of each month are named. January's is also known as the Old Moon and the Snow Moon.

A full moon rises right around sunset, no matter where you are. That's because of the celestial mechanics that produce a full moon: The moon and the sun are on opposite sides of the Earth, so that sunlight hits the full face of the moon and bounces back to our eyes.

At moonrise, the moon will appear even larger than it will later in the night when it's higher in the sky. This is an illusion that scientists can't fully explain. Some think it has to do with our perception of things on the horizon vs. stuff overhead.

Try this trick, though: Using a pencil eraser or similar object held at arm's length, gauge the size of the moon when it's near the horizon and again later when it's higher up and seems smaller. You'll see that when compared to a fixed object, the moon will be the same size in both cases.

More lunacy

If you have other plans for Saturday night, take heart: You can see all this on each night surrounding the full moon, too, because the moon will be nearly full, rising earlier Friday night and later Sunday night.

Interestingly, because of the mechanics of all this, the moon is never truly 100 percent full. For that to happen, all three objects have to be in a perfect line, and when that rare circumstance occurs, there is a total eclipse of the moon.

A departing fact: The moon is moving away as you read this, by about 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) a year. Eventually this drift will force the moon to take 47 days to circle our world.

From Trincomalee to Mars: The journey of Percy B Molesworth (1867 – 1908)

2008-12-29T18:05:00.001+05:30

Christmas Day 2008 marks the 100th death anniversary of a remarkable man who pioneered astronomical observations in colonial Ceylon. Most people living today in the land of his birth might not have heard of him, but a large crater on Mars immortalises his name.

Moleworth was a talented observer creating first-class drawings of Mars and Jupiter in the years 1903 to 1905. He is credited with discovering a "great disturbance" in the southern bands of Jupiter on February 28, 1901. Known as the "South Tropical Disturbance" it lasted for close to forty years.

A crater on Mars was named in his honour.

Trinco harbour

Google Earth view of the observatory site?

Me outside the University of Colombo Observatory Dome

My friend - laika and I are standing next to the Molesworth telescope tube

Read the article "From Trincomalee to Mars: The journey of Percy B Molesworth (1867 – 1908)" byNalaka Gunawardene (executive officer to late ACC)

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From Trincomalee to Mars:
The journey of Percy B Molesworth (1867 – 1908)

By Nalaka Gunawardene

Christmas Day 2008 marks the hundredth death anniversary of a remarkable man who pioneered astronomical observations in colonial Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Most people in the land of his birth might not have heard of him, but a large crater on Mars immortalises his name.
By profession, Percy Braybrooke Molesworth (1867 - 1908) was a major in corps of Royal Engineers, but he was better known as one of the world's leading amateur astronomers at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. From his personal observatory in Trincomalee, on Ceylon's east coast, Molesworth both observed the night sky and photographed celestial bodies, the results of which he shared with leading astronomical groups in the west. Armed only with a basic telescope, a sharp eye and good drawing skills, he made significant contributions to advancing our knowledge of the heavens at the time. And although he blazed new trails in a short life time, the events since his death show how callously our nation treats its scientific legacy.
Percy Molesworth was born in British-ruled Ceylon on 2 April 1867. He was the youngest son of Sir Guildford Lindsey Molesworth (1828 – 1925), the first general manager of Ceylon Railways, best remembered for having driven the country's first train engine on its maiden journey from Colombo to Ambepussa in December 1864.
Molesworth Junior was educated at Winchester College in England and obtained his commission in 1886. After passing through the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich and Chatham, he was first stationed at Fort Camden in Cork Harbour, Ireland. In 1891, he was sent to Hong Kong for three years, during which period he engaged in night sky observations and dispatched drawings of Mars to the British Astronomical Association (BAA) where he was a founding member.

Return to Ceylon

After Hong Kong, Molesworth sought a placement in Ceylon. He was posted to the island of his birth in 1896, and assigned to be 'engaged in perfecting the defences of Trincomalee'. This mainly concerned the deep water harbour there, whose strategic importance was well understood by the colonial administration. Although his work and hobby still took him to various places in Asia and Africa, Trincomalee soon became home from where he would scan the equatorial skies for over a decade.
Contemporaries have described Molesworth as having 'keen eyesight, great artistic skill, and above all, enormous energy'. Sir Arthur C Clarke, another astronomically-inclined Englishman who was to settle down in Ceylon decades later, has written: "As an invasion from India did not seem a serious threat, Molesworth had plenty of spare time -- and used it very effectively to make some superb maps of Mars, using a 12.5-inch (32cm) Calver reflector."
Extract from Molesworth's detailed maps of Jupiter in 1901 when he made a major discovery.

Molesworth set up his personal observatory othe front lawn of his bungalow, from whehe could view the sea in one direction and Fort Frederick in the other. His property was several hundred feet above sea level, which gave him a superb sea horizon for his observations. Moreover, being located just 8.5 degrees north of the Equator, he had a clear advantage over astronomers on higher latitudes in Europe and North America -- he could see far more of the southern skies.
Molesworth exploited all these advantages fastronomical observations, and soon made a name as one of the finest of his kind in the East. At that time, a dedicated amateur –- working alone and in his spare time –- could still advance knowledge in certain areas of astronomy. Recognition came when he was admitted to membership of the prestigious Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) in 1898 -- the same year he joined a solar eclipse expedition to India.

Molesworth often observed the Moon, and took some rare photos of a great comet that was more visible in the southern latitudes in 1901. But it was the planets -- especially Mars and Jupiter -- that most engaged his interest. Richard McKim, writing in the BAA Journal in 1997, suggests that for the decade 1896-1905, Molesworth was 'arguably the finest amateur planetary observer alive'.
In February 1901, he became the first observer in the world to notice the beginning of the great South Tropical Zone Disturbance on Jupiter that was to last until 1939. This discovery was important in understanding Jovian atmospheric currents. Its conjunctions with the 'Great Red Spot' gave clues to the magnitude and directions of wind speeds on the largest planet in the Solar System well before unmanned spacecraft flew past in the 1970s and 1980s.

Over-worked

Molesworth did not merely observe and draw; he also analysed what he saw. This often required crunching large numbers which, in those pre-calculator days, had to be done entirely manually. One such set of calculations took him seven months of spare time, at the end of which he noted: "Had I known the amount of labour they would entail, I should, I think, have hesitated before embarking on such a task."
Driving himself hard was characteristic of the man, but it soon took its toll. In 1904, a sharp attack of pleurisy and fever forced him to return to England for five months. E M Antoniadi, a leading Mars observer of the time, later wrote: "Overwork of this kind, in such a torrid climate as that of Ceylon, finally injured his health."

Molesworth took early retirement in 1906, and bought an estate in Trincomalee to devote his time and energies to astronomical work. But it was not to be. According to the RAS obituary, "on his return from a short visit to England, he succumbed to a severe attack of dysentery, and passed away on Christmas Day 1908." He was only 41 at the time.
His friend Walter Maunder transferred his papers and notes to the care of the RAS, where generations of astronomers have been studying them in awe and writing many scholarly papers. In 1973, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) named one of the largest craters on Mars in his honour. Crater Molesworth, located on the Red Planet's southern hemisphere, is some 175 kilometres across.

In the land of his birth, meanwhile, Molesworth is remembered only by a handful of latter day star-gazers. One of them, the late Herschel Gunawardena, went in search of Molesworth in 1971 and found the house being used as a tourist centre in Trincomalee. He later wrote in Equatorial, journal of the Ceylon Astronomical Association: "Only a little of the observatory now remains, a part of the original foundation with a central rock slab which Molesworth may have used to attach his heavy pier can still be seen."

Forgotten legacy

Herschel tracked down Molesworth's tombstone in the Trincomalee cemetery with great difficulty, but found no other memorial. Writing in the RAS Journal in 1977, Sir Arthur Clarke also lamented how there was no trace of Molesworth anywhere in Trincomalee.

Three decades later, Sir Arthur was to include several references to Molesworth in what turned out to be his last science fiction novel, The Last Theorem, published posthumously in August 2008. When the novel's protagonist Ranjit Subramanian is growing up in Trincomalee during the closing years of the Twentieth Century, his father tells him stories about Molesworth. This inspires the young man to study mathematics and astronomy, leading to some dramatic results for himself and humanity…
In the real world, however, the plight of the Molesworth observatory illustrates a lack of interest in preserving our cultural and intellectual heritage, especially those from the colonial periods.
Nobody is certain exactly what happened to the observatory following Molesworth's death. According to some reports, the custom-made Calver telescope went into disuse; others say it was stolen. It somehow turned up in Colombo years later, where it was restored and used for a while at the Colombo Observatory attached to the Department of Meteorology. It was then gifted to the University College, later University of Colombo, which housed it in a small dome on the University ground adjoining Reid Avenue.
During the Second World War, the Royal Air Force took over the dome to place an anti-aircraft gun that defended the city against Japanese air raids. When the War ended, the telescope was left with a broken diagonal and roughly handled mirror. It took many years for the instrument to be repaired and involved efforts by several academics including professors C J Eliezer and A W Mailvaganam and a lecturer in mathematics named V K Samaranayake.

"We had to overcome a lot of difficulties," Samaranayake wrote in 1970, "for by then most of the components were scattered around the workshops or lost."
Once restored, the Molesworth telescope went through periods of use and disuse. In early 1988, while the country (by then renamed Sri Lanka) was engulfed in a brutal southern insurgency, vandals looted the dome and removed several parts purely for their metallic value.

Death of an Observatory

I covered that incident as a young science journalist then working for The Island newspaper, and later wrote a feature article titled 'The death of an observatory' (26 March 1988). I still remember being ridiculed by some for reviving the memory of a long dead man at a time when hundreds of lives were being lost every week due to extra-judicial killings. Sitting next to the historic telescope, with a photo of Crater Molesworth

The telescope never fully recovered from that looting, and the University administration has shown little enthusiasm in preserving it. Occasionally, an amateur astronomer or university academic would take a personal interest, but the institutional indifference continues.
Sometime in 2004, while researching material for The Last Theorem, Sir Arthur Clarke visited University to take another look at the Molesworth telescope. Ever the optimist, he noted afterwards: "The local amateur astronomers are working to repair it -- and although Colombo is hardly a good observing site, I hope they can use it effectively. At least they can see more than 90 per cent of the world’s sky -– everything except a small patch over the South Pole." Sir Arthur Clarke visiting Colombo University's telescope dome in 2004.

In the months that followed, Sir Arthur sent more than one letter to the University's vice chancellor, drawing his attention to what is possibly the oldest piece of scientific equipment in their inventory. These were not even acknowledged.
Alas, little has changed since I chronicled the observatory's looting two decades ago. As a century passes since Molesworth's death, my concluding words in that 1988 article still hold true: "Molesworth may be a forgotten man in his native town and land of birth, but millions of miles away from home on that freezing surface, witnessing golden sunsets, he will remain safe from looters and vandals.

"Well, at least until humans reach Mars…"

Sources and Acknowledgements:
It was Sir Arthur C Clarke who first told me, nearly a quarter of a century ago, about a forgotten Ceylonese astronomer who has a Martian crater named after him. Molesworth combined in him several elements that deeply interested Sir Arthur -– Ceylon, Trincomalee, night sky observations and Mars. In the years that followed, Sir Arthur allowed me unrestricted access to his library and archives where I read more about Molesworth, principally from BAA and RAS journals and newsletters. Sir Arthur circulated my 1988 newspaper coverage on the observatory looting to both groups, who printed comments on the incident at the time. I'm very grateful for his guidance and support.
I had the privilege of associating the late Herschel Gunawardena, who had co-founded the Ceylon Astronomical Association with Arthur Clarke in 1959, and served as its first secretary and later president. Herschel told me details of his personal quest for Molesworth, which he had chronicled in an article he wrote in the Equatorial in 1971. Others who gave me information or insights into this story include the late Dr V K Samaranayake, who played a part in restoring the telescope in the 1960s, and Fr Dr Mervyn Fernando, a keen amateur astronomer who continues to promote the subject in the local languages through the Subodhi Astronomy and Space Study Centre, http://subodhi.net/astronomy.htm
My plans to visit Trincomalee to personally find out the current status of the Molesworth bungalow and tombstone did not materialise this year due to pressure of work and other distractions. I might well do that in 2009, designated the International Year of Astronomy.

Trained as a science writer, Nalaka Gunawardene worked for Sri Lankan and international media, and was associated with Sir Arthur C Clarke as a research assistant for over 20 years. He blogs on media, society and development at: http://movingimages.wordpress.com/

Photo credit: ACC photos - Arthur C Clarke Estate , PBM - BAA

40th anniversary of Apollo 8

2008-12-21T19:40:00.000+05:30

Today Marks the fortieth anniversary of the launching of Apollo 8 on its epic voyage to the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders had become the first humans to leave Earth orbit, entering lunar orbit on Christmas Eve. In a historic live broadcast that night, the crew took turns reading from the Book of Genesis, closing with a holiday wish from Commander Borman: "We close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you -- all of you on the good Earth."

Earthrise

This photograph was taken during the Apollo 8 mission in December 1968, seven months before the first lunar landing.

Apollo 8 was the mission which put humans into lunar orbit for the very first time. Until then, no human eyes had seen the far side of the Moon - (all previous images of the far side of the moon had come from robot spacecraft).

Virtually all of the photographs scheduled for the Apollo 8 mission were to do with capturing high resolution images of the lunar surface - both of the far side and of potential landing sites on the near side.

The 'Earthrise' photograph was not on the mission schedule and was taken in a moment of pure serendipity.

In order to take photographs of the far side of the moon the Apollo spacecraft had been rolled so that its windows pointed towards the lunar surface. During this time, the Moon was between the spacecraft and Earth, effectively cutting-off all radio communication with mission control. As Apollo 8 emerged from the far side on its fourth orbit, crew commander Frank Borman rolled the spacecraft so as to position its antennas for radio contact with mission control. Looking to the lunar horizon for reference he exclaimed - "Oh my God, look at that picture over there! Here's the Earth coming up!"

The famous photograph that was taken in the next two minutes is usually credited to crewman William Anders, although commander Frank Borman has always claimed that he took it.

It turns out that in fact three photographs were taken, one in black and white and two in colour. The black and white shot was taken first - by Borman, and the two colour shots were taken moments later by William Anders.

The curious thing about the images is the difference in the way the two men perceived what they were seeing. Frank Borman related the 'Earthrise' to a moonrise on Earth, with the lunar surface horizontal and the Earth rising above it.

But William Anders framed his photographs from the perspective of being in orbit about the lunar equator. So his horizon was the plane in which he was travelling. This meant he framed it so the edge of the Moon was vertical, with planet Earth a little to the left but with its North and South poles aligned the same way as the North and South poles of the Moon.

(It is interesting to note that the colour photographs taken by William Anders are almost always re-published with the image on its side - ie from the perspective that Borman adopted for his B&W photograph).

But regardless of which way the photograph was taken, the image shows our entire world as a small and blue and very finite globe, with our nearest celestial neighbour a desolate presence in the foreground.

US Nature photographer Galen Rowell has described this image as "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken".

It is an image which still speaks to us today.

source:NASA,ABC

Remembering Sir Arthur on Dec 16, 2008

2008-12-16T12:50:00.000+05:30

If Sir Arthur Clarke were alive, he would have turned 91 today. Dec 16 was always a special day for everyone of us, and we will miss him dearly....

Happy Birthday: Space station celebrates 10 years

2008-11-22T13:44:00.001+05:30

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA couldn't have staged it any better: 10 people in orbit for Thursday's 10th anniversary of the world's most elaborate and expensive housing project, the international space station.

On Nov. 20, 1998, the first part of the space station was launched by the Russians from Kazakhstan. NASA followed up two weeks later with piece No. 2 carried up by a space shuttle. Astronauts and cosmonauts moved in two years later, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The space station has grown into a behemoth outpost 220 miles up, home to three people at any given time — soon to be six.

Thanks to the newly arrived shuttle Endeavour, the space station now has five sleep stations, two baths, two kitchens and two mini-gyms. All told, there are nine rooms, three of them full-scale labs.

Three-quarters complete, the total mass is 627,000 pounds. NASA says it's about the size of a five-bedroom house.

Some other fascinating factoids: The space station has traveled 1.3 billion miles, orbited Earth more than 57,300 times, hosted 167 people from 15 countries, and served up more than 19,000 meals.

The space station has taken longer for NASA and its international partners to build, cost more money and produced less science than originally envisioned. But that hasn't spoiled the celebrations going on all over the world — and off.

For the record, the linked Endeavour and space station sailed past the 10-year mark at 1:40 a.m. EST Thursday while the astronauts slept. Mission Control marked the occasion by showing video of the first rocket's launch in 1998.

"After 10 years, we wish the international space station a happy birthday and we hope to see many, many more," Endeavour commander Christopher Ferguson said in a taped message from the orbiting complex.

Later Thursday, flight controllers around the world exchanged wishes of "Happy Birthday!" and "Happy Anniversary!" with the station's skipper, Mike Fincke.

Before rocketing away aboard Endeavour last Friday, astronaut Donald Pettit noted that every major engineering marvel has had its share of dragged-out schedules, budget overruns, controversy, even scandal.

"How long did it take us to build the Panama Canal, Brooklyn Bridge?" Pettit said.

As for the space station, "We're 10 years down the road, and it still isn't built. It's almost built. And it's an amazing, wonderful piece of technology that once it's done, people probably won't even think too much about how long it took to build," said Pettit, who called the complex home for five months in 2002-2003.

To date, it's taken 80 rocket launchings from Florida, Kazakhstan and French Guyana (the launching site for the European Space Agency's cargo carrier) to make and staff the space station.

The price tag, from start to finish, is often quoted at $100 billion. That includes money spent not only by the United States and Russia, but also Canada, Japan and the 18-nation European Space Agency. NASA disputes that amount and estimates its share at $44 billion, including shuttle launch costs.

As for delays, the 2003 Columbia disaster set space station construction back by a few years. So did Russian financial problems in the 1990s that significantly delayed the launch of the first crew's living quarters.

Its objective also has shifted over the years. NASA views the space station as essentially a place to learn more about astronaut health and other issues that could make or break future expeditions to the moon, Mars and beyond. Before, the emphasis was supposed to be on basic scientific experiments, like protein crystals and cell tissue.

Managers like to point out that the technical problems that have cropped up in orbit over the years — a torn solar wing and jammed solar wing-rotating joint to name a few — are lessons learned for deep-space travel.

The Russians, meanwhile, have used the space station as a cash cow, selling rocket rides to the occasional millionaire tourist to help keep their program going.

NASA expects to wrap up space station construction in 2010 when the three remaining space shuttles are retired. Astronauts then will have to hitch rides on Russian spacecraft until NASA's new rocketship is available to crews, most likely in 2015. That gap is an unavoidable thorn in NASA's side; it's possible the projected five-year hiatus in human launchings from U.S. soil could be whittled a little.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, who expects to be replaced in the Obama administration, has said repeatedly that the space agency does not have the money to keep flying the shuttles beyond 2010 if it wants to keep its new rocketship and moon exploration plans on track.

"The moon is not the end goal, just like the space station is not the end goal," Griffin noted. "The moon is a stepping stone on the way out."

Source: yahoo science news

"Facts and Speculations in Cosmology" - public lecture by Prof.Jayant Narli

2008-11-18T19:11:00.001+05:30

`Facts and Speculations in Cosmology'

by Professor Jayant Narlikar,

Emeritus Professor,
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics,
Pune, India

3rd December 2008 (Wednesday), 4 PM

Public Lecture 64th Annual Sessions of SLAAS

Prof V K Samaranayake Auditorium, UCSC
University of Colombo

FACTS AND SPECULATIONS IN COSMOLOGY

This talk will discuss the present state of cosmology, the subject
dealing with the studies of the origin, evolution and end of the
universe in the large. In ancient times the thinkers had detailed
and complex notions about the cosmos but those were speculations
with no basis in real facts. With the progress of observational
astronomy, our understanding about larger and larger parts of the
universe grew and speculations gave place to more facts and science
based ideas. Modern cosmology is around a century old and it took
shape around Einstein's general relativity and the data on galaxies
from Edwin Hubble and his coworkers. Thus the concept of the
expanding universe was born. We will describe the successes of this
concept which have led cosmologists in modern times to be bolder and
apply their equations to find what the universe was like soon after
the big bang. It will be argued that despite the claimed results of
this approach, it is highly speculative and in many respects
unscientific.

Bio
Professor Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (born July 19,1938) (Marathi: प्रा. जयंत विष्णू नारळीकर) is an eminent Indian astrophysicist. Narlikar is considered a leading expert and defender of the steady state cosmology. His work on conformal gravity theory with Sir Fred Hoyle, called Hoyle-Narlikar theory, demonstrated a synthesis can be achieved between Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity and Mach's principle. India’s second highest civilian honour, Padma Vibhushan, was awarded to him for his work. Prof. Narlikar is the founder director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) at Pune, India.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayant_Narlikar

First fuzzy photos of planets outside solar system

2008-11-14T16:09:00.000+05:30

Earth seems to have its first fuzzy photos of alien planets outside our solar system, images captured by two teams of astronomers. The pictures show four likely planets that appear as specks of white, nearly indecipherable except to the most eagle-eyed experts. All are trillions of miles away — three of them orbiting the same star, and the fourth circling a different star.

None of the four giant gaseous planets are remotely habitable or remotely like Earth. But they raise the possibility of others more hospitable.

It's only a matter of time before "we get a dot that's blue and Earthlike," said astronomer Bruce Macintosh of the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. He led one of the two teams of photographers.

"It is a step on that road to understand if there are other planets like Earth and potentially life out there," he said.

Macintosh's team used two ground-based telescopes, while the second team relied on photos from the 18-year-old Hubble Space Telescope to gather images of the exoplanets — planets that don't circle our sun. The research from both teams was published in Thursday's online edition of the journal Science.

In the past 13 years, scientists have discovered more than 300 planets outside our solar system, but they have done so indirectly, by measuring changes in gravity, speed or light around stars.

NASA's space sciences chief Ed Weiler said the actual photos are important. He compared it to a hunt for elusive elephants: "For years we've been hearing the elephants, finding the tracks, seeing the trees knocked down by them, but we've never been able to snap a picture. Now we have a picture."

In a news conference Thursday, Weiler said this fulfills the last of the major goals that NASA had for the Hubble telescope before it launched in 1990: "This is an 18 1/2-year dream come true."

There are disputes about whether these are the first exoplanet photos. Others have made earlier claims, but those pictures haven't been confirmed as planets or universally accepted yet. The photos released Thursday are being published in a scientifically prominent journal, but that still hasn't convinced all the experts. Alan Boss, an exoplanet expert at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Harvard exoplanet hunter Lisa Kaltenegger both said more study is needed to confirm these photos are proven planets and not just brown dwarf stars.

MIT planetary scientist Sara Seager, at the NASA press conference, said earlier planetary claims "are in a gray area." But these discoveries, "everybody would agree is a planet," said Seager, who was not part of either planet-finding team.

The Hubble team this spring compared a 2006 photo to one of the same body taken by Hubble in 2004. The scientists used that to show that the object orbited a star and was part of a massive red dust ring which is usually associated with planets — making it less likely to be a dwarf star.

Macintosh's team used ground-based telescopes to spot three other planets orbiting a different star. That makes it less likely they are a pack of brown dwarf stars.

The planet discovered by Hubble is one of the smallest exoplanets found yet. It's somewhere between the size of Neptune and three times bigger than Jupiter. And it may have a Saturn-like ring.

It circles the star Fomalhaut, pronounced FUM-al-HUT, which is Arabic for "mouth of the fish." It's in the constellation Piscis Austrinus and is relatively close by — a mere 148 trillion miles away, practically a next-door neighbor by galactic standards. The planet's temperature is around 260 degrees, but that's cool by comparison to other exoplanets.

The planet is only about 200 million years old, a baby compared to the more than 4 billion-year-old planets in our solar system. That's important to astronomers because they can study what Earth and planets in our solar system may have been like in their infancy, said Paul Kalas at the University of California, Berkeley. Kalas led the team using Hubble to discover Fomalhaut's planet.

One big reason the picture looks fuzzy is that the star Fomalhaut is 100 million times brighter than its planet.

The team led by Macintosh at Lawrence Livermore found its planets a little earlier, spotting the first one in 2007, but taking extra time to confirm the trio of planets circling a star in the Pegasus constellation. The star is about 767 trillion miles away, but visible with binoculars. It's called HR 8799, and the three planets orbiting it are seven to 10 times larger than Jupiter, Macintosh said.

"I've been doing this for eight years and after eight years we get three at once," he said.