October, 2007

This one is a fairy tale for sure. Comet 17/P Holmes which passed perihelion in early May has suddenly brightened up dramatically. Reports of Observation have been flowing in from places worldwide and this is one comet that has really managed to rummage out enthusiasm-galore out of even a non-fanatic Comet enthusiast.

Some observation reports have placed, predicted the Comet at 1st Magnitude. The comet is currently in Perseus and has a star like appearance to the naked eye and with most telescopes unless at high power, when the coma becomes more aparrent. Care to resort to Cartes Du Ciel to make a finder chart for yourself.

Also Read:

Here's the much awaited report! We broke it on the mailing lists earlier though.
Here is the new BAS Council

Tonight’s( 25th ocober 2007) full moon is the Hunter’s Moon. It’s also the closest and therefore biggest full moon of 2007.

Tonight’s moon will be about 50,000 kilometers – or 30,000 miles – closer to the Earth than 2007’s most distant and smallest full moon, last April.

so enjoy viewing - if the skies are clear 

We were really not expecting a great sky when we were driving to Mahabalipuram in Dr.Suresh`s car. Armed with a Lightbridge 10'' and an LX-200R we thought we would be happy even if we get glimpses of few objects. But after a failed Yelagiri trip (due to bad weather) it finally looked as if luck was on our side.The observing session started at 7 PM and with Akarsh by our side we were able to view a number of objects including the M22,M28,Ring,Swan and Dumbell nebulae. After this we got glimpses of M31 and M32. The transparent skies lasted till 10 PM after which clouds started setting in. Soon windows started appearing and we were able to have an excellent view of the Orion nebula which was the star of the day.Other objects included NGC 1851, NGC 869 and NGC 884.

If you are thinking of buying a telescope but don't know what to buy, where to buy it or how much to pay, then read on. This guide will hopefully make the choice a bit clearer.

Expectations

There would be an observing session inspite of the bright Half Moon being up and setting after midnight. This is in compensation to the New Moon Observing session missed in the month of October on 13th, inspite of the amazing clear skies! And moreover the beautiful Orionids are peaking on this date...

LOCATION : Govt. High School; Hosahalli, 70 km North of Bangalore City.

Here are some updates from my side (hoping everything is fine!)

1) As of now, the currently brightest comet in the sky is the non-periodic C/2007 F1 LONEOS (perihelion 28 Oct) which is presently shining at 6th mag!!! It is visible to amateurs in Northern latitudes close to the horizon.

It's going to be visible for the Southerners too, as it emerges at 4-6 mag and starts fading early Nov afterwards. I personally dont think it would be visible to us easily (in Bangalore). I would try to find out more about it's visibility and update here. Yet once again..a wonderful opportunity missed. :-(

This is my first blog in BAS. Will regularly continue to write in this section. Looking fwd to join BAS as a member soon.

There would be an observing session on 13th Oct at Hosahalli depending on the weather situation and number of attendees. Equipment also depends on the members' availability.

Observing would include galaxies in the morning Southern galaxy regions, nebulae, open and globular clusters in the Milky-Way regions throughout the night, and other random meteors and artificial satellites. Andromeda galaxy (M31) would be the highlight, even with naked-eyes and small binoculars. The Northern winter Milky-Way, with the thousands of stars, will offer a splendid sight to the naked eye!

Join thousands of other students, families, and citizen scientists counting stars this October, for the
Great World Wide Star Count, October 1 - 15, 2007

 This international event encourages everyone to go outside, look skywards after dark, count the stars they see in certain constellations, and report what they see online.  This Windows to the Universe Citizen Science Event is designed to encourage learning in astronomy!

Check out this site http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/starcount/

As announced previously, The BAS Council will be renominated on the Oct 14th. Inorder to make this process a little easier on us, and less messier on the D-Day, We've decided to muster up a consolidated list of parties interested in this activity, well in advance.  Ofcourse, This imposes no restrictions on people who'd like to file their nominations on the 14th directly, but we'd recommend you read through the procedure to submit your nomination on the internet, and do so, so that we can have things in place already.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/garden/04observatories.html

Good to know that a lot of people are interested in astronomy. 

Luckily, this just struck my mind right now and I thought of sharing this moment from my Observation Diary with all.