Partial Solar Eclipse on Jan 4th, 2011 - Visible from parts of Northern India

THE FIRST ECLIPSE of 2011

A partial solar eclipse will occur on January 4, 2011. 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 partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the moon's shadow misses the earth.

The eclipse will be visible over most of Europe, the Arabian peninsula, North Africa and Western Asia.
IT WILL BE VISIBLE FROM PARTS OF NORTHERN INDIA.

Local Circumstances:
For details about local circumstances, visit the SPACE eclipse blog at http://solareclipsesindia.blogspot.com/

How to Observe:
For suggestions and tips by SPACE on how to observe a solar eclipse, visit here http://solareclipsesindia.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-to-view-solar-eclipse.html
For solar viewing goggles, telescopes etc visit the SPACE Arcade website:
www.spacearcade.in

Details and Map at NASA eclipse site here:
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2011.html#SE2011Jan04P

QUADRANTIDS METEOR SHOWER on Jan4th, 2011

QUADRANTIDS METEOR SHOWER
 The Quadrantids are an above average shower, with up to 40 meteors per hour at their peak.
The shower usually peaks on January 3 & 4, but some meteors can be visible from January 1 - 5. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Look for meteors radiating from the constellation Bootes.

The source of the Quadrantid meteor shower was unknown until Dec. 2003 when Peter Jenniskens of the NASA Ames Research Center found evidence that Quadrantid meteoroids come from 2003 EH1, an "asteroid" that is probably a piece of a comet that broke apart some 500 years ago. Earth intersects the orbit of 2003 EH1 at a perpendicular angle, which means we quickly move through any debris. That's why the shower is so brief.
Details here:
http://meteorshowersonline.com/quadrantids.html

RESULTS of the "scientist of the day"

STEPL (Space Technology and Education Pvt. Ltd.) conducted an experiment for school children as part of the Winter Solstice Day celebrations at Jantar Mantar on 22nd Dec by SPACE.

The competition titled 'Scientist of the Day' involved measuring the shadow of a long stick over a period of time and using the shortest shadow to find the Circumference of the Earth. This uses the concept that the sun rays shine directly overhead on the Tropic of Capricorn (the latitude line at 23.5° south, passing through Brazil, South Africa, and Australia) on the day of Winter Solstice. Younger students participated in a competition "Measuring the Sun Angle" which was a smaller part of the original one.

About 150 students from 21 schools from Delhi NCR participated in this competition, including schools such as The Airforce School, Subroto Park; DPS Sonepat; Ryan International School, Rohini; Step by Step, Noida; Apeejay School, Saket, etc. The students sat in groups amidst the green lawns surrounded by the ancient monuments and measured away for a couple of hours. It was a great experience for the teachers and students to be involved in such a project.

All the groups did a great job and attended to the measurements with attention and diligence. I am proud to announce the winners of these two competitions:

In Senior Section Ryan International School, Vasant Kunj won the first prize where as team 8 and team 7 from Ryan International School, Rohini got second and third prize respectively.

In Junior Section team 5 from The Air Force School, Subrato Park won the first prize where as team 15 and team 16 from Step By Step Greater Noida stood second and third prize respectively.

Earth will be at Perihelion on Jan 4th, 2011 (00:30 IST)

Earth will be at Perihelion on Jan 4th, 2011
 
You may know that we don’t have a circular orbit around the Sun. It is elliptical, that means at one point we are closest, and at another we are at the furthest point away. On January 3rd at 19:00 UT or January 4^th at 00:30 IST, Earth will be at its closest point from the Sun on its' elliptical orbit around the Earth, which is known as Perihelion.
The Earth-Sun distance at that time is 147,093,590 km, which is about 5 million km closer than its farthest point in early July. However, this effect is much less significant than the effects due to the axial tilt of the Earth. Our seasons are determined primarily by the tilt of the Earth and not by how close or far the Earth is to the Sun.

To read in detail about Earth at Perihelion, find the attached document at the Google Calendar listing for this event here:https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1IXUie0Takfd07MxIuvCzg3l-TgJ7_qcaRN4YKO2sVWY&hl=en

SPACE celebrated Winter Solstice at Jantar Mantar, Dec 22, 2010

SPACE celebrated Winter Solstice with public outreach and with a large group of school students at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi
22nd December was the shortest day of the winter, i.e. the Winter Solstice when the Earth's axis in the Northern Hemisphere was tilted furthest away from the sun. After this day, the day lengths slowly increase again. This day is celebrated over the world in different cultures, the most famous celebrations being at Stonehenge. SPACE observed this day in Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

SPACE conducted public outreach at Jantar Mantar. Thankfully, although Winter Solstice indicates the peak of winter unofficially, it turned out to be a glorious sunny day. A lot of tourists and general wanderers walked through and were happy to find out what the ancient 'Jantar's (Yantras- meaning Machines) or structures were actually used for and how they were used to measure locations and time using the sun's shadow or by observing celestial objects.SPACE conducted tours of the various instruments and explained their workings.

STEPL (Space Technology and Education Pvt. Ltd.), i.e. the education wing of SPACE conducted an experiment for school children. The competition titled 'Scientist of the Day' involved measuring the shadow of a long stick over a period of time and using the shortest shadow to find the Circumference of the Earth. This uses the concept that the sun rays shine directly overhead on the Tropic of Capricorn (the latitude line at 23.5° south, passing through Brazil, South Africa, and Australia) on the day of Winter Solstice. About 200 students from 15 schools from Delhi NCR participated in this competition, including schools such as The Airforce School, Subroto Park; DPS Sonepat; Ryan International School, Rohini; Step by Step, Noida; Apeejay School, Saket, etc. The students sat in groups amidst the green lawns surrounded by the ancient monuments and measured away for a couple of hours. It was a great experience for the teachers and students to be involved in such a project.
Experimental material such as Telescopes, Binoculars and Astrokits were provided by SPACE Arcade www.spacearcade.in.

SPACE wil celebrate Winter Solstice at Jantar Mantar, 22nd Dec

       SPACE will celebrate Winter Solstice at Jantar Mantar
                                 22nd Dec, 11:00am - 3:00 pm 

SPACE will celebrate Winter Solstice with Public Outreach at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

• Learn about all the Jantar Mantar instruments and see how they are used.
• STEPL will conduct competitions on 'Measuring the Sun Angle' (Primary students) and 'Measuring the Circumference of the Earth' (Middle and Senior school students)

A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun's apparent position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme.

On the day of Winter Solstice, North Pole tilts away from the Sun and South Pole tilts towards the Sun. The Winter Solstice occurs exactly when the earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun at its maximum of 23° 26'. So the Sun shines at lowest heights in Northern skies and at maximum heights at Southern skies. It results in the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere but at the same time it’s the longest day in Southern Hemisphere. So for people in Southern Hemisphere it’s a Summer Solstice.

Winter Solstice indicates winter at its peak. After this, the length of the day starts increasing and it reaches a point where day and night becomes equal in length at Vernal or Spring Equinox. The day continues to grow longer till Summer Solstice, the longest day.

The Winter Solstice will take place at 23:38 UT on 21st Dec (5:08 am IST on 22nd Dec) . In New Delhi, sunrise on winter solstice day is at 7:10 am and sunset is at 5:29 pm making it a day which is about 10 hours in duration. 

On Dec 22nd, SPACE will conduct a Public Outreach  in collaboration with Nehru Planetarium at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. The students from various schools of Delhi will be performing activities tracking the shadow created by the sun using the Jai Prakash Yantra, and participating in competitions. 

More information can be found at our blog http://wintersolsticeindia.blogspot.com/.

For details on competitions visit www.stepl.org

For telescopes, binoculars and cameras visit  www.spacearcade.in

SPACE TEAM receives Kudos for Success in Great Indian Star Count Program

SPACE TEAM receives Kudos for Success in Great Indian Star Count Program:
SPACE recently concluded the Great Indian Star Count program (Oct 29th - Nov 12th) in collaboration with the Great Worldwide Star Count. This time SPACE turned in a record 1000 observations from all over India, which was 25% of the total number of about 4500 from over the world!

Our reports have also generated media attention, as it calls attention to the fact that light pollution has now increased by as much as 5% in cities such as Delhi compared to last year.

Such media attention and record number of observations have earned us recognition from the Director of the Globe at Night and Hands on Universe program who have sent their congratulations to SPACE and invited SPACE to join the Globe at Night program in March 2011. They have also requested C.B. Devgun to be a presenter at the IAU (International Astronomical Union) session on light pollution in July 2012 and talk about GISC and Project Dark Skies programs there.

Thanks to all of you who have worked hard to contribute results to this program. It is a privilege to be recognized by an international organization of this stature and be invited to join their programs, and thus receive support in our push to create awareness of light pollution.

Read some media clippings here on this program:http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4636275

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Delhiites-midnight-loss-97-stars-not-visible/Article1-623197.aspx

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article854884.ece

Fireballs in the Sky- Geminids Meteor Shower on dec 14th

Fireballs in the Sky -
Geminids Meteor Shower on Dec 14th

Avid star gazers can soon witness another sky theatre spectacle in the mesmerizing night skies - the Geminids Meteor Shower, peaking on 13^th/14^th Dec. This is one of the best meteor showers of the year and never disappoints observers. The peak of the shower this year falls just after the first quarter Moon. Moonset is within half an hour of local midnight across the globe for the maximum, while the Geminid radiant will be overhead around 02h local time.

The source of the Geminids shower is asteroid 3200 Phaethon. There's a cloud of dust trailing the asteroid and the Earth plows through it every year in mid-December. Bits of dust traveling  at 80,000 mph hit our atmosphere and turn into glowing meteors.The Geminids got its name because its radiant position, from which it appears to originate, lies in the constellation Gemini.

Observe and Photograph the Geminids:
SPACE has the following handouts and suggestions to ensure that each one of you can go out and observe this wonderful spectacle:


SPACE suggests that students, amateur astronomers and the public go out on Dec 14th morning to a dark site away from lights and observe this nightsky spectacle. Details about timing and observing suggestions can be found listed below. Meteor Showers provide a wonderful photographic opportunity. Details on techniques and suggestions by SPACE to employ for meteor photography can be found here:
http://meteorshowersindia.blogspot.com/2009/12/photographing-geminds.html
 
SPACE will webcast a workshop on 'Meteor Showers and the Geminids' on 14th Dec. Find details on this website closer to the date.

Record and Report:
This year we would like all observers to become Citizen Scientists and record their results and report it to IMO (International Meteor Organization). Details can be found in the attachment, as well as on the IMO website, listed below. Each citizen scientist who reports their observations will have the privilege to have their names and results listed on the IMO website.

Interested in Joining an Observation?
If you or a group from your school would be interested in joining a tour to beautiful Rishikesh or to nearby Sakras to observe and photograph these spectacular fireballs, then contact STEPL Astrotourism at rishabhj@stepl.org for further details.

SPACE Plans:
SPACE plans to send a scientific team to witness and record the Geminids Meteor Showers to a dark site away from Delhi. In 2009, SPACE observed and created a very successful report for the IMO. This can be found on the blog listed below. 
 

Geminids Details:

Maxima - Dec 14^th at 11h UT or 16:30 h IST

ZHR (Zenith Hourly Rate) - around 120.

The best time to watch the activity near the peak in India is on 13th December night/early morning on 14^th after moonset.

Relevant Websites:
SPACE suggestions on how to photograph Geminids Meteor Shower:
http://meteorshowersindia.blogspot.com/2009/12/photographing-geminds.html  
SPACE astrophotography of Geminids:
http://picasaweb.google.com/organisationspace/Geminids2009#

IMO website Observations reporting location:
http://www.imo.net/visual/major/observation 

Enjoy the last meteor shower of the Year.

Children's Fortnight celebrations at Nehru Planetarium

Children's Fortnight celebrations at Nehru Planetarium
The Nehru planetarium has an annual Children’s Fortnight celebration in the later half of November (15th - 30th), commemorating Pt. Nehru’s birthday. Special shows will be held in the planetarium, and activities will be conducted.

A complete list of activities and the schedule can be seen here:
http://nehruplanetarium.org/taarewiki/pmwiki.php?n=Site.ChildrensFortnightNovember2010

SPACE will be collaborating in some of the activities held during this time.  Please join us. These include:

November 16th - Moon and Jupiter Carnival
Sky theater live show on Moon and Jupiter. Free entry. Timings : 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM. Activity limited to 250 participants.Evening skywatch with telescopes. Viewing Moon and Jupiter through a telescope. Sunset to 8 PM
November 20th - Sun festival
Open outdoor activity. Anyone can participate in viewing sun projection through telescopes and binoculars, and in conducting some measurements and observations. Timings : 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM
November 23rd - Making and using sundials
Registered activity. Limited to 30 participants. In the activity area of the planetarium.
Timings: 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM.
November 24th - Matka Planetarium
Registered activity. Limited to 30 participants. In the activity area of the planetarium.
Timings: 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM.

Updated List of observers registered for the GISC till now!!!!

Following observers as per our registration data records have taken a step ahead and registered for the GISC and WWSC. SPACE wishes them good skies!!!

Vipul Raheja                      IIIT Hyderabad

chander devgun                    SPACE

Dinesh Nisang                     Bhaskaracharya Astronomy Research Centre

aditi                             avm convent dholpur

A.S Huidrom                       The Assam Valley School

prafull                           Ahlcon Public School

Ambrish Rawat                     IIT Delhi

Devendra Singh Raghuvanshi        Marudhar Engineering College, Raisar

astha sharma                      IIT DELHI, DELHI

Shekhar Suman Singh               LPU

Mohit Gupta                       Indian Institute of Technology , Delhi

Krushan                           Navrachana School, Sama

ARPIT SHUKLA                      Navarachana  Higher Secondary School

MANANK SHASTRI                    NAVRACHANA SCHOOL

Jaidrath Zaveri                   Navrachana, Vadodara, Gujarat

AADESH SHAH                       NAVRACHANA SCHOOL

PALLAV JHAVERI                    NAVRACHANA SCHOOL

AJINKYA THAKARE                   NAVRACHANA SCHOOL

GEHASHRAY TOOR                    NAVRACHANA SCHOOL

Rahul Arora                       Step By Step A-10 Sector 132,Noida

babita kundalia                   hillwoods Academy preet vihar

Megha Arora                       DPS,VASANT KUNJ

Anamitra Saha                     Educator

Gayatri P                         Educator

Leesha Jyoti                      Scientific Officer

Rahul A                           Junior RP

aanchal sharma                    hillwoods academy,delhi

PRASAHASTI                        HILWOODS ACADEMY

Nipun                             Springdales

harman singh chawla               sprigdales school, pusa road, new delhi

Tushar Sharma                     Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Tech.

Priyanka Srivastava               SPACE

SAURABH GUPTA                     HILLWOODS ACADEMY,PREET VIHAR,DELHI

swastik                           msit,ip university.

akash                             maharaja surajmal

sanyam kundlia                    hillwoods academy

Amol Garg                         Sri Aurobindo College

Sneh Kesari                       STEPL

aanchal sharma                    hillwoods academy

manav rathi                       Maharaja Surajmal Istitute of Technoly

Jaishree                          SPACE

mila mitra                        SPACE

Prashant Bansal                   Punj lloyd ltd.

Ritish Verma                      hillwoods academy

srijan devgun                     national victor public school

Rohit Kumar AT&T

Pooja Kumar SPACE

satvik step by step school

Sahil Wadhwa Ryan International

Rahul Arora Step By Step,Noida,A-10 Sector 132

Arpit Srivastava BITS, Pilani - K.K. Birla Goa Campus

suvriti dhawan apeejay school sheikh sarai

amanjot singh ryan international rohini

Shivam Goyal The Doon School

akanksha singh step by step

Venkat Arun Springdales School,  Pusa Road

Anandhi Mani Shri Natesan Vidyasala MHSS

Pooja Kumar SPACE

Rohit Kumar AT&T

Jagriti Saxena STEPL

Pratyaksh Singhal Step By Step school, Noida

mukund step by step noida

Angad Singh Step By Step School

Udisha Madan Step By Step 

mehar gulati step by step world school, noida

ananya gupta step by step

ishaan mehta step by step

Shivesh Chatrath Step By Step

Sean Hunt Step By Step World School

Jahan Jolly Step By Step World School

urvi varmani step by step world school, noida

Meghna Talreja Step By Step World School Noida

Mahira Dasgupta Step by Step world school

kabeer singh babbr Steb by steb

sukhmani navin vacher Step By Step

Hansa Kantor step by step world school ,noida 

vansh bhutani step by step

siddharth singh thosar step by step world school noida 

Krishaang Verma Step by Step world school

Shivesh Chatrath Step By Step School

Jai Chopra Step By Step 

Rishabh Johri  Step By Step World School

Avantika Tandon  step by step world school ,noida 

viraj randev step by step

Viraj Bahri Step By Step World School

Rushil Kapoor Step by Step world school

Naina D. Lavakare Step By Step, Noida

T.Manish Hyderabad Public School

rushil kapoor step by Step school

Another feather in the SPACE cap! MBA discovery!!!

Another feather in the SPACE cap!

Vikrant Narang and Mila Mitra from SPACE have made a Main Belt Asteroid Discovery on Oct 29th, as part of the NEO Plus campaign. 
Details from Patrick Miller, Director as below:

----------------------------------------------------MBA Discovery!! -- IASC

Greetings from the International Astronomical Search Collaboration

Congratulations are in order.  V. Narang & M. Mitra from S.P.A.C.E. in India discovered 2010 UJ98.  This is a Main Belt asteroid discovery made on October 29th.

During the current campaigns, there have been three MBA discoveries...one each from Japan, United States, and India:

Object  Students        School  Location        Date
2010 UR2        Y. Yatsuyanagi  Shizuoka University     Japan   10/17/10
2010 UN8        C. Pannill      Meredith College        NC      10/27/10
2010 UJ98       V. Narang & M. Mitra    S.P.A.C.E.      India   10/29/10

Congratulations to all of you!!

Happy Hunting!!

Dr. Patrick Miller
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“Hidden Treasures” — a free competition by ESO

Click here to go to the site

Great Indian Star Count clipping

Moon in HDR by SPACE team

Comet Hartley clicked from new observation site of SPACE at Sakras

Comet Hartley clicked on Nov 2 night from new observation site of SPACE at Sakras

Click on image to see hi res

Close encounters of Hartely!!!!

NASA's Deep Impact (EPOXI) probe has just completed its 435 mile flyby of Comet Hartley 2's nucleus. The spacecraft has turned its high-gain antenna toward Earth and data are being transmitted to mission control at JPL. The first raw images have just arrived and, even without processing, they are spectacular....

The first close-up image of Hartley

For more images click here..

Inauguration of SPACE's new observation site

Winter skies are here!!!! SPACE schools have been gearing up for sessions during the nights in their SPACE clubs. SPACE has made another observation site available to its associated organisations at Sakras. First light !!! of the site is going to happen tomoro with the night observation sessions of the schools there.

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=27.8536947&lon=76.9726342&z=18&l=0&m=b

Great Indian Star Count

letter from CM Gujrat for the Asteroid hunt Programme success!!!!

SPACE celebrated WSW2010 and WWLW 2010 in a special way!!!

SPACE celebrated WSW2010 and WWLW 2010 in a special way!!!

WORLD SPACE WEEK - Celebration on 4th Oct

WORLD SPACE WEEK
Oct. 4th to Oct 10th

SPACE and Russian Center invites you to join us 
for a movie and presentation 
at
Seminar Room, Russian Center for Science and Culture,
24 Feroze Shah Road, New Delhi
on
Oct 4th, 2010, 11:00AM - 1:00PM
to commemorate the start of World Space Week
(Oct 4th - celebrates the Launch of 1st Sputnik in 1957) 

Itinerary:
11:00am     Welcome
11:10am     Presentation on Sputnik by C.B. Devgun, President, SPACE
11:30am     Movie (in 2 Parts):
Part I. In the future with confidence. 
This film is about the history and modern development of space technology. From launching of first Sputnik in 1957 to contemporary technology of space exploration, monitoring of environment, Global Navigation System etc. The film demonstrates phases of development of ISS and international cooperation in space.
Part II. Russia the space power. 
This documentary is about the key role of Russia in development of modern space technologies, Russian Space Agency (Roskosmos). It shows the stages of creation of launch vehicle, artificial satellites, and sophisticated equipment to explore space.
11:50am     Vote of Thanks by Russian Center
12:15         High Tea

Please note, as most Delhi and NCR schools will be closed, please show up and encourage family, friends, neighbours etc. to attend. Please call or register at the following contact as soon as possible if you plan to attend. Contact: Shikha Chanana atworldspaceweek@space-india.org, 9953419502

Lets' make this WSW another grand one like 2009!

Message from Delhi Chief Minister Mrs. Sheila Dikshit for SPACE

letter of appreciation from Himachal CM for asteroid discovery by SPACE

Talk by Vishnu Reddy

More Images from the Talk by Prof. Vishnu Reddy at American Centre can be seen at

http://picasaweb.google.com/organisationspace/TalkByVishnuReddy#

"Discovery in Astronomy: A lifetime of cosmic adventures"

Discovery in Astronomy: A lifetime of cosmic adventures” 

- Talk and interaction by Dr. Vishnu Reddy

SPACE cordially invites you for a talk and interaction with well known Asteroid Hunter and research professor Dr Vishnu Reddy, currently working on NASA’s DAWN mission to asteroids. 

Event: “Discovery in Astronomy: A lifetime of cosmic adventures” -

 A Talk by Dr. Vishnu Reddy, North Dakota University, Asteroid Expert and part of NASA mission to asteroid Vesta

Dr Vishnu Reddy is a research professor at the Department of Space Studies, University of North Dakota, USA. He is currently working on NASA’s Dawn mission to asteroid Vesta. As an amateur astronomer, Dr Reddy has discovered 23 main belt asteroids, discovered 6 binary asteroids, and one supernova.

Itinerary:

10:00 AM Talk by Dr. Vishnu Reddy

11:00 AM Interaction

11:15 AM Vote of Thanks

11:30 AM High Tea              

Venue: Auditorium, American Center, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi

Date: Monday, 27th September 2010 , 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Please call Shikha at 9953419502 for details or to register for the event.