How does it feel to look up and see every inch of the night sky teeming with stars, nebulae and other deep sky objects? Or travel 2.5 million years back in time and observe our nearest galactic neighbor 'Andromeda Galaxy' with unaided eyes? Or see a 180-degree view of our Milky way galaxy span across the…
I have always been fascinated by what the skies looked like to the naked eye before the artificial lights flooded the planet. How spectacular would the skies have been? My first conscious effort to gaze upon the skies started from Coimbatore. Astronomers use the ‘Bortle’ scale that rates the sky from a location from 1…
The sky has plentiful wonders. Among them, solar eclipses are one of the most popular. When we see the sun or the moon waning out of view in a matter of a few hours, a sense of wonder and curiosity is kindled. They constantly remind us of the enormousness and liveliness of our solar system.…
When I was in 10th grade, a star gazing session was arranged in my school. There was a low turnout, which I guess, was partly because it was in the early morning hours of the day at around 2 AM in winter, and maybe partly because, it wasn’t exciting enough. Nevertheless, for me it turned…
On a fine morning in June 2015, a team of scientists at Cosmic Ray Laboratory (CRL), Ooty, went ecstatic, as they observed a burst of Galactic Cosmic Rays following a Coronal Mass Ejection event. I could only imagine the upbeat mood of the scientists at the CRL facility when they ran through these observations! After…