"The Ring of Fire"

"The Ring of Fire"

The Beauty of the Celestial Spectacle.
From the Land of the Gods !

Yesterday, the 26th of December 2019, in the morning of the day after Christmas, the Sun and the Moon came romancing in the sky. It was a spectacle to watch, next only to a Total Eclipse of the Sun which I had the good fortune to witness and photograph way back on the 24th October of 1995, and that happened on a Deepavali Day.
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But unlike a Total eclipse of the Sun by the moon, the Annular eclipse does not cover the sun entirely. A ring of fiery Sun is left exposed in the day time sky. And no Corona comes out for view. Neither the Diamond Ring nor the Bailey's Beads nay the Shadow bands could be seen.
The spectacle here is only the shimmering 'Ring of Fire.'

But, what a splendid show it was ! We were mesmerised by the magical power of the natural phenomenon. At that final moment of annularity the sky miraculously opened up. Adding to that, the moving clouds formed a natural solar filter which masked the majority of the glazing solar light which dazzles and is injurious to our vision on prolonged careless watching, let alone use an optical instrument.

We started early in the morning the day before the eclipse, under a cloudy sky. And then it rained ! And it seemed there was no hope. We simply enjoyed the drive in the pleasant weather. We were a team of four people (Aravind of 17 years, Mr. Nathan, Mr. Karthikeyan & myself Anand).

We drove to the desired area but an unfixed destination, due to the vagaries of inclement and unpredictable weather conditions.
Normally, when eclipse expeditions are planned, it is done with thorough pre-planning, starting many months before, taking into consideration many factors like, sky condition, weather conditions, duration of the event, the ideal place of viewing the main spectacle, instrumentation required for proper viewing and photographing, etc., Seasoned amateur and professional astronomers choose a place of observation from where they can do their scientific study without being disturbed by crowds and other distractions.

We enjoyed the weather. We travelled more than five hundred kilometers by car chasing the setting sun which finally revealled itself.

And there was hope in our hearts.
Solar filters were not showing the Sun without the clearing of clouds.
Indeed, the passing clouds became our natural filter. The filters became an added protection.

The main telescope could not be used for imaging the Sun, as it was not possible to polar or drift align it earlier, due to continual cloud movement. However, it is was used for visual observation with a thousand oaks objective filter. We could see the waning phase of annularity and the Sun was of an orange colour through the filter.

Atlast, the next day we managed to capture a part of the image of the Sun by over the eye piece mobile phone projection.

I upload the images and videos here for what its worth. It was simply spectacular. We bathed in the divine light ! It was indeed an ecstatic religious experience which was scientifically rewarding too.

Photos & videos by mobile phones.
Samsung A30, Poco F1, Vivo V5.
Telescope used: 8" SCT with thousand oaks objective filter and 27 mm plossal eye piece.
Place: Canal Pirivu, Walayar, near Palakkad, Kerala state, India.
10.8132° N, 76.7980° E.
Photographs were taken by 
A Aravind.

To continue...

Pure Energy

Pure Energy

Let that be touched upon;

Quite often as possible !

Let that be touched upon;

Quite often as possible !

That state of Silence

It is immensity; It is Space.

Let that be touched upon;

Quite often as possible !

Relationships drain our energies;

It incapacitates the brain.

Let that be touched upon;

Quite often as possible !

Formless though it may be

Through form though we perceive it;

Let that be touched upon;

Quite often as possible !

It breathes by it's own breath;

It rejoices in the nectar of joy;

Let that be touched upon;

Quite often as possible !

The darkness of creation;

That cause of interactions...

Unfolding as the three forms of Space

Let that great Vishnu be touched upon;

Myriads of worlds in floating flames;
Born out of that nothingness -
The metagalaxy from time zero
Perceive it through divine eyes;

Creation and Dissolution.
Sustained in the firmament of time;
Through Cosmic Unfolding
As the differentiated Universe !

Beyond all relationship is God

Let that pure energy of Space act;

Let that be touched upon;

Quite often as possible !

The energy of love sustains the Universe;
Let that Silent fine energy  of Space act
Through the noisy gross energy of matter.

Let that be touched upon;

Quite often as possible !

Let that be touched upon;

Quite often as possible !

The Blind Men And The Elephant

THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT.

A HINDOO FABLE.

IT was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me!—but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried: "Ho!—what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 't is mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:

"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he;
"'T is clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

So, oft in theologic wars
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

An attempt at poem....

An attempt at poem....

Neither enemies nor friends to me;

For I do not want either, nothing but nuisance;

Neither interested in class mates nor in so called love mates;

For both are transient and addictive illusions;

I am only interested in 'Soul mates' !

Living is all about approaching death....

If I die early, you be with me;

If you die early, i be with you;

If fortunate we Iive long and die together;

Or dying alone is even better;

Money comes and goes !

All that matters is...

Only that we stay together;

In a common quest of truth;

Nature acts when man stops!

The fear of death is worser than death itself;

Materialists resist metaphysics;

They fear till the end...

Give up and let go....

(An attempt at a philosophical poem)

Now, its time for play...

God bless.

A Treasure House

A Treasure House

Upon this Earth I have a treasure house of just one room.

It's very small, this room of mine;

The roof rolls off for splendors of the night,

The walls are low and not too far apart, 

And in the center stands a dream fulfilled;

An object made of glass and brass and other metal things

That move and turn about to rendezvous with realms beyond our own.

And here is found a Sanctuary.

Now move this larger roving eye to seek

For other masterworks in depth of space;

For there the greatness of our Universe is found,

And in the seeking we ourselves are great.

So I will choose these quite ways of night,

This pleasure through the years;

For here no thought of war and strife intrudes

To block these roads so distant

We must see with mind and not with sight.

And sensing this, man's petty creeds are laid aside,

And life's sojourn made more complete.

By Paul W. Davis, New York.

Sky & Telescope, February 1967.