Sky At Night
A Report of Facts & Fiction..!
My friends had gone before me as always and was getting ready for a busy night session. I reached the dark site, just at sunset.
After the initial greetings and settling, we noticed till late evening a dozen or so, bright and faint, slow and fast, steadily moving star-like, but untwinkling points of light (satellites) with naked eyes, some followed up in binoculars.
There has been a recent (unlike a decade ago) increase in the number of these objects. Some looked bright like Jupiter and disappeared suddenly. Some just flared for a few seconds to disappear. Some very faint and slow moving. Some in polar orbits moving from south to north while others moved from west to east but not exactly east-west but angled.
As usual, I began looking west starting with the proceeding to set Venus and Jupiter. Moon had separated further and had risen up growing in its phase. The moon's orbit is angulated to the planetary alignment to puzzle any observer let alone a beginner. It's interesting to watch this fact.
Uranus, in Aries (Ram), was not seen, unlike the day before yesterday evening, to confidently assert, due to adjacent position of the cresent moon. Auriga clusters M36, 37, 38, looked faint in binoculars due to the moon light. M41 near Sirius (Siva) and M35 in Gemini, being away from the cresent moon, were better observed. M44 (Beehive), and in the early morning M13 in Herculus, M7, M6 to the east of Shaula (Moola nakshatra), observed. Omega Centauri was easy to spot in binoculars. Sagittarius Milky Way was increasingly better appreciated as it climbed towards the meridian.
Pleiades and Hyades were traced maximum.
Faint elusive constellation Monocerous was traced fully, with the help of chart and binoculars.
As I am interested in the scientific study of religions (theology), different world cultures and the history of astronomy, I state the following ideas, and my understanding of the same - mythologies, stories, allegories and all, with associated astronomical significance :-
In Hindu puranas (mythology) and religious worship, Lord Siva is worshiped in Linga form as an embodiment of symbolic representation of male and female energies of our dipole universe. Only the formless gets a form - shape - structure & function, with the passage of time. The Shiv Linga and Yoni together represent this dipole function of creation, sustenance and dissolution of this material energy forming into the universe.
Now, the summer constellation Ophiuchus (serpent bearer), looks like a Tanjore doll north of Scorpious. Ophiuchus body is circled by a giant snake, from its east to its west, called Serpens Caput and Serpens Cauda, forming its head and tail. On the north east (lop left) of Ophiuchus we also can find Corona Borealis (the crescent moon).
There has certainly been a sharing of ideas between the Hindus / Indians and Greek astronomers, as there are common representations in the sky only with different names and stories. A cultural give and take seems to have happened, in astronomy, mythology, and the pseudo-science of astrology, between the ancient Indians and the Greeks.
Herculus, Ursa Major, Minor, Leo, Virgo, Corvus, Orion, Gemini, Crux, Canis Major and Minor were seen.
Unlike last fortnight yesterday after midnight it became severely cold uncomfortable. We roosted in car. When I woke up at 3am and ventured out, my hands were cold and numb. It was cold outside. I thought, I could have better worn that leather jacket. The humidity was condensing as dew. There was haze, like a flickering-flame of fire, affecting sky transparency. But seeing was good without turbulence. No boiling.
Astrophotographer:-
Dr Suresh Mohan.
Visual Observers:-
Mr Vijayakumar,
Mr Ramesh.
Dr V Anand.
Non image-stabilized handheld 10x50 Binoculars on easy chair, Collins gem guide, red filter torch light. Star hopping method.
Telescopes used:
Suresh: Takhashi FSQ-106EDx4 Quadruplet Refractor, on an astrophysics USA made mach 1 GTO.
Vijayakumar: 10x50 Binoculars.
Dog: Brucelee.
