My Astrophotos

Astrophotography, is a specialized type of photography for recording images of astronomical objects and large areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object (the Moon) was taken in 1840, but it was not until the late 19th century that advances in technology allowed for detailed stellar photography. Besides being able to record the details of extended objects such as the Moon, Sun, and planets, astrophotography has the ability to image objects invisible to the human eye such as dim stars, nebulae, and galaxies. Photography revolutionized the field of professional astronomical research, with long time exposures recording hundreds of thousands of new stars and nebulae that were invisible to the human eye, leading to specialized and ever larger optical telescopes that were essentially big cameras designed to collect light to be recorded on film. 

These are the few photos from my collection, 

My telescope pointing at the Moon

Telescopic view of the Moon via "moon filter"

Sunrise

FOR MORE SUCH PHOTOS STAY TUNED TO "THE MYSTERIOUS COSMOS"
By : Aviral Srivastava
find me on Instagram : avirals_22
email me at: aviralsrivastava12@gmail.com

The beauty of a line! (astronomy events part-2)

Welcome back audience!!

Ever wondered how a line can amuse you by its magnificent look? Sometimes its just a matter of excitement that something can give you! So tight your hands !, grab your telescopes !, and be ready with your cameras to capture a magnificent view of the sky in morning this week!

So basically what is going to happen is that the all the classical planets are visible on the line of their orbit, well you would think that it is not a big thing, but wait! , all this is going to happen on the same time and thats the interesting part of it.

All though mercury is shown here it wont be visible in the telescope or to the naked eye.

Four  planets adorn the morning sky this week — the same quintet of “wanderers” (Venus  to Saturn) our ancient ancestors recognized as being different from the background stars. Head outside about 45 minutes before sunrise and you will see the solar system objects spread out across approximately 110°. 

Start with Jupiter in the southwestern sky, then pick up Mars nearly due south, Saturn climbing in the southeast, brilliant Venus to its lower left, and lastly Mercury hanging low in the twilight. The view of the five improves over the next week or two as Mercury climbs higher and grows brighter.

Stellarium view the event from Southern Hemisphere.

By the time morning twilight starts to paint the sky, both Venus and Saturn appear prominent in the southeast. Venus shines brilliantly at magnitude –4.0 — the brightest point of light in the sky.

Although Venus may be brighter, there’s no denying the charms of neighboring Saturn. The ringed planet shines at magnitude 0.5 and lies 15° to Venus’ upper right. When viewed through a telescope, Saturn shows a 16"-diameter disk surrounded by a stunning ring system that spans 36" and tilts 26° to our line of sight.

The Red Planet has also now brightened considerably since the start of the New Year, shining at magnitude 0.8. Mars’ rapid motion nearly matches the Sun’s pace, so the world rises only about a half-hour earlier at January’s close than it did on New Year’s Day.

Mars was a telescopic dud during 2015 because its diameter never exceeded 5.5". That starts to change in January because the planet pulls significantly closer to Earth. By month’s end, it appears 6.8" across and may start to show some subtle surface markings through larger scopes. Conditions will improve quickly this spring as Mars approaches opposition in May, when it will appear bigger and brighter than at any time since 2005.

Mercury approaches Venus as this week progresses. The innermost planet stands 9° high in the southeast a half-hour before sunrise on the 31st, when you can locate it 7° to Venus’ lower left. It shines at magnitude 0.0 and should show up clearly through binoculars.

written by : Aviral Srivastava

find me on Instagram :avirals_22

email me at : aviralsrivastava12@gmail.com

A new planet out there?

On Jan. 20, 2016, scientists announced the discovery of what could be a giant planet in the Kuiper Belt at the outer edge of our solar system. Nicknamed "Planet Nine," the world is a behemoth - about 10 times the mass of the Earth. It would take the planet between 10,000 and 20,000 years to orbit the sun.

The evidence for existence of Planet-9.

Evidence for Planet Nine was unveiled by researchers Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. The scientists used mathematical modeling and computer simulations to make the find, but have not actually observed the planet directly.

Written by : Aviral Srivastava

Find me on Instagram : avirals_22

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ISRO AT ITS BEST

PSLV-C31

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its 33^rd  flight (PSLV-C31), launches IRNSS-1E, the fifth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). The launch took place from the Second Launch Pad (SLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.  As in the previous four launches of IRNSS satellites, PSLV-C31 uses ‘XL’ version of PSLV. This is the eleventh time ‘XL’ configuration was flown, earlier ten being PSLV-C11/Chandrayaan-1, PSLV-C17/GSAT-12, PSLV-C19/RISAT-1, PSLV-C22/IRNSS-1A, PSLV-C25/Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, PSLV-C24/IRNSS-1B, PSLV-C26/IRNSS-1C, PSLV-C27/IRNSS-1D, PSLV-C28/DMC-3 and PSLV-C30/ASTROSAT  mission .

PSLV-C31 lift off

IRNSS-1E

IRNSS-1E is the fifth navigation satellite of the seven satellites constituting the IRNSS space segment. Its predecessors, IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C and 1D were launched by PSLV-C22, PSLV-C24, PSLV-C26 and PSLV-C27 in July 2013, April 2014, October 2014 and March 2015 respectively. IRNSS-1E has a lift-off mass of 1425 kg. The configuration of IRNSS-1E is similar to that of IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C and 1D. 

IRNSS -1E carries two types of payloads – navigation payload and ranging payload. The navigation payload of IRNSS-1E will transmit navigation service signals to the users. This payload will be operating in L5-band and S-band. A highly accurate Rubidium atomic clock is part of the navigation payload of the satellite. The ranging payload of IRNSS-1E consists of a C-band transponder which facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite. IRNSS-1E also carries Corner Cube Retro Reflectors for laser ranging.

PSLV-C31 Successfully launches IRNSS-1E  on January 20, 2016 at 09:31 Hrs (IST) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota, the spaceport of India.

IRNSS-1E

Source : isro.gov.in

rewritten by : Aviral Srivastava

Find me on Instagram as : avirals_22

Astronomy events-2016

HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS!!(umm..sorry for being late)

So at last 2015 ended a few days ago! , and I welcome you all to 2016. Sadly 2015 passed away without much event but you guys would be happy to know that 2016 will be an exiting year!! full of events and enjoyment. Here is a list of them for which I am eagerly waiting for! BE READY!!!

January 9(at down): A rare chance to see Venus and Saturn in the same telescopic field! 

January 19 : The Moon will occult Aldebaran(Taurus) but this would be visible only from North America.

February 7 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation. The planet Mercury reaches greatest western elongation of 25.6 degrees from the Sun. This is the best time to view Mercury since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the morning sky. Look for the planet low in the eastern sky just before sunrise.

March 8: Jupiter at opposition—that means it’s opposite the Sun in the sky, so it’s up all night, and as close to Earth as it gets for the year. This is the best time to observe it!

May 9: Mercury transits the Sun. This may be the biggest event of the year; transits are relatively rare and very cool to watch. I’ll have a blog post about this in a few months, closer to the date.

June 3: Saturn at opposition. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Saturn through a telescope, so this’ll be nice.

Wait, there are many more!!! but I would tell you guys about them in my another post , till then wait for these and enjoy. 

Once again a very Happy New Year!

find me on:

Instagram: avirals_22 

email me at: aviralsrivastava12@gmail.com