India's Mars Orbiter is on it's way to Shriharikota for the launch on 28th October 2013

MANGALYAAN on it's way to Shriharikota for integration with PSLV rocket!

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft was shipped out of the city on Thursday for the October 28 launch from the Sriharikota spaceport, setting the stage for final preparations for the odyssey to the red planet. It was packed in a special container on it's journey from Bangalore ISAC to SDSC Shriharikota.

Accompanied by a convoy, the truck-trailer carrying the container is currently on its way by road Sriharikota, where it's slated to reach Thursday afternoon.
Gandhi Jayanti day was chosen for the journey as traffic would be less.

Primary objectives of the mission are to demonstrate India’s technological capability to send a satellite to orbit around Mars and conduct meaningful experiments such as looking for signs of life, take pictures of the red planet and study Martian environment.

The launch campaign has already commenced at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, about 90 km from Chennai, from where the 1,350-kg MOM spacecraft is slated to be launched by the Rs110 crore Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25). the first stage of the PSLV-C25 with strap-ons has already been assembled, with the rocket ready for satellite integration by October 10.

The satellite will carry compact science experiment instruments, totalling a mass of 15 kg. There will be five instruments to study the Martian surface, atmosphere and mineralogy.

After leaving the earth’s orbit, the spacecraft will cruise in deep space for about ten months using its own propulsion system and will reach Martian transfer trajectory in September 2014. The spacecraft subsequently is planned to enter into a 372 km by 80,000 km elliptical orbit around Mars.

The main theme of MOM appears to be to seek to reveal whether there is methane, considered a “precursor chemical” for life, on the red planet. Methane sensor, one of the five payloads (scientific instruments) on board the spacecraft, would look to detect the presence of Methane.

The Rs150-crore spacecraft would be launched on October 28 at 16 hours, 14 minutes and 45 seconds (4.15 pm), weather permitting.

Ticket to Mars!

Mars have been fascinating us from the beginning, it's red color makes it one of the beautiful object in the night sky!

Mans habit from beginning of his evolution to explore new things and new places has drawn this interest in Mars mission. So people from around the globe are interested to study Mars in detail and looking forward to land their foot on Mars and eventually colonize it. For the same the race has begun and the applications have been invited even by the private organizations to the people around the Earth and this can only happen when all the interested nations join hands together.

Why Mars?

Being the last rocky planet in the inner solar system makes it the next eligible candidate after our mother Earth for the life to form on it, after the moon the next destination for humans is Mars!! So every one are behind Mars now, all the space faring countries are interested to study Mars in detail, so many missions have been planned both unmanned and manned missions. There was a time when we thought even going to moon is impossible but the cold war changed the thoughts of humans, making astronauts from USA land on moon. It seems like after landing on moon spending so much money for the missions and sending unmanned probes humans are not satisfied with the results, so now the next candidate is Mars!

How Life? And the challenges faced..

Like other space missions not all who apply for the mission can go to Mars mission, it has its own challenges. 

 

Missions around Earth

From the first mission to space started by Russians sending  Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin to space in 1961 it has been very challenging with every new human mission. New methods being adapted new things being innovated for the safety of astronauts, cosmonauts or taikonauts. But in the beginning all the missions were being conducted with military personals from Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin to Neil Alden Armstrong. Now it's the matter of leaving Earth's gravity and entering a entirely different place, the  Mars. 

 

Mars mission

Might be true one day!!

Things will be entirely different as this mission is not like moon missions! It has its own challenges offering. It could be a one way trip! Because a one way journey will take around 7 to 8 months when Mars is in perigee (point nearest to a planet). One should be ready to leave all his relationships back here and go. So humans first need to be trained to adapt the space environment, as traveling in the space for such long time can cause effects, both mentally and physically, even Mars environment should be adapted even though a artificial environment like Earth will be created! Experiments like Mars 500 have shown the problems humans can face during Mars mission.

Gravity

The gravity place a very important role, it's very less 3.711 m/s² compared to Earths 9.78 m/s² so it will effect humans muscular tissues and bones! Even 6 months journey cause problems in Zero gravity!

 

Atmosphere

Like here on Earth Mars dose not have an atmosphere, it has got a very thin atmosphere, so every time if they need to leave the living units they need to wear the space suit or Mars suit whatever it is called! Even the magnetic field is not substantial like Earths, it will invite all sorts of trouble! Next comes how to survive the harsh environment of Mars, it is an unforgiving environment where a small mistake or accident can result in large failure, injury and death. The solar storms, the UV all are enough to cause severe damage to the crew.

Surviving on Mars

The most important part of the mission is to survive on Mars and leading life if it has to be colonized. There is no abundant amount of Oxygen and Water on Mars the main source of Life like here on Earth. It should be carried along with the crew members like how the supply goes to International Space Station (ISS) orbiting Earth and it will be a different way to maintain it and survive on the limited amount of the Life saving ingredients available on board until the next cargo reach them!

 

Food

A artificial atmosphere should be created so food can be grown inside the living units (remember a Hollywood Sci-Fic Mission to Mars) it is not easy to grow plants on Mars like here which can give Oxygen and Food depending upon type of plants grown and if suddenly, you got a wish of having a Pizza there is no outlet which can take your order and deliver it in 30 minutes!! Water

Waste management

Here on Earth itself waste management is a very difficult task there it will be even more difficult it cannot just be disposed as easily as here, even that should be planned well to recycle it for different purpose it might reduce the cost of mission a little bit!

Dream come true

If all this is done in a systematic manner spending infinite amount of money joining hands with different nations sharing Science and Technology this dream of Humans to colonize the Mars can become true in the near future!!

Have you booked your ticket to Mars!!

2013's first eclipse is here!! (PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE)

What is a Lunar eclipse?

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly behind the earth into its umbra (shadow). This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a full moon. The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the Moon's location relative to its orbital nodes. Unlike a solar eclipses, which can only be viewed from a certain relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of the Earth. A lunar eclipse lasts for a few hours, where as a total solar eclipse lasts for only a few minutes at any given place, due to the smaller size of the moon's shadow. Also unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to view without any eye protection or special precautions, as they are no brighter (indeed dimmer) than the full moon itself.

 

Partial lunar eclipse

A partial lunar eclipse occurs when only a portion of the Moon enters the umbra. When the Moon travels completely into the Earth’s umbra, one observes a total lunar eclipse. The Moon’s speed through the shadow is about one kilometer per second (2,300 mph), and totality may last up to nearly 107 minutes. Nevertheless, the total time between the Moon’s first and last contact with the shadow is much longer, and could last up to 4 hours. The relative distance of the Moon from the Earth at the time of an eclipse can affect the eclipse’s duration. In particular, when the Moon is near its apogee, the farthest point from the Earth in its orbit, its orbital speed is the slowest. The diameter of the umbra does not decrease appreciably within the changes in the orbital distance of the moon. Thus, a totally eclipsed Moon occurring near apogee will lengthen the duration of totality.

 

What is an UMBRA & PENUMBRA?

Diagram to explain UMBRA & PENUMBRA

    The umbra (shadow) is the innermost and darkest part of a shadow, where the light source is completely blocked by the occluding body. An observer in the umbra experiences a total eclipse.

    The penumbra (almost nearly a shadow) is the region in which only a portion of the light source is obscured by the occluding body. An observer in the penumbra experiences a partial eclipse. An alternative definition is that the penumbra is the region where some or all of the light source is obscured (i.e., the umbra is a subset of the penumbra).

 

 This eclipse (25-26/4/2013)

  The first lunar eclipse of 2013 occurs at the Moon's ascending node in southern Virgo about 12° east of Spica (mv = +1.05). It is visible primarily from the Eastern Hemisphere. The Moon's contact times with Earth's shadows are listed below.

 Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 18:03:38 UT 

 Partial Eclipse Begins: 19:54:08 UT 

 Greatest Eclipse: 20:07:30 UT 

 Partial Eclipse Ends: 20:21:02 UT 

 Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 22:11:26 UT

At the instant of greatest eclipse the umbral eclipse magnitude will reach 0.0147. This event is barely partial with just 0.5 arc-minutes of the Moon's northern limb dipping into umbral shadow. Consequently, the partial phase lasts less than 27 minutes.

Region of visibilitv of eclipse

To catch the entire event, one must be located in eastern Europe or Africa, central Asia or western Australia. At the instant of greatest eclipse the Moon will be at the zenith for an observer just east of Madagascar. Eastern parts of South America will experience moonrise with the eclipse already in progress, but none of the eclipse is visible from North America.

Hope you have a clear sky!!

Enjoy!!

Amateur Astronomy

 Amateur Astronomy, Who? Where? & How?

Astronomy, the word itself amazes everyone! Being an Amateur astronomer is a pride!

The starry night sky is so beautiful that it attracts everyone towards it. It's filled with so many amazing things that in comparison our life is very small to explore, understand and see the beauty of it. But still we can do a lot more with what we have got and to do this you need not be a Astronomer!

But for sure you can be an Amateur Astronomer!!

The term Amateur itself suggests what you are doing is for your pleasure, which you love to do from your heart. Astronomy is not only for professional astronomers. Any one can do it, indeed from your own backyard! By the comforts of your home. But make sure there is no light pollution and your home is bit far from city limits, otherwise it is like searching your mobile signal standing in the middle of a forest!

Amateur astronomy is like a hobby, but now a days professional astronomers are taking help of Amateurs to explore the vast universe so you can understand now why i mentioned being an Amateur astronomer is a pride. Amateur astronomers are like free birds, who can explore the sky with there own will and wish.

How to get started?

For being an amateur astronomer you need lot's of patience!! A good pair of optics, a telescope or a binocular and the important one a sky map or else you are lost, you will be not knowing what you are looking at or how to search what you want to observe. First do a planning what you are interested in. Just planets in our solar system or nebulae which are far away from our solar system or star clusters, galaxies. Even a binocular can show you lots of amazing things but if you want to do a proper observation you need a good telescope.

If you want to explore at full extent you need a clear night sky, which probably not available now a days, you can get a clear sky only far from urban areas, so try to move as far away as you can from city limits and reach a dark place where you can see even highest magnitude stars, now you might be amazed what is magnitude of a star! i will explain it further in detail in the upcoming posts.

Now to do observation you need a telescope! A telescope will have a eye piece from where you see or observe, a primary mirror and if it is a reflecting telescope it consists a secondary mirror. Mirror's will be coated to reflect the incoming light in to the eye piece.

First let me tell you about the types of telescopes and how to select one for you.

Types of telescopes

a) Refracting telescope :- It is a telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image. The refracting telescope design was originally used in spy glasses and astronomical telescopes but is also used for long focus camera lenses. Although large refracting telescopes were very popular in the second half of the 19th century, for most research purposes the refracting telescope has been superseded by the reflecting telescope.

b) Reflecting telescope :- A reflector, or reflecting telescope uses an arrangement of one or more curved mirrors to gather light and return it along an optical path to a point of focus. The most critical element of this type of telescope is the major light gathering source – the primary mirror. Light strikes the parabolic, reflective surface of the primary and returns to a point of focus called the focal plane. Because each spherical or parabolic shaped primary mirror is slightly different, the distance the light needs to travel to achieve focus is called the focal length. At its focus point, the image (in a simple reflector telescope) is collected on another mirror surface called the secondary. The secondary mirror is then aimed towards the viewer who uses a series of lenses called an eyepiece to magnify the image and send it to the eye.

c) Catadioptric :-  A catadioptric optical system is one where refraction and reflection are combined in an optical system, usually via lenses and curved mirrors. Catadioptric combinations are used in focusing systems such as searchlights, headlamps early lighthouse focusing systems, telescope and microscopes. This type of telescopes combine specifically shaped mirrors and lenses to form an image. This is usually done so that the telescope can have an overall greater degree of error correction than their all lens or mirror counterparts with a consequently wider aberration free field of view. Their designs can have simple all spherical surfaces and can take advantage of a folded optical path that reduces the mass of the telescope, making them easier to manufacture. Many types employ “correctors”, a lens or curved mirror in a combined image-forming optical system so that the reflective or refractive element can correct the aberrations produced by its counterpart.

Cassegrain telescope :-  The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary Concave mirror and a secondary Convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and radio antennas.In a symmetrical Cassegrain both mirrors are aligned about the optical axis and the primary mirror usually contains a hole in the center thus permitting the light to reach an eyepiece, a camera, or a light detector. It was designed by Laurent Cassegrain. The Cassegrain design is also used in Catadioptric!

You can select one of the above type to do your observation! They come in different sizes, you can buy them or build one by yourself!! But in the beginning be careful select the right one, plan first what you want to look at, objects just inside our solar system or deep sky objects. I will be telling about telescopes in detail in the coming posts. Then you can decide yourself which one to buy or to build one yourself for a memorable experience. You can use even Binoculars to do Amateur astronomy, it's best if you use binocular in the beginning and recognize patterns of stars in different constellations and in clusters, It's always better to go step by step, Don't be in a hurry!

You can even join any of the Amateur Astronomy group in your locality and seek the advice of the experienced amateurs, visit star parties with them it will definitely help you out, even there are lot's of forums to discus about amateur astronomy get into any one of them and start your date with the starry night!

Because if you are interested in Astronomy sky is not the limit!!

Thanks for your visit, keep visiting..