Tiny Aakash Gangas

Oops! I got it wrong and had to re-edit this post. Well, I've decided to write here even though I may not be able to create the pdf ezine anymore (at least for some period of time).

I just read that there exists more dark matter dominated tiny galaxies surrounding our own Milky Way than previously thought. Since these 'invisible' galaxies are difficult to find, the theory that these should exist around big ones was more a mystery until this new find. The find came from astronomers Dr. Marla Geha and Dr. Josh Simon at W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii by studying previously discovered dwarf galaxies. They closely observed 814 stars in eight such dwarf galaxies first discovered with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

Read about this at http://www.keckobservatory.org/article.php?id=147

My say: "The cold dark matter theory is heading North! ;-) "

SEDSIC-2007 and Site Updates

VIT University Chapter of 'Students for Exploration and Development of Space' (SEDS) is planning to hold an SEDS International Conference (SEDSIC' 07) on 22nd and 23rd of September 2007 at the University premises in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.

Events during SEDSIC-2007:
Moon Rover Design Competition, Astro-Expo Exhibition, Cosmo Guide (carrer talk), Rocket Design Competition, Ham Radio, Star Party

Kosmandu.com updates
Kosmandu.com has been updated with a new forum, a good news section, sky alerts section and many more, updated almost everyday and new features being added every day...
Login to read this month's article or to post on to our forum.
www.kosmandu.com


Other new sites under kosmandu.com:
New astronomy blog
http://blogs.kosmandu.com/astronomy

Social Service blog
http://blogs.kosmandu.com/helpme/

The Astral Journal fourth edition soon available at www.kosmandu.com

Jestha sky: excerpts from article

Well, I have sent my second article to the magazine Science and Future. Here's an excerpt

...Saturn, Venus and Mercury are getting closer........These three planets will stay close for the rest of the month. On 22nd Jestha, Mercury (0.9) is a bit higher and is still lining up with the other two (...there's a map in the article)... Jupiter is also climbing higher everyday, and is very bright (mag -2.6) for the month....On 23rd, it will be at opposition...
14 JESTHA: Waxing Gibbous Moon close to Spica (0.98, Virgo)
17 JESTHA: Moon near Antares (0.96, Scorpius)
18 JESTHA: Full Moon (rises at 7:28pm)
Morning (before twilight): Antares-Moon within 3 degrees
Evening: Jupiter-Full Moon-Antares triangle
25 JESTHA: Last Quarter
28 JESTHA: Crescent Moon and Mars rise together before 2 am, both in Pisces constellation
1 ASHAD: New Moon

Interests

We are calling student teams from wide range of fields including Physics, Engineering, Electronics, Robotics and Geology to participate in workshops and bring their ideas about any possible student-based research projects on Astronomy and Geophysics. We have not yet fixed dates for all this however.

These include the topics of interest:

1. Radio Astronomy Projects: Cosmic Ray detection (Muni Shakya, Lok Narayan Jha)
2. LASER based Communication (Kathmandu Engineering College)
3. Solar: Development of Magnetometers, etc
4. Exoplanet Search
5. Aerospace/Aviation/Rocketry: Remote Control UAV and scientific payload
Launch rockets/RC aeroplanes with experimental/scientific payloads, payload recovery for data processing/analysis
Experimentation on propellants/rocketry
6. Archaeoastronomy: Trekkings to remote villages to excavate and learn from ruins of ancient chhatedhunga, etc.
7. Atmospheric sciences, environmental sciences, meteorology
8. Preparation for the 2009 Total Solar Eclipse, Path of totality crosses eastern region of our country

उदेश्य के लिनु? उडी छुनु चन्द्र एक -लक्ष्मीप्रसाद देवकोटा

Udeshya Ke Linu Udi Chhunu Chandra Ek
-Laxmi Prasad Devkota

It is not that Nepal has never seen talents and geniuses. We do have a history rich of creativity and science since time immemorial though this didn’t develop into something bigger as of now. Today, we lack these talents but have started seeing fresh new ones. When rest of the nation was ‘sleeping’ during 1960s-70s, a man was busy building his own telescope that did the perfect job as did Galileo’s in 1600s. Later this man was to become the first man in the world (and you heard it right) to build the microcomputer. In 1979 a Patan resident and 37 year old Muni Shakya, now 65, of Newar community surprised the world with its first microcomputer that we call PC today. He came with more surprises in later days like introducing first devanagari script on computers, making his own radiation monitor and many other computing breakthroughs during the 80s and 90s.

We have to believe in ultimate satisfaction rather than current day comfort, as Muni Shakya says, to reach a developed Nepal. Today, we have the best Engineering Colleges in the region, emerging successful manpower and better knowledge of resources, but we just lack the initiative and vision. People here do not think ‘it is possible to their better lifestyle with better life style of all’. First you give to the nation and the nation will give to you. That’s the only way of seeing progress to a highly backward society like ours.

Path to Success:

Current active members of Kosmandu Astronomical Society, now also as SEDS Nepal Chapter and some well wishers are now discussing initiatives starting this June. As a member of National IHY 2007 celebration committee, I am proposing some ideas on behalf of Kosmandu (SEDS-Nepal) to the committee. Besides, we will continue other public outreach programs that we initiated long ago.

The following initiatives will be taken during the International Heliophysical Year 2007:

1. Group Ideas and People ready to do something: Gather information on what can be done and what we want to do. Identify potential groups as well as seek funding and organize a national level conference to initiate new works on the field of astronomy and astrophysics.
2. Start possible programs with participation of student groups and professionals as well.
3. Use extensive programs of public awareness and student participation in projects designed by the working group.
4. Continue with the Permission To Dream project and help more schools and students get directly involved in this project.

[Do check my another entry at http://blogs.seds.org/frozensun]

SEDS-Nepal and Astral Journal

We are officially SEDS-Nepal already but we don't have plans until the end of June. I have even stopped publishing The Astral Journal for a few months. Until then, everyone must wait patiently and just find what we have in our newsletters in our Yahoo! group.

I have posted some photos of starfields, moon and Venus in the western horizon (above: lights from Kirtipur on the horizon) in our Yahoo groups. (But I am still having problems with posting them! You know we can't trust the internet here.)

In our sky...

In the morning of 14th April, Moon approaches within 2 minutes (angle) of Mars (now in Aquarius constellation) but it doesn’t happen until 6:53 am when the glare of the sun outshines all the dimmer objects like Mars. Not to worry Mars will still be within 1 degree from the Moon before twilight. The red star near the crescent moon is obviously Mars. Don’t miss this opportunity. Lucky are those living in Hong Kong, Japan and most of the eastern coast of Asia who will observe an occultation of Mars by the Moon.

The fourth issue

I have decided to publish the fourth issue by mid-february collectively for feb, march, april and may (i promise to publish it regularly afterwards).

Check our group-site for info on Feb 10 star party:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/thecosmicgroup/message/520

This month's sky: article from Nepali Times weekly by Kedar P Badu at:
http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/334/StarGazing/13193
(Make a username for yourself to view the full article at the Nepali Times website)

Magh, the month of Capricornus

Maghé Sankranti is the first day of the month of Magh marking the entering of Sun to Makar or the Capricornus constellation. The sun will remain in this constellation for the whole month of Magh. The first day, Maghé Sankranti, is celebrated with a feast of laddus of til and chaku, ghee, chaku and beaten rice. On the day we worship Lord Vishnu- the Preserver of the Universe to thank for the return of warm season. People around the Hind sub-continent take an early morning bath in holy rivers, visit the shrines of Vishnu and read Bhagavad Gita, a book of stupendous philosophy, that contains sacred instructions given by Krishna to Arjuna during the war of Mahabharata.

The actual date for the entering of Sun accepted by modern astronomers is, however, 6th of Magh. The difference is due to different ways of dividing the sky used by modern astronomers and vedic astronomers. Maghé Sankranti actually marked the winter solstice when the calendar was first introduced. Now, due to the precession of equinoxes this occurs on Poush 7.