Most of us would have heard by now that the world is going to end on December 21st, 2012. Of course there have been many end of the world prophecies before and we are still here, so is there anything that makes this one different? Well, the Mayan calendar ends on this precise day. As… [Read more…]
October 7, 2009
In my recent interactions with some students, I realized that black holes get portrayed in extremely bad light. They are made out to be the villains of the universe, angry and monstrous eating away anything they can find, may it be stars or sometimes even galaxies! I wondered where this notion comes from among the… [Read more…]
August 12, 2009
As the winter skies approach us and the clouds part after the rains it is time to head out for observations again. The winter skies are always special because of the abundance of bright constellations that include Orion – the hunter, Taurus – the bull, Gemini – the twins and Perseus – the warrior. One… [Read more…]
July 25, 2009
After the 22nd July 2009 eclipse, I was invited for an online chat on the Network 18 owned website, IBN Live. They invited the viewers to submit questions which were put forward to me after a first level moderation. I was quite impressed by the quality of questions asked. The chat was supposed to go… [Read more…]
June 22, 2009
Its the eclipse season again. The longest total solar eclipse of the century is on 22nd of July. Citizens of India will get a first hand view of this spectacular phenomenon as the path of total solar eclipse (or totality as it is called) passes right through the breadth of India. Starting from the western… [Read more…]
May 6, 2009
Often when I go out for night observations with a group, one question always seems to comes my way while I am busy pointing a telescope at some object. “What is the magnification of this telescope?” Now the question is not an incorrect one to ask, but I have realized that most of the times… [Read more…]
April 18, 2009
If not in real life, I’m sure everyone has seen shooting stars at least in movies. They are spectacular streaks of light that seem to arise from almost nowhere, travel across a part of the sky for a second or at most a few and then, just disappear. To an absolute beginner, the name “shooting… [Read more…]
December 2, 2008
A picture I took from Hyderabad on 1st Dec 2008. It was quite late when I managed to get my hands on one of my colleague’s regular hand held Fujifilm Finepix camera which is a 6.3 Megapixel camera. Unfortunately I got the right settings for a picture like this very late and by… [Read more…]
September 9, 2008
Knowledge from the Big Bang For long scientist have struggled to answer the question about the origins of the universe. The most popular theory till date – the Big Bang theory states that everything and that means everything including matter, energy and the vast empty space originated at the time of big bang. It is… [Read more…]
August 25, 2008
The name astronomy brings to mind the wonders of the night sky. The beautiful view on a clear night from a dark site. Thousands of stars, planets, nebulae, clusters and an exciting galaxy that may perhaps be visible. It brings to mind the picture of a telescope. A large mirror and a sharp eyepiece giving… [Read more…]
May 15, 2008
A surprisingly prevalent myth that surrounds Galileo is the reason for his blindness. It has been documented in magazines, newspapers and many websites that Galileo went blind in one eye after observing the Sun through his telescope. This is nothing but an urban legend. It is a known fact that Galileo was the first person… [Read more…]
April 21, 2008
In astronomy one of the biggest confusion that newcomers face when they go out for observations seems to revolve around the brightness of stars. An enthusiastic new student knows that the pole star will help him find directions since it is always north and this ‘specialty’ of the pole star probably puts a psychological fact… [Read more…]
March 12, 2008
Some myths start off as speculation and grow completely out of hand. This one seems right up that ally. And not just students, but many adults also think that the Great Wall of China is visible from the Moon. There have also been claims that it is the only man made structure visible from space.… [Read more…]
December 25, 2007
Ask a small child about to enter kindergarten whether the Sun moves and he will say yes. Ask the same question to a young student who has been given some knowledge of astronomy and he will proudly claim that while the Sun is stationary, it is the Earth that moves around it. Ironic as it… [Read more…]
November 24, 2007
How many of us have noticed the Moon to appear larger when it is rising? Keep a track of the Moon’s phase and the next time there is a full Moon, try to observe it just after it rises and then again a few hours later when it is high up in the sky. Does… [Read more…]
Nikhil Pawar
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January 10, 2010
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