comet ISON , 28th November 2013

This comet was discovered on 21st September 2012. It is also known as C/2012 S1. It is a Sun grazing comet which means that it would get extremely close to the surface of the Sun, on 28th November 2013 it would be at a distance of just 0.012 AU or 18,00,000 Km from the center of the Sun . It is also known as the comet of the century because at it's perihelion it's apparent magnitude is predicted to go upto -1.83. But there is a slight problem, at this stage it would be extremely close to the Sun which means that the Sun light might just overpower the light from the comet. I used the software "Stellarium" to look for it's apparent magnitude and this is what i found.

15th October - 9.21 (Apparent mag.), near Regulus

25th October -8.30, below Leo

5th November -6.88,  near Virgo

15th November -5.13,b/w Porrima and Spica

25th November -1.98, in libra

28th Novembar -(-1,83), near Acarb (Scorpius)

So i came to the conclusion that the best time to look for the comet would be right before dawn between 15th to 25th November because it would be bright enough and it wouldn't be that close to the Sun.

(this is the path of the comet before 15th October)

Now before reaching it's perihelion this comet would be bright and easily visible which is a spectacular sight in it self but what makes it even more interesting is that after it reaches it's perihelion it can turn even brighter. Although there is a possibility that it might get destroyed due to the Suns heat. The nucleus of the comet is around 5 Km so in this case we can be a little optimistic. 

(C/2012 S1 as captured by Hubble Space Telescope on 10−11 April 2013)

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Not much is known about this comet as of yet. I would keep updating my blog as i get more information on this. Please share this post so that more and more people become aware of this comet. 

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Supermoon 23rd June 2013

What is a Supermoon???

A supermoon is a coincidence of a  new moon or a full moon with the closest approach it makes with the Earth's orbit. This closest point of approach is known as Perigee. At perigee the moon is around 3,57,210 Km away from the Earth whereas at Apogee it's around 4,05,978 Km.

Where to look??? 

First hint look at the moon, but if you want to know the exact location then the moon would be in the constellation of Capricon.

The difference wouldn't be much but it would still be worth watching.

It would occur on June 23 2013 at 11.32 UTC so it wouldn't be visible in most parts at it's Perigee but you can still catch a glimpse of it on 22nd night. The difference wouldn't be much.

**Please share this post so that people can enjoy this amazing event  

How to identify sagittarius constellation and its' various deep sky objects

As most of you would know the center of our milky way galaxy is in Sagittarius and it also contains many star clusters and nebulae. Although it contains many bright stars it is difficult to imagine the centaur hence the other famous asterism for this constellation is the tea pot. The few bright stars of this constellation are Kaus Australis, Kaus Meridionalis also known as Kaus Media, Nash, Kaus Borealis, Nunki, Ascella, Rukbat.

On the ecliptic it is placed between Scorpius and Capricornus. Above the ecliptic it is surrounded by Aquila, Serpenes Cauda and Scutum. Below the ecliptic there is Corona Australis and Telescopium. It has three relatively bright nebulae The Lagoon Nebula (M 8) ,The Omega Nebula (M 17) both these object have an apparent magnitude of 6.0 and the Trifid Nebula (M 20) it has an apparent magnitude of 6.3. Together these three Nebulas are known as the Sagittarius Triplet.

The Lagoon Nebula (M 8)

The Omega Nebula (M 17)

The Trifid Nebula (M 20) 

Apart from nebulas it also contains numerous star clusters. 

M 22, apparent magnitude- 5.1

M 24, apparent magnitude-4.6, it also contains a faint cluster ngc 6603.

M 28, apparent magnitude- 7.66

Apparent from these and many more objects one can also see the limbs of the milky way galaxy which extends all the way to Scorpius. The picture below shows the exact location of the Messier objects.

Diamonds on uranus and neptune

Studies suggest that under high enough pressures methane can form into diamond. Although such conditions do not occur on Earth, the theory has been tested under artificial conditions and found to be true. If this occurs on Neptune and Uranus, which have strong pressures and large amounts of free methane, then it would cause diamonds to rain down through the atmosphere towards their cores. This would also account for unusual heat signatures emitted by these planets.(I found the following information on facebook) :D

More information: http://bit.ly/14a2Sf4

Dance of planets May 2013

What is "Dance of Planets"???
 Most star gazers would know that the planet Jupiter is in the Taurus constellation and that the Sun enters the constellation in the month of May and is often accompanied by the planet Venus and sometimes even Mercury. Now between 24th and 29th May the planet Jupiter,Mercury and Venus would be at a very close proximity(as seen from the Earth). The planets move at different speeds hence one would be able to make out the relative motion between them. This is known as the Dance of Planets.

Where and when to look???
Now because the Sun is in Taurus and you cannot see the planets when the Sun is in the sky. The best time to see the Dance of Planets would be at dusk right after sunset.

Hybrid solar eclipse on 3rd November 2013 and the difference between total, annular and hybrid eclipses

The year 2013 is not particularly exciting as far as eclipses are concerned  But at the end of the year we'll get a chance to witness a rare event. On the 3rd November 2013 there is going to be a hybrid solar eclipse. Now before i go into detail let me first explain what a hybrid solar eclipse really is. A total solar eclipse is the one in which the moon completely obscures the bright light of the Sun in such a way that the solar corona becomes extremely faint. An annular eclipse is the one in which the Earth is at such a distance from the Sun, that the Relative size of the Sun appears to be larger than the moon. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring,(as shown in the above picture). Whereas a hybrid eclipse is the one in which from some points on the Earth it's visible as a total eclipse whereas from other points it appears as an annular eclipse. The last hybrid eclipse had occurred on  8th April 2005. The Sun would be located in the Libra constellation. Partial solar eclipse would begin at 19:38 (UTC), total solar eclipse at 20:35 (UTC), greatest eclipse at 22:13(UTC), total end 23:48(UTC) and partial end at 0:45(UTC).

(These are the places from where the eclipse would be visible)

For more information on eclipses go to -http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html 

How to identify Centaurus and Crux

            This is the constellation called Centaurus. It's a constellation present in the southern hemisphere but it is visible from the northern hemisphere during summer. The alpha star of Centaurus is Rigil kentaurus which is a star system consisting of Proxima centauri A, B and C. Proxima centauri C is also the closest star to our solar system. The problem with this constellation is that it is a little difficult to recognize. So the best way of recognizing it would be to first find the constellation Crux also known as the southern cross.Crux consists of four bright stars they are Gacrux, Mimosa, Acrux and Delta Crucius. On the left hand side of the star Mimosa you would notice two really bright stars these are Rigil kent. and Hadar which form the two front hooves of the centaur. Once you find these two stars you should be able to trace the rest of the constellation using a stellar chart. The other way of locating this constellation would be to first locate Lupus. This constellation is located below Scorpius and Libra and Lupus is the wolf that the Centaur is trying to kill. So Centaurus is located on the right side of Lupus.
            Centaurus has quite a few deep sky objects in it. NGC 5128 is one of the closest active galaxies to the Milky Way. It has an apparent magnitude of 7. It is said that it was created after an elliptical galaxy collided with a spiral galaxy. The dust cloud seen in the picture is because of the spiral galaxy.

It has a 8th magnitude planetary nebula also known as the blue planetary nebula.

It also consists of one of the largest and the brightest star cluster in the sky known as the omega cluster or NGC 5139. It covers an area larger than the full moon and appears as a 4th magnitude star. It is at a distance of around 17000 light years.

These are just a few prominent objects in the constellation. It has got many more relatively fainter nebulas, galaxied and star clusters.

(This is just a map giving the exact location of the deep sky objects)