Public Science & Reference

Articles on astronomy can be found both online and in print magazines. New photos of space objects result in articles. New space missions result in articles. There is a constant stream of conversation

Something as simple as bumpy space dust generated a great deal of interest and a lot of the recent astronomy articles. Why so much interest? Scientists have long known that hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. But hydrogen has to bond to form the larger molecules observed in the universe. Because of the cold in space, hydrogen needs a little push. Scientists now realize that bumpy molecules may fit that bill. Nobody thinks of dust being bumpy when they vacuum.

One of Saturn’s moons is known as the Death Star. With its huge crater, it resembles the famous movie prop. Recent astronomy articles focused on Cassini’s mission to this moon, called Mimas. Some stunning images and a lot of new data resulted. It was a popular story. This information will help shed light on the number of impact objects that pass through Saturn’s orbit. We’ll learn a lot about how planets like Saturn clean debris from the solar system.

For years people have studied dark matter. It contributes to the expansion of the universe, but scientists don’t really know how. Dark matter was a popular headline in recent astronomy articles. There was a plan to study distant supernovae to learn about dark matter. It’s important because about 70% of the stuff in the universe is dark matter.

Before our sun was really a star it was a condensing mass of space matter called a protosun. Emissions of heat and light as well as solar winds from this proto-sun have long been a matter of contention. Recent astronomy articles answer this question with a resounding yes. Scientists have used new techniques to discover that the protosun did indeed emit ultraviolet and other particles in an early form of the solar wind. So the sun helped create life before it ever became a sun.

Wow, I would say that nobody can deny their commitment to their own presentation tool – Pen style green laser pointer. The new series Acheron Pen Style Green Laser Pointer is a super popular green laser pointer worldwide for presentation in the various areas of our daily lives.
It would be an interesting thing to do astronomical research with the pen style green laser pointer available from http://www.laserto.com/. 532nm green laser are always coming out a strong, bright light beam that has made it possible for fans of astronomy to watch stars and other celestial objects and the beam can be seen several hundred miles far away. The low power laser can still be used to observe tiny place in low cloud and make a little help in everyday life, thus nobody can even imagine such a wonderful experience of seeing the black spot in the low clouds while pointing this pen style green laser pointer on it.
Ranging from 5 MW to 150 MW, the laser beam from the pen style green laser pointer can travel as long as 8000 meters. It is rare that such a lower power green laser can have such long distance beam visibility in the field. As a result, this series of laser pointer is widely used in the night sky for observing celestial objects and constellations in the night sky. In astronomy research, it is always frustrating thing to do when they have to wave arms, point fingers, and short loudly in order to explain which one of stars they are pointing at, while nobody can totally understanding what they are pointing at. However, it is truly a complete different experience when people are holding a green laser pointer in hands to pointer the star which they are going to explain, and it is a quite efficient way to do astronomy research especially with a large group of people surrounded. 
The pen style green laser pointer can always bring a lot of joys and surprise to people in astronomy research. If you are a true lover of astronomy research, you can just have a try of such cool laser pointer.

The enjoyment of astronomy can be lifelong or just a whim but a lot hinges on how you have your first experience. The mysterious and divine beauty of the universe that you can discover could lead to many hours of pleasure but if there is no proper guidance, there can be many hours of disappointment. So it is essential that you get the right and best telescope that you can afford. 

When you are just starting out, do not attach too high an expectation that the universe will open up to your inquisitive nature. Those that you see in fancy science magazines are attributable to high level telescopes that only scientist and astronomer get access to. The sparkling stars that we see at night are just the tip and astronomy can offer many insights to our fabulous universe.

As a beginner, be circumspect before you look to acquire as some cheap telescopes have optics that verge on the worst, offering you hardly any view. But with a decent telescope, you can see the rings of Saturn and the disc of Jupiter. As you get more experience, you can make more sightings but don’t set too high expectations such as able to pinpoint planets that you find in glossy magazine. 

Before you probe deeper into astronomy, try to read magazines for instant “Sky and Telescope” to get an idea of how it is like. Astronomy is a joy and each finding add to your knowledge and satisfaction that our mysterious universe offer. 

To the absolute beginner, you can start with binocular and then advance to a full telescope. The portability and price tag is added attraction for anyone who is just beginning to learn astronomy. The basic telescopes usually come in reflecting and refracting types but reflecting types are less costly and enable you to view galaxies. Refracting telescope, on the other hand allow you to observe planets and stars but considerably more costly.

Radio Astronomy Centre

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

Ooty

CONTENTS

Introduction
Construction
Electronic systems
Electrical systems
Protection systems
Data acquisition system

INTRODUCTION

The Radio Astronomy

Radio astronomy is the study of universe with the help of radio waves emitted by celestial objects. Radio waves are mostly coming from highly energetic charged particles moving with velocities close to that of light in presence of magnetic fields with the help of directional antenna or telescope the strength of radio waves received from different directions from sky can be determined and a map of the radio signals from the sky can be made.

Radio Astronomy Centre at Ooty

The radio astronomy is one of the research institutes under Tata Institute of Fundamental Research(TIFR) proposed the hail tool of radio astronomy. A large structure radio telescope was designed in July 1963. A suitable site was

Selected in Nilgiri hills. The work that started in 1965 was completed by 1969. the co-ordinate latitude:11 22′ and co-ordinate longitude:-76 40′.

Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT)

ORT is located on the hill slopes close to muthorai village in Ooty. The unique feature of telescope is that it is stepped in the north to south direction down a natural hill slope of about 11 equal to the ideal latitude of the observatory. This arrangement  ensures the axis of the telescope is parallel to the earth axis. This enables the ORT to track celestial objects for about 9.5hours by simply rotating the telescope mechanically in east to west direction.

Study of celestial objects Astronomy is one of natural sciences directed at research of phenomena of the surrounding world. The primary domain of this study concentrates on celestial objects, like stars, comets and planets. One more important problem is study of natural phenomena originated outside the Earth (such as cosmic background radiation or historical development of the galaxy). Being one of the oldest sciences, Astronomy encompasses a lot of scientific theories plus hypotheses and also the recent improvements of contemporary researchers. Learners are interested in the theme of space and current attempts to learn it. Though the professional Astronomy is typically determined with Astrophysics, teachers might include aspects of Astrometry and Astrology into the programs. In addition to reviewing the present literature and professional scientists, this academic discipline gives numerous opportunities for practical implementation of the acquired knowledge. The learners might look at the stellar sky and watch the celestial objects in a telescope. It allows combining the useful with the pleasing. Widening one’s perspectives Understanding of Astronomy is a necessary portion of person’s general literacy. Knowledge of various special phenomena is beneficial for widening one’s perspectives and explaining significant Earth procedures. Taking a program of Astronomy, a student might choose to deepen one’s knowledge in the future and become a professional astronomer. The other student community, staying only amateur experts of celestial objects might benefit from their knowledge using it in other associated sciences: 1.Understanding of Astronomy is anticipated to broaden one’s scope. Different astronomical issues may be an exciting topic for conversation under different circumstances. 2.Knowledge of this academic discipline is helpful for a more comprehensive understanding of the related sciences. 3.Taking a program of Astronomy, a learner is anticipated to develop one’s observation abilities as well as conception thinking.

Astronomy is a fun science filled with many astronomy fun facts. This includes information about the size of stars and the distance of our earth from the center of our own Milky Way galaxy.

Astronomy fun facts about our own star, the sun, are almost endless. It’s somewhere between 91 and 94.5 million miles away from our home planet. It’s not that nobody knows for certain. It’s that the Earth orbits the sun in an elliptical, uneven, orbit. The distance fluctuates throughout that orbit.

Astronomy fun facts about our average sized sun’s size. As average as it is it accounts for about 98% of all the matter in the solar system. Everything else, counting the earth and all the planets, is a tiny 2%. Over 1.6 million earths would fit inside this star. An AU is the distance from the Earth to the Sun. The solar winds extend 50 AU’s from the sun.

Shall we turn to some astronomy fun facts that don’t have to do with the sun? What about the moon? In all the universe man has only walked upon the earth and the moon. One fellow went there and stayed. Dr. Eugene Shoemaker didn’t make the cut for astronauts. After his death he was cremated and his ashes scattered over the moon by the Lunar Prospector spacecraft in 1999.

There are more astronomy fun facts about the moon.Tthe suits worn by the moon walking astronauts weighed 180 pounds on Earth but only 30 pounds on the moon. I’d bet the astronauts thanked their lucky stars for that.

Astronomy fun facts aren’t limited to our close neighbors. The stars we see are a gateway to the past. It can take millions of years for light from some stars to reach us. Some stars we see may no longer even be there. There are over 1 x 10 ^22 stars in the universe. That’s a 1 followed by 22 zeros.
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Although astronomy and astrology are historically related and many individuals were interested in both, there is today no connection between the two. Hence two different USENET newsgroups exist: sci.astro (for the former) and alt.astrology (for the latter). DO NOT CONFUSE THEM.

Astronomy is based on the laws of physics (and therefore mathematics) and aims at describing what is happening to the universe based on what we observe today. Because the laws of physics are constant (as far as we can tell), astronomy can also explain how the universe behaved in the past and can propose a limited number of possible scenarios for its future (see FAQ entry about Big Bang).

Everyday life applications of astronomy include calculations/predictions of sunrise/sunset times, moon phases, tides, eclipse locations, comet visibility, encounters between various celestial bodies (e.g., SL9 comet crash onto Jupiter in 1994), spacecraft trajectories, etc. Astrology on the other hand claims it can predict what will happen to individuals (or guess what is happening to them), or to mankind, based on such things as solar system configurations and birth dates. Common applications include horoscopes and such. Regardless of whether there is scientific support for astrology, its goal and methods are clearly distinct from those of astronomy.

 Astrology is based on the belief that the positions of the planets and stars at the moment of a person’s birth have an effect on the personality of the person and on some major events in the person’s life. According to astrology much can be told about a person and the person’s future based on this knowledge of the alignment of planets and stars at the moment of birth. One problem with astrology is that the materials used to determine the locations of planets stars and constellations are centuries old; they are old enough so that as a result of precession they no longer are in agreement with the true positions of the heavenly bodies. There is no widely accepted evidence that the claims of astrology have anything more than individually attested or anecdotal merit.