Tuesday 29 October 2013

Unexpected Astronomy session with Ramiz

       Ramiz Qureshi is my astro friend he has a keen interest in astronomy & he is also a member of Karachi Amatuer Astronomers Society. I have attended 2 public astronomy sessions so far organized by KaAS.  Few days back he got his own telescope. On the night of 12th oct. at 12.23am Ramiz called me & said 'are you free if yes get ready I am coming to pick you up'. I was so excited as he pick me up Zain Bhai who is also a member of Karachi Amatuer Astronomers Society told me that in the morning there will be a lunar eclipse on Jupiter so we will be tracking it via telescpes. So as I reached his place after some time Ramiz setup his telescope on his roof Orion Costellation along with Jupiter (second brightest planet visible with naked eye) is visible with many other stars are visible. In winter more stars are visible with naked eye. While everyone in Karachi is busy with their sacrificial animals and here we are busy in stargazing. So first we started with Jupiter, Ramiz callibrate his telescope so we can see the Jupiter clearly.




       The picture above is planet Jupiter, shot taken by Ramiz with my camera and on the left is his telescope and on the right is the sun with its spots. 



       As you can see the picture above of the sun two spots are visible but in other picture there are some clouds passing by. To see the Sun you need a special filter cos if you watch it without any filter through the telescope Sun rays will damage the lens. Also we have seen NGC 2244 cluster, Polaris (doubles) , Mars, Orion Nebula and in the afternoon we see the Sun and its spots. Ramiz also answered my questions related to astronomy too and above all our very own Hina Aapi aka @eshal_ made it more awesome as always :) I had the most memorable time with both my best friends. Thank you both! And here is my tweet after this unexpected astronomy session.
 
      If you are interested in astronomy you can visit Ramiz blog at here or info on astronomical events happening in Karachi you can visit KaAS facebook page here These days planet Venus & Jupiter are visible at night in Karachi's skies. You can see planet Venus right after sun sets in west-southwest near the horizon. It is the brightest planet visible from Earth with naked eye & planet Jupiter is visible in gemini constellation after 12am below the orion constellation as yellowish bright star








3 comments :

  1. Awww :') It was actually you guys who made my day special. This is a lovely post and great pictures! :D

    Okay stupid question I know but what are the "spots" exactly?

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    1. :) Answer to your question is this link http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/02/20/172528653/cool-photo-a-black-spot-the-size-of-six-earths-appears-on-the-sun

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  2. Aww I just read Hina api's reply... this made my day :') The blog was super-duper cool though itself. And also this link will help on sunspots :)
    http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/sun/sunspots.html

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