Currently the skies in B'lore city, are spotless and peaking at a deep blue wavelength! This is the cream period for sky observations, not to be missed out.
Some BAS members are going for an observing session on 21st January, Wednesday to our regular observing site Hosahalli. Please visit "Our Venues" section for this location.
Anyone is invited to join, well and good if you have your own vehicle. Neetesh, Sriram, Amar and probably Shashank is the list as of now. The agenda would be to observe the distant deep sky fuzzies like galaxies in the midnight sky (Leo, Ursa Major, Virgo, Eridanus). We will be treated with the beautiful sights in the Milky-Way skies (Canis Major, Orion, and other Southern constellations).
We could also get to see Uranus which is very close to the resplendent Venus in the evening sky. We get to use the Govt. school's good 8" f/8 equatorial telescope. A crescent Moon rises as late as 3:30 am. We will carry our own star charts, eyepieces and binoculars.
Hunting down many faint comets, and couple bright ones are on agenda. This should be a challenge for both novice and experienced observers. I have made finder charts for the following 7 comets for one night!!
C/2007 N3 (Lulin) - bright
144P/Kushida - bright
C/2006 W3 (Christensen) - faint
C/2006 OF2 (Broughton) - faint
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 - faint
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko - faint
210P/2008 X4 (Christensen) - faint
Comet Lulin is going to be the highlight of the night. It is a comet which is progressively getting bright, until February, and now also visible in small binoculars!
As of now, due to lack of personal transport, we plan to leave by bus from Mysore Bank / Cauvery Bhavan (before Majestic), by around 1 - 1:30 pm. Intention is to reach the site early, in order to get the 300W bulb well inside our observing site, switched off! We will be back next day morning 22nd, by 9 am to the city.
If you want to join the session, please contact me latest by Tuesday night, at - 9343518916. Observing Coordinator. Amar A. Sharma.
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