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The above image is a stunning false-colour picture of 'Cat's Eye Nebula' with a halo around it. The center white portion of the image is the Cat's Eye Nebula surrounded by a faint halo of gaseous material. Cat's Eye is one of the most famous Planetary Nebula which is believed to be around 1000 yrs old. The halo is said to be 3 light years across. Only recently the halos around many planetary nebulae have been discovered including this one.

Picture of the Month - June 2010 - http://inchara4u.blogspot.com/feeds/8696997376203123662/comments/default

[-] Well, throughout April you would have heard a lot of news about the cryogenic technology that ISRO used in the recent rocket that was launched and that it failed. Before explaining what the cryogenic technology is, let me explain about orbits.


Cryogenic Technology - http://inchara4u.blogspot.com/feeds/3538882274493968797/comments/default

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This most amazing picture is a combination of 8 images taken at Portsmouth, UK at 7:50 pm between April 4th to April 15th, 2010. This composite image shows the trail of Venus and Mercury with a beautiful backdrop. Venus (extreme left) was continuing to move away from the Sun during the time while Mercury (in the center) was rising until April 11th and then began to fall. The movement of both the planets are due to the revolution around the Sun with Mercury reaching the furthest distance from the Sun on April 11th. The thin crescent Moon joined this beautiful party on April 15th. Click on the picture for the enlarged version.

Picture of the Month - May 2010 - http://inchara4u.blogspot.com/feeds/3182448809680084115/comments/default

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Another Startrail image taken along with the view of Annapurna ranges, Himalayas. This trail was taken during the entire day showing the complete Earth's rotation. Using this trail, the celestic North Pole can be identified, the center of the concentric trails. Also Polaris, the north star can be identified which is the bright one very near the center.

Picture of the Month - April 2010 - http://inchara4u.blogspot.com/feeds/8139158725688103275/comments/default

[-] This is one breath taking photo taken from the ISS. The picture taken from the window shows the solar panel of the ISS along with the crescent Earth and the beautiful and bright Sun. One of the most beautiful images I have seen.

Picture of the Month - March 2010 - http://inchara4u.blogspot.com/feeds/2176796013309472313/comments/default

[-] Pluto celebrated its 80th birthday on 18th of this month. Yes, 80 yrs since Clyde Tombaugh discovered the then farthest object of our solar system.

Using Newtonian Mechanics, Neptune's position was predicted before its discovery after analyzing the perturbation in the orbit of Uranus. After Neptune's discovery it was found that the Uranus' orbit was disturbed by another object other than Neptune. The start for the search of a new planet started in 1905 and it took nearly 25 yrs to discover it. Pluto was discovered just like any other planet - by relative movement.



Pluto was so far that it was impossible to identify its diameter or mass. At first it was believed that Pluto was larger than Mercury. Pluto was considered to be the ninth planet of our Solar System until August 2006 when International Astronomical Union (IAU) brought out a definition for the term 'Planet' for the first time and thus Pluto was added in to the list of 'Dwarf Planets' along with the others discovered beyond the orbit of Neptune.

Pluto is now a distinct member of the Kuiper Belt (Similar to Asteroid Belt but this one is found beyond Neptune's Orbit). Three satellites were discovered orbiting Pluto namely Charon, Nix and Hydra.



Dog or Planet:






There is a very famous question which had been asked very often. Which came first? The Dog or the Planet? Pluto, the famous Disney Dog, as well as the planet Pluto were created/discovered in 1930. Some say that the dog was named after the planet and some say that the planet was named after the dog. The question which started in 1930 was answered only in 2006. Venetia Burney (who was 11 yrs old in 1930) was the one who suggested the name Pluto for the planet. It was believed that she was fascinated by the cartoon character  Pluto and suggested the same name for the planet. But in 2006, the 88 yr old Venetia said, "The name had nothing to do with the Disney Cartoon. Mickey Mouse's dog was named after the planet, not the other way around."

Happy B'day Pluto - http://inchara4u.blogspot.com/feeds/6247189750669718987/comments/default

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The brilliant fireball meteor, as bright as the full moon was captured in this snapshot over the city of Groningen, Netherlands on October 13th, 2009. The sightings of the meteor were widely reported throughout the Netherlands and Germany at approximately 17:00 UT. Accompanied by sonic booms and rumbling sounds, the meteor was seen to break up into bright fragments, eventually leaving a persistent smoke-like trail. Even though there are bright fireball meteors in planet Earth's atmosphere every day, sightings of them are relatively rare because they more often occur over oceans and uninhabited areas.

Picture Of The Month - February 2010 - http://inchara4u.blogspot.com/feeds/8959938331469946199/comments/default

[-] If you had read my post on Solar Eclipse, you would have known that Annular Eclipse is a type of Solar Eclipse where the moon does not block the entire Sun. If you had read my last post about the eclipses, I had mentioned that on Jan 15th, 2010, India would witness an Annular Eclipse. It was the first in India after 108 years.


An Annular Eclipse is when the Solar Eclipse occurs when the moon is smaller than its average size. Due to this, the moon does not block the entire sun and forms a ring.

For the first time of my life, I felt the effect of an eclipse. The day was bright as it always is in Chennai when the brightness began reducing. One can still feel the heat of the sun yet the brightness alone had reduced as if a very very thick cloud had blocked the sun.

Below is the formation of the annular eclipse as taken from Chennai on 15th January, 2010.


The next solar eclipse in India would be on 26th December 2019 which would again be an annular eclipse. It will be experienced through out the South India and Sri Lanka.

Annular Eclipse - http://inchara4u.blogspot.com/feeds/2544159023217628134/comments/default

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The above image shows the different types of rockets used by the Indian Space Administration (ISRO). SLV and ASLV are no longer used. We now usually use PSLV and GSLV. India is yet to test GSLV MK-3 which could carry twice the weight of the normal GSLV. Our GSLV had already made a record by carrying 10 satellites succesfully in one go. India is also trying to get a hand on the Re-usable launch vehicles which would drastically cut-down the expenses and revolutionize the future missions.

Picture Of The Month - January 2010 - http://inchara4u.blogspot.com/feeds/8442926445192405654/comments/default

[-] Indian Government has finally approved for the Indian Mars Mission. But the mission may take place anytime between 2018 to 2030. ISRO chairman is pretty confident that the mission will be done before 2030. I'm not sure on why ISRO needs such a long time to plan the mission. But looks like they are concentrating on the Moon and Manned Space missions for now.

Chandrayaan-2 is set to launch in 2013 with a rover (robotic car) and based on the result of C2 ISRO may plan C3 with man landing on the moon. The discussion will start only after the success of C2. Also Manned Space Mission is on the way when India may send their own astronauts to space by 2016. ISRO will only start planning the Mars mission after the success of these missions.

China has already planned their Mars mission 'Yinghuo-1' which was set to launch on October 2009??? I have no idea what happened to this mission as no website seem to mention this. Even Wikipedia says that "it will be launched on October 2009" (note the future tense).

ISRO Mars Mission - http://inchara4u.blogspot.com/feeds/4005911023653914142/comments/default