Shani is beautiful

Yaiyaiyaaaaaa I saw Saturn's rings and Jupiter's moon's today :-D

Our institute has procured this sophisticated 8" telescope called Celestron for the astronomy club. So, we had an informal session tonight.

I saw Saturn's rings. To the left, is one of the pics the club members took of Saturn's rings at an earlier session. What I saw tonight was not colourful. I think this particular image has been processed. Additionally, we could see a smattering of stars in the background too. It was beautiful and very unrealistic. After the many documentaries I had seen on TV as a kid, seeing the planet this close was an experience.


We also saw Jupiter. I could spot four parallel bands on this planet. I also could see a dark spot on one of the bands which is The Red Spot on the planet. The Red spot is actually a storm on the planet's surface and its diameter is supposed to be larger than the earth's diameter. The picture I have put up here is from a NASA site and you can find more details from there. I could also see four moons of the planet- three on one side and one on the other side.

Unfortunately, clouds covered up the sky and we had to discontinue the session. These clouds cover up Chennai's sky every day and then disappear without raining like Lagaan's kaale meghaas.

If I am so thrilled after one meeting, I can imagine the astronomer's thrill in his profession. But, I think the truth is that every profession at a smaller scale is monotonous. Occasional thrills make the job lively.

I am a regular stargazer albeit my stargazing is limited to identifying the constellations and planets with my naked eye and saying hi to the hunter, who I imagine is a handsome hunk waiting for me :-P . I am glad I attended this session.