India Experienced the Day of Dual Sunrise

SPACE, July 22, 2009, New Delhi:  

Indians rise to a spectacular Total Solar Eclipse and come out in large numbers to view and experience the spectacular phenomenon. Weather fails to deter the common public’s enthusiasm; eclipse chasers pursue their experiments and studies.

Space Technology & Education organised various expeditions to encourage young students and eclipse chasers to be in the path of totality and witness this magnificent spectacle.  It organised an expedition in China (Anqing), Patna (City and Taregana). It also organised the Eclipse Flight, India’s first ever eclipse passenger flight for people. Public watches were organised in Delhi, Kolkata and Taregana. All these activities were organised under the project “Grahan 09”.

Patna City

A team of experts from SPACE had come to Patna a week in advance to study local circumstances and to do rehearsals for the eclipse webcast. The team had been reporting a perfect weather throughout the week. Though on the D-day, rain gods descended to Patna and blocked the beautiful phenomenon from the public for most part of it, though the clouds relented to present a great view of the partial phases. This however, did not affect the enthusiastic children much. They were still busy with their set ups and they were just hoping the clouds to go away. It was only when it started raining; the set ups had to be moved. People had just started leaving the eclipse sites in dismay, when a small window in the clouds appeared and everyone again rushed to the terrace of the science center and the planetarium. Although no one in Patna could witness the corona and the diamond ring due to clouds, yet everyone observed the darkness that engulfed the city for almost three and a half minutes.

Had the weather been fine, the SPACE team would have made a record of capturing the corona up to 20 solar radii (10 degree from the sun), something very rare figure to obtain. Other experiments included searching for the illusive asteroids which revolve around the sun and known as Volcanoids. The only experiment which was successful out of ten of them was calculating the time of 4th contact, which was calculated out to be 7:28:07 am IST (the actual time was 7:29:38 am.)

About 100 school students from different parts of India were taken to Patna to observe the total solar eclipse and perform scientific experiments such as Variation in Temperature, Humidity, Wind speed, Shadow band recording, Photographing of all sky, corona, prominence, diamond ring, study of plant/ animal behavior etc. The experiments were set up at the Patna Planetarium and the Shri Krishna Science Centre.

Mrs. Anjali Mogre, mother of 18 year old and an eclipse chaser from Mumbai had come all alone to Patna to watch this great event leaving her family behind in Mumbai. The students were so enthusiastic to watch the eclipse that they got up at 3 o’ clock in the morning and left for their respective eclipse sites. Sight of bright Venus in the eastern sky was a great sign of a sunny morning. Although, heavens later did not let the eclipse chasers experience the totality.

Patna Planetarium, one of the eclipse sites in Patna was jam-packed by masses, who had specially gathered there to observe the eclipse. The Heliodyssey team of SPACE was placed at the terrace of planetarium and the students were conducting some critical experiments. About 70 students went to Sri Krishna Science Center to set up their equipment for the eclipse watch and experiments.

Mr. Sandeep Das Gupta, a senior engineer from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA also joined the SPACE team in experiments, he specially came to Patna from California, USA to be under the lunar shadow. He met all the school children who had come to Patna from various parts of India to see the eclipse and encouraged them to spread scientific awareness among youths in India. He encouraged children to keep exploring science and nature around them and actively participate in projects of SPACE.

Anqing, China

A team of 30 eclipse chasers lead by Mr. C B Devgun, President, SPACE is in Anqing (China). The team could not catch the first contact due to bad weather; however, they spent wonderful 5.4 min approximately under the lunar shadow.  Ten students were sponsored by SPACE to Anqing to perform some experiments under the project Heliodyssey. The team also had a few students from the Anqing University who were invited to be a part of the expedition team. It is the only expedition team from India that has visited China. The team was warmly welcomed by the Provincial Government of Anhui and the project is being undertaken as an Indo-Sino cooperation project.

Public Watch at Taregna

A special team of SPACE was at Taregna, a village 30 Km South of Patna city which had scheduled an eclipse watch for the honorable Chief Minister of Bihar, Shri Nitish Kumar. More than 60,000 people had gathered at Taregna near Red Cross Hospital to watch the longest total solar eclipse of the century.

The CM while addressing the gathering said, “I am very glad to see the public coming out in large numbers for an eclipse watch and such science popularisation endeavors are necessary to break the myths and superstitions plaguing the society. I appreciate the endeavor of SPACE to popularise science and their efforts in Bihar, especially Taregna”. He also expressed his desire to convert places like Taregna into centers for science popularisation and has asked SPACE to advise the state government on projects that could be undertaken for the same and play an active part in their implementation.

Eclipse Flight

The passengers onboard the special eclipse flight Level four one zero had an out of the world experience viewing the eclipse from a height of 41,000 feet.  The passengers were a mix of eclipse veterans, first timers and astro-photography enthusiasts.

The flight was organised by SPACE with technical expertise from ECA (Eclipse Chasers Athenaeum), the eclipse sphere of SPACE, having many eclipse veterans and experts on its advisory board.

The Eclipse flight was led by Mr. Sachin Bahmba, Founder and CMD, SPACE group, who intimately explained the phenomenon and the joy of watching an eclipse to the passengers. It was his idea and vision that led to this eclipse flight being organised.

Speaking on the success of this mission, Sachin Bahmba, founder of SPACE and astronomer said, “This is  a dream come true for us, as this is the first time in India that such a feat has been achieved.’’ SPACE Group comprises of companies doing pioneer work in the field of astronomy and space science. He added, “This will go a long way in creating interest in astronomy amongst Indians at large and we have been pioneers in Astro Tourism in India.’’

All passengers were put through a pre-flight orientation workshop on the 21st and various nuances of eclipse watching and photographing were explained to them. A celestial magic show was organized in the flight for the passengers; it is a novel concept developed by SPACE that explains the evolution of universe through magic.

The plane took off from the Delhi airport at 4:55 am and reached the skies of Patna city at around 6:05 am. It held itself up in the sky until totality began and then it flew from South to North just parallel to the eclipsed sun over Taregna. Passengers not just enjoyed the Totality but also the lunar shadow passing over the Earth. Passenger also photographed Jupiter, Saturn and other celestial bodies in the western sky, which had gone completely dark.

Mrs. Raghavan, an eclipse chaser and one of the passengers on the eclipse flight expressed, “At the time of totality, I could very well define the lunar shadow falling on the earth and it was a beautiful sight to look at”.

Mr. Sachin Bahmba, said, “This date, July 22, 2009 will be marked as one of the most significant days in Science Popularisation in Indian history; as the efforts put in by SPACE for the Total Solar Eclipse have had a profound impact on the Indian society; with more and more people coming forward to learn science and astronomy. The future will see many young ones of today becoming scientists and astronauts and that too in India itself.”

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If you wish to know more about the projects under Grahan 09 or the expeditions or schedule an interview with eminent personalities associated with the Eclipse, please contact Sunita Mukherjee at +91-9212669917 or email at sunita.m@stepl.org

Grahan ‘09

Taking the longest eclipse of the century to every Indian

What is happening?

The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century will be cutting across India on the 22nd July 2009 passing onto china then Japan finally ending over the Pacific Ocean. 13 different states of India will cherish the Total Solar Eclipse (TSE) while the rest of India will be enjoying the partial solar eclipse.

1. The duration of totality for this eclipse will be 6min 39sec over Pacific Ocean.
2. The duration of totality over India will be in the range of 3min14sec to 4min21sec where as China will have a 5min 56sec totality.
3. The last eclipse of comparable magnitude occurred in 1991, 11th July at Mexico & Hawaii
4. The next total solar eclipse in India will be on 2034, 20th March cruising over the politically disputed northern tip of J&K.
5. The next TSE in the mainland India will be on 2114, June 3rd.
6. Hence, this is the last opportunity for any one to view a total solar eclipse from Indian soil.

Eclipse timings

July 22nd, will be a day of two sunrises. The sun after rising will be eclipsed by the moon and rise yet again out of the shadow of the moon. The start of the eclipse in India will be around 5:30am reaching a maximum around 6:25am. The eclipse will end around 7:30am. (All timings are in IST)

Who are we?

For the past 3 years SPACE has been dedicatedly involving the student community in eclipse chasing. 2006 Turkey witnessed a total solar eclipse. 25 students were selected to go for a Scientific Expedition – Heliodyssey 2006 to Turkey along with a team (80) of scientists, astronomers and teachers, student members of SPACE, journalists and general public. This trip was fully sponsored by SPACE.

Novosibirsk, Russia was selected as eclipse site for the total solar eclipse in 2008. School students from all over India were selected through an online exam held at National Level. Out of 100 winners of the Heliodyssey contest, 5 winners were selected to accompany the expedition team to Russia on a fully sponsored trip. 95 other prize winners won various exciting rewards like telescopes, books, science games etc. The team and winners were facilitated at a ‘Felicitation ceremony’ organized on 25th July 2008 at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture, New Delhi.

How did we start this time? Build up!

The preparatory work for the longest eclipse of the century had a kick start with an international solar eclipse workshop (SEW) held from 9th to 11th January 2009 in New Delhi. The objective of the workshop “take-home-an-eclipse-plan” was successfully communicated to the participants on a platform which brought professional and amateur astronomers together. The workshop included all of the who’s who from the eclipse world.
Mr. Jay Pasachoff, Chairman, International Astronomical Union Working Group on Eclipses. Prof. Ashok Ambastha of Udaipur Solar Observatory. Prof. Arnab Rai Choudhuri Professor, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore  Mr. Jay Anderson, He is the co-author, along with Mr. Fred Espenak, of all NASA eclipse bulletins. Dr. N. Rathnasree, Director Nehru Planetarium  Mr. Sheridan Williams, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Mr. Xavier Jubier, the famous eclipse adventurer from France and a veteran of 10 eclipses. Dr. Satyendra Bhandari, from Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG), Gandhinagar. Dr. Krishnanand Sinha, ARIES observatory Nainital.Prof. Dr. Dipankar Banerjee Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore. Mr. Eric Brown is an eclipse chaser who has put together 8 eclipse tours. Dr. Hari Om Vats, an Associate Professor in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Division of the Physical Research Laboratory. Chander Bhushan, Mr. Ajay Talwar and Mr. Vikrant Narang.

town of Taregna. Taregna Math is the place where Aryabhatta – India’s astronomer & mathematician observed the skies and practiced. Coincidently the eclipse centre line is passing right over this historical Patliputra town.
In jus a couple of days the team at Patna managed massive public outreach and science popularization which reflected in the newspapers and the local media channels in no time. After receiving a phenomenal response from the people of Patna it was decided that eclipse workshops should be conducted across the country.
Comprehensive solar eclipse workshops were conducted Lucknow, Amarawati, Patna, New Delhi, Wardha, Kolkata, Chinese Embassy.

The workshop covered eclipse basics, types of eclipses, safe solar observation techniques, myth busting, student experiments and science of eclipses.

Grahan ’09 - Complete list of Action team/Action Plan

With the longest eclipse of the century knocking on our doorstep, a need for magnanimous science popularization was felt. The objective was to reach all sections of the society and create awareness of the country. With this in mind SPACE launched a grand event under the name of GRAHAN ’09 exploring different aspects of the solar eclipses and science popularization. This event encompasses many ambitious projects such as,

1. Heliodyssey 2009 – India and China
2. SPACE Solar Expedition team – India and China
3. Cosmic Crossroads
4. Eclipse flight Level four one zero
5. Taregana public watch
6. Eclipse Chase ‘09

The entire size of our contingent is 250. It is the largest contingent of a non government organization in India.

1. Heliodyssey 2009 – India and China

SPACE organized the third student solar expedition Heliodyssey 2009 to China & India for the Total Solar Eclipse on 22nd July 2009. Heliodyssey is a project of SPACE to follow the Total Solar eclipses all over the world and perform experiments. In this highly prestigious project, school students from all over India are selected through an online exam. These selected students will travel to the location of Total Solar Eclipse internationally, (this year China & India). They will be trained in various experiments and scientific procedures to become the part of the official SPACE team of astronomers and scientist to work on various experiments during the Total Solar Eclipse and record the event scientifically. They will not only get a chance to represent their school and themselves internationally but the exposure opens their horizon for scientific research and the cultural diversity adds to their personality.

This year 10 students have been sponsored a trip to China and 30 students to Patna so as to observe and conduct experiments during totality of the eclipse.

2. SPACE Solar Expedition team – India and China

A team of scientists and astronomers from SPACE will be conducting experiments at the eclipse watch site in India and China. The experiments will include capturing the solar corona, diamond ring, bailey’s beads, chromospheres and the illusive flash spectrum.
The team in India includes Mr. Sandeep Dasgupta from NASA and Mr. Ren Xiaoming and Mr. Ge Songxue from China.

3. Eclipse flight 410
Under the technical guidance of Eclipse Chasers Athenaeum (ECa), the eclipse sphere of SPACE, Space Technology & Education and Cox and Kings is organising an historical passenger eclipse flight.(Special thanks to Mr. Glenn H Schneider for all his help) A brand new JetLite 737-700 aircraft specially chartered to fly under the lunar shadow has been arranged. The flight has 21 sun facing seats and 21 earth facing seats. Upon the flight will be amateur astronomers from across the world, big corporate icons and group of architects.
4. Taregana public watch

Taregana is the place from where the famous mathematician, astronomer Aryabhatta used to observe stars. An eclipse watch has been organized by SPACE for general public at two sites with suitable equipments including projection from a telescope, direct viewing from a safe solar filter and solar goggles.

5. Eclipse Chase ‘09

In a pioneering effort Mr. Sachin Bahmba, CMD SPACE Group has introduced the concept of astronomy tourism for the first time in India. Over a 100 guests from across the nation will be traveling to the eclipse watch site as tourists to witness this celestial gem. SPACE is also encouraging them to carry out experiments in regard with the same. It is for the first time in India that tourism and astronomy has been combined to give a mix of leisure and scientific awareness.

6. Cosmic Crossroads

A project proposed by Atish Aman, an avid photographer, astronomer and a member of SPACE -,  endeavors to bring together a group of photographers who are passionate about photography as well as this project, and who would volunteer to go to an assigned location to capture this phenomenon on camera, and contribute the images to the collective pool. Thus we could build a rich and resourceful collection of images showcasing the eclipse cast its shadow over many important heritage sites across the breadth of the country.

Appreciation:

Shri Nitish Kumar, Honorable Chief Minister of Bihar will be joining us at Taregana, a place 30 Km south of Patna city, on our expedition of eclipse awareness. We would like to thank him for leading the way in promoting the scientific temper among the masses.

Participants for Grahan ’09

Schools, astronomers, scientists, photographers, travelers, adventurers and the Embassy of People’s Republic of China in India are participating in Grahan ’09.

The schools which are participating are: Ryan International School, St. Columbus,  Modern School,  Bal Bhararti Public School, Delhi Public School, DAV School and also many other schools of New Delhi. Amber Valley school of Chikmaglur is actively participating in Grahan ’09. 35 students from this school are going on a scientific expedition to Patna.

Around 20 veteran eclipse chasers are going to be onboard the special eclipse flight, who will watch the eclipse from a height of 41,000 feet.

SPACE has sponsored 10 children on an eclipse expedition to China. The entire contingent to China consists of total 30 astronomers, students and eclipse chasers.

SPACE has also sponsored 30 students on a scientific expedition team to Patna. A total of 150 school children are participating in the solar expedition in Patna itself.

In the Project Cosmic Crossroad, 30 photography enthusiasts are going to participate, who will go to several historical places across the country to photograph the heritage monuments with the eclipse in the backdrop.

To sum up, around 10000 people from different places in India are expected to join us during Grahan ’09 at all the six locations. 

If you wish to know more about the Eclipse Expedition-2009 or schedule an interview with eminent personalities associated with the expedition, please contact Sunita Mukherjee at 9212669917 or email at sunita.m@stepl.org