My Perspective

How do we determine the distance to a pulsar? Background Pulsars are rapidly spinning and highly magnetic neutron stars that emit regular pulses of electromagnetic radiations e.g. Crab Nebula Pulsar in Orion constellation. Need Pulsars have been found in different star clusters and sometimes in other galaxies. By measuring the distance to the pulsar we can

I had come across this forward message that made tall claims for hanuman chalisa. The forward read as follows: Any one knows the Hanuman chalisa? In Hanuman Chalisa, it is said : "Yug sahastra yojan per Bhanu! Leelyo taahi madhur phal janu!!"   1 Yug = 12000 years 1 Sahastra = 1000 1 Yojan = 8 Miles Yug x Sahastra x Yojan = par Bhanu 12000 x 1000 x 8 miles = 96000000 miles 1 mile = 1.6km 96000000 miles = 96000000 x 1.6km = 1536000000 km to Sun NASA has said that, it is the exact distance between Earth and Sun (Bhanu). Which proves Hanuman ji did jump to Planet Sun, thinking it as a sweet fruit (Madhu phal). It is really interesting how accurate and meaningful our ancient scriptures are..Unfortunately it is barely recognized. The estimate of 1 astronomical unit (au) - the distance between earth and sun has a long history. The first estimate only came during the transit of Venus in the 18th century. Before this event, we did not have any estimate for the ...

Dr.S.Balachandra Rao has been researching in Indian Astronomy under successive research projects sponsored by the National Commission for History of Science (INSA), New Delhi since 1993. He is also a member of the Research Advisory Council for History of science and also the editorial board of the Indian Journal of History of Science, INSA. He has authored numerous books on astronomy and mathematics in English and Kannada. The following lists some of the books. Indian Astronomy - A Primer, Gandhi Center, 2008   This is the first book that one should read in order to familiarize onself with Indian astronomy Eclipses in Indian Astronomy,  Gandhi Center, 2008     This book has an interesting chapter on determining the date of Mahabharatha apart from covering the methods for computing eclipses, including improved siddhantic procedures. Transits And Occultations in Indian Astronomy, Gandhi Center, 2009     This book is a sequel t...

This article is regarding the concept of Adhikamasa and Kshayamasa (intercalary months) used in some luni-solar calendars in India. Luni-solar calendars are in vogue since lunar months determine the high and low tides while the solar year determines the seasons. But the use of  luni-solar calendars create a unique problem. Since the lunar year (12 lunar months) lags behind the solar year (~365.25 days), this creates a need to keep the lunar year and the solar year in synchrony. Hence the need to use Adhika masa (extra month) and Kshaya masa (removed month)!  The reason for their asynchrony is explained next.

How to determine the distance to a star cluster using its H-R diagram? Background and Need Having covered the background on Star Clusters , H-R diagram ,  Main sequence and the need to study star clusters in our previous article on estimating the age of a cluster , we will discuss about ZAMS. Zero-Age Main Sequence (ZAMS) is the locus of all newly formed stars main sequence (MS) stars on the H-R diagram of a cluster – forming a boundary to the lower left of the main sequence. Idea

How can we determine the age of a star cluster using its H-R diagram. Background Star Clusters are groups of stars that are gravitationally bound ranging from just ten to over ten million in number e.g. Pleiades cluster (Krittika) or M45 in Taurus constellation. An H-R diagram is a scatter plot of Luminosity vs. surface temperature or absolute magnitude vs. spectral type of stars. Main sequence is the track of stars that runs diagonally across the H-R diagram from high luminosity, hot stars to low luminosity, cool stars. Need The star clusters are useful in checking theories of stellar evolution, for calibrating absolute luminosities, and

All of us heard about the recent super moon phenomenon that took place on March 19 2011. Yes, I too witnessed the event late in the might and here is one of my pic.

How are Days of the week named? Continuing with the last post of why there are 7 days in a week, here I will try to elucidate the idea behind the naming and the order of the days in a week. This was the method used in the olden times (Babylonian civilization) to arrive at the names for the days and their order.

Many civilizations and religions have the concept of 7 days making a week. Is there any astronomical significance for this (7 days in a week)? How come all civilizations chose exactly to have 7 days in a week? I had asked the very same question to

How do they calculate the age of the universe They use Hubble constant (Ho) to estimate the age of the universe.. But How Do They Do It..? This is how...