By M S Nazki
The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human.
Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars.
Yours is the light by which my spirit's born: you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars…
We are all like the bright moon, we still have our darker side…
Do not swear by the moon, for she changes constantly. then your love would also change. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet!
We all shine on...like the moon and the stars and the sun...we all shine on...come on and on and on...
The story which we had in our hands:
Reaching for the Stars from the Roof of the World, marking International Moon Day, the Fire and Fury Gunners hosted students from Hanle Primary School on an inspiring visit to the Indian Astronomical Observatory at Hanle. The visit offered young minds a unique opportunity to explore the wonders of astronomy and space science, igniting curiosity and scientific temperament amidst one of the world's highest astronomical observatories.
What Indian mythology states:
In Indian mythology, the moon is personified as Chandra (also called Soma), a divine, charming youth who represents the mind, plants, and the passage of time.
Key tales include his marriage curse leading to lunar phases, his role in eclipses, and his connection to Lord Shiva.
The 27 Wives and the Waning Curse
The Marriage: Chandra married the 27 daughters of King Daksha, who represent the 27 lunar constellations (nakshatras).
The Favoritism:
He loved his wife Rohini the most and neglected the other 26 sisters.
The Curse:
Angered by this unfair treatment, Daksha cursed Chandra with a wasting disease (kshyayrog) that made him lose his light and fade away.
The Recovery:
Pleading for mercy, Chandra prayed to Lord Shiva, who saved him by placing the crescent moon on his head, creating a cycle of waxing (Shukla Paksha) and waning (Krishna Paksha).
Eclipses and the Churning Ocean:
The Nectar: During the churning of the cosmic ocean (Samudra Manthan), the demon Rahu disguised himself to steal the nectar of immortality (amrit).
The Exposure: Both Surya (the Sun) and Chandra (the Moon) spotted the trick and told Lord Vishnu, who beheaded Rahu.
The Grudge: Because Rahu tasted the nectar, his immortal head chases the Sun and Moon to swallow them during eclipses.
Symbolism and Associations:
Lord Shiva: Because Shiva wears the crescent moon (Chandrashekhara) in his hair, it shows his mastery over time and cyclic rebirth.
Soma: As Soma, the moon is seen as a nourishing bowl of divine nectar that feeds the gods and plants during the bright half of the month.
This was myth and now the story:
International Moon Day is celebrated annually on July 20 to commemorate the anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon by the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. It was officially designated by the United Nations to recognize global achievements in lunar exploration and promote sustainable space practices.
Why It Is Celebrated
Apollo 11 Anniversary: Marks the historic day when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon.
Global Achievements: Honors the space exploration milestones reached by all countries.
Sustainable Exploration: Raises public awareness about the responsible and peaceful use of lunar resources.
International Cooperation: Encourages global teamwork and peaceful partnerships in outer space activities.
About Appplo 11:
(July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon, and the fifth crewed mission of NASA's Apollo program. The mission was crewed by Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, all of whom were on their second and final spaceflight.
Launched atop a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 16 at 13:32 UTC, the Apollo spacecraft consisted of three parts: the command module (CM), which housed the three astronauts and was the only part to return to Earth; the service module (SM), which provided propulsion, electrical power, oxygen, and water to the command module; and the Lunar Module (LM), which had two stages: a descent stage with a large engine and fuel tanks for landing on the Moon, and a lighter ascent stage containing a cabin for two astronauts and a small engine to return them to lunar orbit. After a three-day transit, Armstrong and Aldrin descended to the surface aboard the LM Eagle, landing in the Sea of Tranquility.
Indian Astronomical Observatory
The Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) is a high-altitude astronomy station located in Hanle, Ladakh, India. It is operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Situated in the Western Himalayas at an elevation of 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) it is one of the world's highest located sites for optical, infrared, and gamma-ray telescopes. It is the tenth-highest optical telescope in the world.
Location
The Indian Astronomical Observatory is located on Mount Saraswati, Digpa-rasta Ri, Hanle in the south-eastern Ladakh union territory of India. The observatory is located near the Line of Actual Control, the disputed Indo-Chinese border. Accessing it requires a 250-kilometre-long (160-mile) ten-hour drive from the Leh city.
History
In the late 1980s, a committee chaired by B. V. Sreekantan recommended that a national, large optical telescope must be constructed in India. The search for the observatory site began in 1992 under the leadership of astronomer Arvind Bhatnagar. Scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics found the site at Hanle suitable.
The first light was seen by the 2-metre telescope in the observatory on the midnight hour between 26 and 27 September 2000.
The satellite link between the Centre for Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST), Bengaluru, and Hanle was inaugurated by the then Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on 2 June 2001. The observatory was dedicated to the nation on 29 August 2001.
In September 2022, the area surrounding Hanle became India's first dark-sky preserve.
The Hanle site is deemed to be excellent for visible, infrared, and submillimeter observations throughout the year. Specifically, the observation conditions yield about 255 spectroscopic nights per year, approximately 190 photometric nights per year, and an annual rain-plus-snow precipitation of less than 10cm. In addition, there are low ambient temperatures, low humidity, low concentration of atmospheric aerosols, low atmospheric water vapour, dark nights, and low pollution.
Everybody has a little bit of the sun and moon in them. Everybody has a little bit of man, woman, and animal in them. Darks and lights in them. Everyone is part of a connected cosmic system. Part earth and sea, wind and fire, with some salt and dust swimming in them. We have a universe within ourselves that mimics the universe outside. None of us are just black or white, or never wrong and always right. No one. No one exists without polarities. Everybody has good and bad forces working with them, against them, and within them…
The preserve extends to the 6 hamlets of Hanle village: Bhok, Dhado, Punguk, Khuldo, Naga, and Tibetan Refugee habitation within 1073 km2, part of the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary in Changthang plateau. The extremities of the preserve are between 19.6 km and 22 km from the observatory.
The darkness of the night sky is classified on the Bortle scale as an "excellent" dark astronomical site with Bortle colour key "Black". Dark sky is important for the conservation of nocturnal animals and ecology. To minimize light pollution and to ensure dark skies,
Hanle preserve has many restrictions such as lights being indoors-only in certain places, mandatory light-blocking curtains on windows and doors, street light colors limited to yellow, no high-beam headlights on vehicles, and restricted vehicle movements at night.
The Observatory and the facilities availanle:
The Observatory has several active telescopes.
Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT)
The Himalayan Chandra Telescope is a 2.01-metre (79 in) optical-infrared telescope named after the India-born Nobel laureate Subrahmanyam Chandrasekhar.
It contains a modified Ritchey-Chretien system with a primary mirror made of ULE ceramic which is designed to withstand low temperatures.
The telescope was manufactured by Electo-Optical System Technologies Inc. at Tucson, Arizona, USA.
The telescope is mounted with 3 science instruments called the Himalaya Faint Object Spectrograph (HFOSC), the near-IR imager, and the optical CCD imager.
The telescope is remotely operated via an INSAT-3B satellite link which allows operation in sub-zero temperatures in winter. The satellite link is controlled by the Center for Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST) situated near Hoskote, Bengaluru.
About Hanle:
Hanle is a remote, historic village in the Changthang region of Ladakh, India, sitting at an extreme altitude of about 4,500 meters (14,760 feet).
Famous as India's first Dark Sky Reserve, it is renowned for crystal-clear stargazing, the high-altitude Indian Astronomical Observatory, and its 17th-century Buddhist monastery.
Geography and Stargazing Dark Sky Reserve:
Rated a pristine Bortle 1 scale for zero light pollution, offering roughly 270 clear nights every year.
Location: Roughly 260 km southeast of Leh, tucked inside the cold desert plateau near the border.
Cosmic Views: The Milky Way and distant galaxies are frequently visible to the naked eye without filters or long-exposure cameras.
Culture and Landmarks Hanle Monastery:
A striking 17th-century Drukpa Kagyu gompa perched high on a hill overlooking the pastoral valley.
Local Life: Comprises small hamlets and nomadic Changpa communities who transitioned toward sustainable astro tourism and homestays.
Wildlife: Surrounded by the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary, home to rare Tibetan wild asses (kiang), marmots, and the elusive Pallas's cat.
Who Discovered astronomy? The final lines!
Astronomy was not discovered by a single person. It originated with ancient civilizations like the Babylonians and Sumerians in Mesopotamia around 1000 BCE, who charted the stars to track time and seasons.
Over centuries, it evolved from basic stargazing into a rigorous science through the work of many foundational figures!
Ancient Pioneers (c. 600–200 BCE):
Greek thinkers like Thales of Miletus (who mapped constellations and predicted eclipses) and Hipparchus (who cataloged over 1,000 stars and calculated the distance to the Moon) were among the first to formalize its study.
The Father of Observational Astronomy:
Italian polymath Galileo Galilei is credited with this title.
In 1609, he turned an early telescope toward the sky, discovering the craters on the Moon, the rings of Saturn, and the four largest moons of Jupiter.
The Heliocentric Model:
Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus revolutionized the field in 1543 by proposing that the planets orbit the Sun, rather than the Earth.
Hanle in Ladakh was established when scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) identified the site, led by astronomer Arvind Bhatnagar and astrophysicist Tushar Prabhu in the early 1990s.
Discovery and Site Selection
Arvind Bhatnagar:
Led the 1992 national site search project for a high-altitude optical telescope.
Tushar Prabhu: Led the team of IIA astrophysicists who surveyed and evaluated weather and logistical conditions, ultimately selecting Hanle's Mount Saraswati.
Indian Institute of Astrophysics: Discovered and characterized the location as ideal due to its dry atmospheric conditions and clear skies.
Key Milestones
September 26–27, 2000: First light was captured by the 2-metre Himalayan Chandra Telescope.
August 29, 2001: The facility was officially dedicated to the nation as the Indian Astronomica!
Galileo Galilei was the first person to famously use a telescope to watch the stars and the moon, though the basic instrument was invented by Hans Lippershey in 1608.
Invention vs. Astronomical Use
Invention: Hans Lippershey, a Dutch lens and spectacle maker, filed the first patent for a refracting telescope in 1608 meant for terrestrial magnification.
First Stargazing: Galileo Galilei heard about the Dutch invention in 1609, built his own improved versions with much higher magnification, and turned them toward the night sky.
Galileo's Space Discoveries
The Moon:
Discovered that the lunar surface was not smooth, but full of craters, mountains, and valleys.
Jupiter: Found the four major moons orbiting Jupiter (now called the Galilean moons).
The Milky Way: Proved the Milky Way is made of countless individual stars rather than a hazy cloud.
Venus: Observed the phases of Venus, supporting the theory that planets orbit the sun.
This is not the end but the beginning of the Story
