APRIL 2025 STAR PARTY

Venue: Gogo Camping, Kavalur, TN (12.5780° N, 78.8130° E) Date: The night of 26 April 2025

A group of us consisting of 17 adults and 11 children had a memorable trip to Kavalur, Tamilnadu for a night of stargazing. Main objective was to observe the Summer Milkyway.

Please also read Overview of a Star Party for details on what to expect in a typical star party

We reached Kavalur Gogo camping at 1pm on 26 April. After lunch we proceeded towards Vainu Bappu Observatory, which is just a 5 min drive from Gogo camping. The observatory is open to public only on Saturdays from 2.30pm onwards. The tickets to the observatory can be purchased at the gate itself and it costs INR 50 for adults. There were about 100 visitors to the observatory. Motor vehicles are not allowed inside and we had to park the car on the roadside. The sprawling campus of the observatory is dotted with multiple telescopes of different sizes and types amidst a beautiful landscape filled with lots of trees and foliage.

Author at the gate

The campus is very well maintained with signboards giving details of the main attractions. The main attraction of the observatory is of course the second largest telescope in India, the Vainu Bappu Telescope (VBT). It has a aperture of 2.3 meters (93 inch) and it is a Cassegrain reflecting telescope. It is used only for imaging though using a CCD camera attached to it.

Santosh Ranade, Supabitra Chakraborty and the Author in front of the real-size replica of the 93 inch primary mirror of VBT

The walk towards VBT is a long one and it takes about 20 minutes through a well paved road through the woods. The telescope is placed on the fourth floor inside the dome which can be reached through stairs or elevator. The observatory provides a demonstration of the movement of telescope and the dome, with explanation about the history and working of VBT in English and Tamil.

After a long walk, we are near the VBT

VBT

After spending about 2 hours at the observatory we returned to the campsite. Campsite is away from the residential and commercial areas to avoid any light pollution. After ensuring that the tents are allocated and setup for the night, we setup the telescope at the parking area. The sky was not that great, especially the western side, with light clouds and haze reducing the transparency a little bit. Nevertheless, we could still observe quite a few DSOs (Deep Sky Objects) that night. We could also capture few streaks of the Lyrid meteor shower. We concluded the observation around 5am. After sunrise, Gogo camping had organized a hiking trip through the Jawadhu hills, that some of the team members took part in. After breakfast, the team returned to Bangalore, while some of the members went for a kayaking trip in Bhoomikulam lake.

Given below is the observation log.

26 April - After 7pm

• Jupiter: All four Galilean moons were visible. Had a good view of the planet's cloud bands.

• Orion Nebula: The western sky had haze making the sky less transparent. The nebula was not at its best view. Four stars in the trapezium (Orionis A, B, C and D) were easily resolved.

• The binary stars Alcor and Mizar (Arundati and Vasisht) in the handle of the Big Dipper could be easily resolved. Alcor could be barely resolved through naked eye.

Sky became increasingly cloudy around dinner time. The team utilised the time to sit under the open sky and discuss various matters on science and astronomy, lead by AVM Sinha Sir. Fortunately towards midnight, the sky cleared up and we could continue the observation.

26 April - After 11pm

• Omega Centauri (NGC 5139), the famous globular cluster in Centaurus. Most brilliant DSO (Deep Sky Object) observed that night. The grains (from the millions of stars in it) could be resolved.

• Spider Globular Cluster (M4)

• Globular Cluster in Scorpius (M80)

• Sombrero Galaxy (M104) - Very faint. Could not resolve lot of details.

• Ptolemy Cluster (M7)

• Butterfly Cluster (M6)- An open cluster in Scorpio. Looked bright and brilliant.

27 April - 3 AM: Summer Milkyway began to rise with Sagittarius and the famous Tea Pot. Milkyway continued to rise till about 5 AM, giving a great view to the observers. Timelapse photography started with a tripod mounted DSLR with a 10mm Sigma Lens and Intervalometer (see the pictures and video below).

4AM   

• Globular Cluster in Sagittarius (M70)

• Globular Cluster in Sagittarius (M28)

• Great Sagittarius Cluster (Globular) (M22)

• Lagoon nebula (M8)

• Saturn - the rings were hardly visible as they are now nearly side on to Earth.

• Venus - beautiful view of the planet in it's crescent stage.

• Constellations identified:

  1. Auriga

  2. Bootes

  3. Canis Major

  4. Centaurus

  5. Crux

  6. Gemini

  7. Leo

  8. Libra

  9. Orion

  10. Sagittarius

  11. Scorpius

  12. Ursa Major

  13. Ursa Minor

  14. Virgo

The Star Partiers!

Author with the 10 inch Dobsonian telescope that was used for the observation.

A Lyrid Meteor streaks in front of summer Milkyway

A Lyrid meteor streaks in front of summer Milkyway

A Lyrid Meteor streaks in front of summer Milkyway

Star trails in front of summer Milkyway

Timelapse of 60 images, with each frame exposed for 50 min at f/4, ISO 800, Sigma Lens 10mm