Royat e Hilal and Science

Pakistanis once again see the country divided in two groups on the issue of Ramazan Moon sighting. There will be Eid on two different days due to this conflict. This issue is not an issue at all. It is so simple that there shall be no confusion on this subject; rather, it should’ve been solved a long time ago.

 

Step by step we will take a look at what causes the confusion and how can it be avoided. We will start with the motion of the Moon.

 

Understanding the Geometry:

 The Moon revolves around the Earth and the Earth hurls around the Sun. The time between two full moons is 29.5 days (approximately one Lunar month). When the Moon comes exactly between the Sun and the Earth, it is called the “Conjunction” and the new moon is “born”.

 

At the conjunction point, all of the Sun’s radiation is reflected back by the Moon and none reaches the Earth, therefore, the Moon is completely black for the earthlings and the newborn moon is not visible.

New Moon looks like this at conjunction. Not visible at all.

 

This new moon is also called “The Astronomical New Moon” because scientifically the Moon has started its another cycle but it is not visible.

 

Another condition also restricts us from seeing the Moon. If it is too near to the Sun, the glare of the Sun will prevent us from seeing it. And if it is too close, it will set as soon as the Sun and we will not get enough dark time to see it.

 

The Issue:

Oddly enough, Muslims have not been able to develop a consensus on a point that either the dates shall be synchronized with the visibility predictions by sophisticated computer programs or when it is visible to the human eye.

 

Almost all of the Pakistanis (including Masjid Qasim Ali Khan‘s Royat e Hilal Committee) agree that “seeing” the new moon shall be the basis of the dates. Seeing is necessary as per numerous ahadith of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.W.

 

“Do not fast until you see the crescent-moon, and do not break the fast until you have seen the crescent moon, but if conditions are overcast for you then enumerate for it.” [Bukhari]

 

Now who sees when is the main issue. Some claim to have seen it, other report it was invisible.

 

Science has the answer:

Science can assist us in generating the sighting reports of the Moon hundreds of years in advance. Put aside mainframe computers, I with an open source program had proposed that Eid-ul-Fitr would be on 11th of September, 2010 and yes, it was on that day. Why not take help from science in viewing it and checking the authenticity of sighting reports?

 

Islam is a strong proponent of using reason. Today the fact is that astronomy can accurately establish the time of birth of the new moon, and the time interval when it is impossible to see the crescent-moon due its not yet being present. Thus, there is no harm in using this astronomical basis to reject a claimed sighting which cannot possibly be correct. Indeed, this is similar to rejecting the claim of someone who claims to have seen the crescent-moon on the twentieth night of Shaban!

 

In the same vein of using reason, Islam asks us to use the scientific method. Thus, if a sighting is reported when it was absolutely impossible for it to have occurred, it will be rejected, even if the one reporting it is an upright Muslim. This rejection is attributed to genuine misjudgment, which does not diminish the person’s Islamic uprightness and acceptability as a witness. Numerous renowned as well as recent and contemporary scholars support this view.

 

 

Ramazan, 1432 AH:

Masjid Qasim Ali Khan and some other areas in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa declared Ramazan to be started on 1st August, while, rest of the Pakistan went for 2nd August.

 

Let’s check the possibility of Moon sighting on 31st July (hence 1st Ramazan on 1st August) for Peshawar.

 

Visibility on 31th July 2011, wrong decision of starting Ramazan from 1st August.

 

The above data generated by moonsighting.com, a famous website which monitors Moon on daily basis clearly shows that visibility chances of Moon in Pakistan were only in coastal regions, that too for a very short time. There was no chance of sighting in Peshawar. However, the Moon was there but couldn’t be seen because it had set so early and also, the angular separation (separation between the Sun and the Moon as viewed from Earth) was so less, that Sun’s glare prevented us from seeing it. Therefore, Moon sighting failed and Ramazan was declared to be started on 2nd August 2011.

 

Visibility of Moon on 1st August. Correct decision of starting Ramazan from 2nd August.

 

If seeing is believing (and it surely is), then we have to agree with the decision of Central Royat e Hilal Committee. If one just argues that “Alright, Moon was present with enough phase and we couldn’t see it due to imperfect conditions (low angular separation + early set time)”, then one might choose to go with Masjid Qasim Ali Khan’s decision.

 

However, if we analyze Masjid Qasim Ali Khan’s sighting reports, we see that their reports have some degree of error and the decision of Central Committee was correct, this time, and even in 2010. Scientifically speaking, Royat e Hilal, which is the basis of Islamic calendar, was not possible on 31st July.

 

Conclusion:

No Muslim will ever want to ruin the fasts of hundreds of millions of people. The entire problem in seeing the Moon can be solved easily if there is a will to proceed. If there is a difference of opinion, it must be solved in conjunction with the teachings of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.W about the Moon sighting. Masjid Qasim Ali Khan’s clerics must be given a chance on the official level to have their say about the issue. For how long we will keep on fighting on this small issue? The world has set the foot on Moon and we still strive to see it.

 

One more decision shall be made. If just one city sees the Moon, then will the Ramazan/Shawwal be started in whole country? If yes, then if just Peshawar ACTUALLY sees the Moon, why not celebrate the Eid throughout Pakistan?

 

Personally I have no issue with the Central Royat e Hilal Committee’s reports. I have been checking their decisions with a few sophisticated softwares and I find they are accurate and also they have Ulema from all school of thoughts, which is the symbol of unity. If anyone is able to see the Moon before the Committee, he/she has the permission to start Ramazan/celebrate Eid as per Islamic teachings.

 

Those who can’t see the Moon on their own, they can choose to stick with whatever source they find more accurate and reliable, that may either be Central Committee, Masjid Qasim Ali Khan’s committee, or any computer software.

Sketching The Hunter

I went up the sky and tried to find Orion. It was about to hide behind the buildings. The sky was amazingly clear so I quickly drew this sketch.

A drawing by me.

Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky. Its name refers to Orion, a hunter in Greek mythology.

Drawing of Orion by Johannes Hevelius

Some salient features of it are:

• Abbreviation: Ori
• Symbol: The Hunter
• Area: 594 Square Degrees (26th largest constellation in the night sky)
• Main stars: 7
• Stars with planets: 7
• Brightest star: Rigel (β Orionis, Apparent magnitude: 0.12)
• Messier Objects: 3

Orion is visible at latitudes between +85° and −75° and it is best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of January.

Constellation Orion in the night sky. Credit: Mouser Williams

For newbies, as well as expert Astronomers, Orion serves as an excellent navigational aid to locate many other nearby stars.By extending the line of the Belt southeastward, Sirius (α CMa) can be found; northwestward, Aldebaran (α Tau). A line eastward across the two shoulders indicates the direction of Procyon (α CMi). A line from Rigel through Betelgeuse points to Castor and Pollux (α Gem and β Gem). Additionally, Rigel is part of the Winter Circle. Sirius and Procyon, which may be located from Orion by tracing lines, also are points in both the Winter Triangle and the Circle

Orion offers an excellent navigational aid to locate many other stars

The main stars of the Constellation Orion, which can be easily spotted are 7 in number.

Proper Name	Solar Radi	Apparent Magnitude	~Distance (L Yrs)
Betelgeuse	667	0.43	643
Rigel	78	0.18	772
Bellatrix	7.0	1.62	243
Mintaka	Not known	2.23 (3.2/3.3) / 6.85 / 14.0	900
Alnilam	26	1.68	1359
Alnitak	Not known	1.70/~4/4.21	800
Saiph	11	2.06	724

Orion as depicted in a set of cards "Urania's Mirror"

Some interesting features of these stars are as follows:

• Betelgeuse, known alternatively by its Bayer designation Alpha Orionis, is a massive redsupergiant star nearing the end of its life. When it explodes it will even be visible during the day. It is the second brightest star in Orion. It serves as the “right shoulder” of the hunter and is the twelfth brightest star in the night sky.

• Rigel, which is also known as Beta Orionis, is the sixth brightest star in the night sky. It serves as the left foot of Orion, the hunter.

• Bellatrix was designated Gamma Orionis by Johann Bayer, but is known colloquially as the “Amazon Star”. It is the twenty-second brightest star in the night sky. Bellatrix serves as Orion’s left shoulder.

• Mintaka garnered the name Delta Orionis from Bayer, even though it is the faintest of the three stars in Orion’s Belt. Mintaka is the westernmost of the three stars of Orion’s Belt.

• Alnilam was named Epsilon Orionis. Alnilam is losing mass quickly, a consequence of its size; it is approximately four million years old.

• Alnitak was designated Zeta Orionis by Bayer, and is the easternmost star in Orion’s Belt. It is a triple star some 800 light years distant.

• Saiph was designated Kappa Orionis by Bayer, and serves as Orion’s right foot. It is of a similar distance and size to Rigel. Its surface temperature is about 46,000°F or 26,000°C.

A drawing of Orion by Johann Bayer

Orion’s Belt or The Belt of Orion is an asterism in the constellation Orion. It consists of the three bright stars: ζ Ori (Alnitak), ε Ori (Alnilam), and δ Ori (Mintaka).

Alnitak is approximately 800 light years away from earth and  is 100,000 times more luminous than the Sun.

Alnilam is approximately 1340 light years away from Earth, shines with magnitude 1.70. It is 375,000 times more luminous than the Sun.

Mintaka is 915 light years away and shines with magnitude 2.21. It is 90,000 times more luminous than the Sun.

Orion's Belt through a small telescope

And NASA showed us the Belt in an overwhelmingly beautiful way.

Closeup of the Orion's Belt

Orion is full of Deep Sky Objects. The most famous being the Orion Nebula, which is a star formation site.

Messier 42 - The Orion Nebula, a spectacular Star Birth site in the Universe

Apart from Orion Nebula, a very famous dark cloud of gas called The Horsehead Nebula is also present in the Constellation Orion.

The HorseHead Nebula

Besides these nebulae, surveying Orion with a small telescope will reveal a wealth of interesting deep-sky objects, including M43, M78, as well as multiple stars including Iota Orionis and Sigma Orionis. A larger telescope may reveal objects such as Barnard’s Loop and the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024), as well as fainter and tighter multiple stars and nebulae.

Farthest left and bottom is the Trifid Nebula, move right from there and it is HorseHead nebula, Move to the extreme right and top is the M42, the Orion Nebula

All of these nebulae are part of the larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, which is located approximately 1,500 light-years away and is hundreds of light-years across. It is one of the most intense regions of stellar formation visible in our galaxy.

Orion will go away for months very soon, so if you can, try to find it and it looks wonderful, believe me.

Clear Skies.

Deep Sky Observing Session, Part 2 – The DSO Marathon

By 6:30 P.M the Sun had gone to sleep behind the hills and telescopes were assembled and ready to take part in Celestial Hunting.

Sunset from Goth Haji Ismail Khan, Shot by Jagdish

Ofcourse, the first object was the Moon. It was a Waxing Crescent and looked really great through the Celestron 8″ SCT at 80x magnification. Then we pointed the C8 towards Jupiter, the King of Planets. Jupiter really looked awesome at 80x. I could differentiate between its various atmospheric bands. It was looking like a small marble ball with various color prints on it.

Jupiter at 80x

Meanwhile, I told Imam of the local Mosque about various Celestial Facts. I tried to explain him in the easiest possible way. Told him about Star birth, Planets, Size of the Universe etc.

After Jupiter, we turned C8 towards Double Cluster in Constellation Perseus.

The Double Cluster in Constellation Perseus

Suddenly Imran bhai shouted, Why haven’t we still looked at the Andromeda Galaxy. Laser pointer was brought out, location designated, and Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31) was in the field of view of C8. A small cloudy appearance which was different from all other surroundings.

M31 - Andromeda Galaxy in Constellation Andromeda

Everyone looked at Andromeda Galaxy. I then requested to go for the Orion Nebula (Messier 42). C8 was moved to aim at the Orion Nebula and boy, how impressive was the look of it. It was so bright that I had never imagined it to be that wonderful at 80x. Thanks to the optics of C8 and dark skies of Balochistan.

M42 through a small telescope

I tried to observe M42 through Abbas bhai’s Super Stable 20×60 binoculars, and I bet it looked the same as it was looking in C8, just a small difference in closeness.

Clouds inbound. Observations stopped almost. I was so angry at clouds, wanted to push them away. Since there were so many clouds, there couldn’t be any good deep sky observations, therefore we decided to rest a bit. Meanwhile I talked to Imrana and Azhar about ET life and many other Astro Things.

Time for a Kadak Doodh Patti.

Food was prepared. Goat’s roasted leg. Tried to chew it but the goat was more powerful than my teeth even after his death. Leg piece was finished in 10 minutes or so and its Planetary Nebula was thrown away. Dinner was prepared by Ada Sadiq and I really loved the bread he made, so soft and delicious.

We thought clouds would move away but they were still there to tease us. Kept peeking through the small openings in the clouds and hunted several objects. Sirius, Betelgeuse, and Rigel were observed.

Once again, it was time for a strong tea with milk.

Discussed with Zain about Dajjal.

Kadak Doodh Patti one more time. But this time it was inside the room.

Saw the sky through the window and it looked clear. Ran outside the room and it was full of clouds. Disappointed.

Nearly at 11:45 P.M, the sky was fully clear finally. Now the real fun began. I approached Mr. Naveed Merchant’s Meade LX200R. Zain Ahmed showed me Open Cluster M 46 in Constellation Puppis and there is a planetary nebula NGC 2438 inside M 46.

Some more notable objects observed were:

• Eskimo Nebula NGC 2392 in Constellation Gemini
• Open Cluster M 47 or NGC 2422 in Constellation Puppis.
• Bode’s Galaxy, M 81 in Constellation Ursa Major.
• Cigar Galaxy M 82 in Constellation Ursa Major.
• Beehive Cluster or Praesepe, M 44 in Constellation Cancer.
• Seven Sisters, Pleiades, M 45 in Constellation Taurus.
• Galaxy M 108 in Constellation Ursa Major.
• M 51, The Whirlpool Galaxy in Constellation Canes Venatici.
• Leo Triplet of Galaxies in Constellation Leo.
• Globular Cluster M 53 in Constellation Coma Berenices.
• Globular Cluster M 3 in Constellation Canes Venatici.
• Planetary Nebula M 1, The Crab Nebula in Constellation Taurus.
• Planet Saturn at 200x.
• Planet Venus at 80x.

While observing with Abbas bhai, had one more cup of strong tea.

Showed the Cigar Galaxy to Mr. Naveed Merchant and he really liked it.

Went for Milky Way Galaxy shot with Mr. Hanif Bhatti. Stood still in one posture for several minutes in freezing cold winds.

Myself standing with Milky Way Galaxy's Orion-Cygnus Arm

Discussed Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Big Bang Theory and other Cosmology things with G.M Laghari while lying on the mattress under the open sky. I was hiding myself inside the blanket while trying to pay attention to G.M Laghari. Soon I slept right there under the sky. Everyone warned me not to sleep there because of severe cold but I was so lazy to get up and go inside the room. But soon I realized it wasn’t a right decision and I ran inside the room.

Woke up around 6 A.M and saw Planet Venus through Meade LX200R. Saw its phase. It was half disk.

We then started packing. Abu Bakar, myself, and Mr. Asim Qadri went up the hill once again to take a look at the rising Sun.

Sunrise

Had a very good breakfast which was prepared by Ada Sadiq. Milk Tea with Bread. After the breakfast, had a few shots with the group.

From Left to Right: Asim Qadri, Hanif Bhatti, Neveed Merchant, Astronomer Bilal, Imran Rasheed, Abu Bakar, Abbas Jafri, Yaqoob Bhai, Jagdesh Bhai, Azhar Khan

Took a final sight of the valley and left for Karachi. At 10:35 A.M, mobile signals finally started entering in our mobile phones. At 11:38 A.M, I boarded the bus to Hyderabad. At 2:26 P.M, I finally reached my home with memories of a wonderful trip.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=astronomerbil-20&o=1&p=12&l=ur1&category=videogames&banner=0SJV27QC0HKG3R5D2K02&f=ifr

Deep Sky Observing Session, Part 1 – To Balochistan

• Finalized the program on Tuesday
• On Friday, woke up at 9 A.M and slept at 4:30 A.M.
• On Saturday, woke up before 7 A.M and got ready.
• Boarded the bus to Karachi at 8:03 A.M
• Felt sleepy in bus.
• Reached Karachi at 9:55 A.M.
• Called Imran bhai, he said he will pick me up by 11:30 A.M.
• Waited for him in a medical store.
• Imran bhai picked me up from Capri Cinema at 11:33 A.M.
• Reached Mr.Hanif’s home in P.E.C.H.S.
• Met Abu Bakar Siddiq, Mr. Hanif, Jagdish there.
• Had a Kadak Doodh Patti at 12:20 P.M
• Mr. Naveed Merchant joined us then.
• Loaded the vehicles.
• Brother Abbas Jafri arrived then.
• Departed from P.E.C.H.S at 12:55 PM.
• 2 Land Cruisers, 1 Prado.
• Destination: Goth Haji Ismail Khan, Near Lakhan Range. Balochistan, Pakistan.
• Myself, Abu Bakar, Mr. Asim Qadri, Brother Abbas Jafri in one Land Cruiser.
• Imran bhai, Mr. Naveed Merchant, Imrana, Naina, and Azhar in other.
• Mr. Hanif, Zain Ahmed, Jagdish, Yaqoob and Ada Sadiq in third vehicle.
• On our way, we discussed Geography, Astronomy and other sciences in detail.
• Zodiac Shift, minerals of Balochistan, and many other things were discussed too.
• Passed by the Hamdard University, Manghopir, Garam Chashma.
• Garam Chashma is a natural flow of water with Sulphuric Acid in Manghopir. Patients of Leprosy take bath there for getting better.

 

Hamdard University. Karachi, Pakistan.

 

• Entered Balochistan nearly at 2:30 P.M, Mobile Network said Bye Bye to us.
• Super bumpy road.
• Reached Noorani Morr at 3:30 P.M.
• Had lunch there.

 

Lunch at Noorani Morr

 

• Met G.M Laghari, a young Pakistani Physicist there, he works at SUPARCO. Pleased to meet him.
• After lunch, Kadak Doodh Patti is a must have.

 

Its Tea Time

 

• Departed from Noorani Morr at 4:00 P.M sharp.
• Real tough terrain started from here.

 

Terrain

 

 

Towards the camping site

 

• Reached the camping site at 4:41 P.M

 

Camping Site

 

• Climbed the mountain behind the camping site to check the valley view.

 

Valley, Goth Haji Ismail Khan

 

• Equipments were being assembled.
• Meade LX200R of Mr. Naveed Merchant.
• Celestron 8″ SCT of Imran bhai.
• Brother Abbas brought his 20×60 binoculars with tripod.
• Mr. Hanif had a Super Camera for night time photography.

 

Meade LX200R of Mr. Naveed Merchant

 

• Abu Bakar and myself collected some strange looking fossil type stones from the mountain.
• Packed those stones and hid them.
• Time for prayers.

 

Local Mosque

 

• Had a Kadak Doodh Patti once again.
• Sun went down.
• Took Moon shots.
• First shot without telescope, second shot was aided by the Celestron 8″ SCT.

 

Moon Shot #1

 

 

Moon Shot #2

 

• Gave explanation of Zodiac system and Zodiac shift of to Imrana.
• Nose was running like Eridanus.
• Put 2 jackets+woolen cap on to prevent from Hypothermia.

Deep Sky Observing Session Part 1 ends here.

Part 2

How I Built My Telescope

Asad is a youngster hailing from a small town Okara in Pakistan. He has recently completed his 6″ Newtonian Reflector after a lot of hard work. He has written his story of telescope making and here I present it before you.

By: Asad Mehmood,

Okara, Punjab Pakistan.

Without a deep interest in any field of work, one is unable to achieve the height of glory in that field. Patience, laborious work and hope for the best, leads us to reach our goal always.

 

Likewise, the art of ATM (Amateur Telescope Making) has been the most interesting fun and ambition for me for the last few years since my school times. By then, I used to make small refracting telescopes trying always to somehow increase the resolution of the image. About two years before, Lahore Astronomical Team arranged their “3rd Astro Fest” at my school in Okara. I still remember that great event involving two great persons, Sir Ali Khan and Sir Umair Asim who later provided me a great service due to which I could be able to finally build a successful

6″ Newtonian Reflector. The Principal of my school introduced me to them and since then, my eager for building a larger telescope increased.

I kept contact with Sir Ali Khan, a true helper and an optimist. He kept on encouraging me to grind a mirror for reflecting telescope. Later, I went to Lahore, searched the market along with Sir Ali Khan and bought grits (the grinding material) and 8″ mirror blanks and then returned back with a charming dream in my mind. Then I started the mirror grinding process with the constant help of Sir Ali Khan and of some experts from Telescope Making group at Yahoo. The names of some of them are Mark Whitaker, Jerry, Vladimir, Berthold Hamburger (who sent me the Ronchi grating for the Ronchi Mirror Tester) etc. These are some persons to whom I am very grateful. I learned a number of techniques, effects of different strokes, the effective way to grind/polish, etc as well as earned a great and nice experience. By some way, after regrinding, re polishing, regrinding, re polishing up to the correct figure of the sphere that my 8″ mirror achieved, I was too happy to up looking my dreams turn into realities.

As it is said, “We can’t always get the things we desire”, something similar happened to me. My mirror somehow fell down and shattered in countless pieces. That was a truly grievous incident for me but I didn’t allow myself to be broken hearted and thought to try again with some other mirror size. By that time I had a lot of information and experience. I knew well how to grind effectively, how to generate and spread out a fine curve, how to control the concentration of pitch based on temperature to make a pitch lap for polishing, how to polish in a right manner without distorting the actual figure( sphere) of the mirror. Having all that in my mind, after about 8 or 9 months I restarted my work but that time, there was a 6″ mirror instead of 8″. After deciding its desired focal ratio, I started the grinding process with the name of Allah, promoted to fine grinding and then to the toughest and the most laborious task, the polishing. Polishing process opposed my way to exceed further but I kept my work hard until I achieved the pure spherical figure of the mirror. Two types of basic mirror shape testers are used in ATM i.e. Foucault Knife Edge Tester and Ronchi grating tester. I had needed to build these testers too and it added increments in delaying my further work. A lot of Cerium Oxide (polishing agent), pitch and plaster of Paris disks were consumed but at last I got the desired shape of mirror. This was a great success for me for the first time in my life. Everyone appreciated and congratulated me.

The next and last step of ATM is coating the mirror with Silver or Aluminum. Since Silver is more reactive with aerial Oxygen than Aluminum, therefore I started worrying where to find a coating chamber for Aluminum coating on my mirror. More than 4 months spent but no one of the group mates from Karachi Amateur Astronomers Society, Lahore Astronomical Society, and Pakistan Amateur Astronomers webpage could find the coater who dealt in mirror coatings. Finally I found a person, Mr. Zafar Iqbal in Islamabad who is an engineer by profession and has links with few of the expert coaters working in Govt. Military/Defense area and coating the goods were their daily routines. With a great service of Mr. Zafar Iqbal, I was able to finally reach the destination of ATM.

 

Ready to explore heavens

 

 

When the mirror was polished, I constructed the telescope mount and bought the PVC pipe for Optical Tube Assembly (OTA). This made my further task easy and I just fixed the mirror in the mirror cell and installed it in the optical tube without constructing every part from start. Hence 6″ Newtonian project completed with a lot of success.

 

Scope Interior

 

 

My first observation from that 6″ Newtonian was at 7:00 PM Jupiter and Moon on 10/01/2011 (the date of my birthday). Next day I took the scope with me to my school, showed it to teachers, staff and Principal. The Principal asked me arrange a small program that day in the evening to observe Moon and Jupiter. That event became popular throughout the college.

 

With 6" Newtonian Reflector

 

 

In other words I can say that firstly due to countless blessings of Allah, and secondly due to Sir Ali Khan, Sir Umair Asim and Mr. Zafar Iqbal, I am able to achieve the goal of completing my telescope. I am heartly thankful and grateful to all of them because I think I would never be able to call myself a “Telescope Maker” without their great help. Sir Umair Asim provided me eyepieces of various powers and an expensive Philips cam for Astro Photography. Sir Ali Khan sent me some other mirror blanks of the sizes 12″, 8″ and also the grinding material (grit). Mr. Zafar Iqbal coated my mirror though he remained very busy in his office but still he managed to get time for my work.

 

Moon Shot

 

 

My next projects will be 8″ f/4 and 12″ f/4 Newtonian Reflector.

——————————————————————————

Please drop comments to encourage the young telescope maker.

Zodiac Shift: Fact or Fiction?

While surfing through some astronomy websites yesterday, suddenly one sentence drew my attention. It was talking about the shift in zodiac signs. By that time, I had started receiving questions from people about it.

I told them simply, that it was JUST correct information, but it was not being presented with all the facts. It’s just being told to everyone that the zodiacs have shifted, by why this has happened was needed to be told.

When the number of questions went on rising, I thought to make a clarification, so in further lines; I will try to clarify to all of you about this new zodiac sign thing.

We’ll first have to check out what Astrology really is and what systems are used in Astrology.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Astrology is defined as “the divination of the supposed influences of the stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events by their positions and aspects”.

As we can see, Astrology is a method which uses positions of stars, and claims to predict the future events and also to know about the events which were or are being experienced by any human being at any given time.

Astrology is very old methodology. It dates back to almost 1^st millennium B.C. There are two systems of Astrology which are used commonly nowadays, one is Eastern and other is Western. Eastern Astrology is also called Jyotish, Sidereal, or Vedic Astrology while Western is also known as Tropical Astrology.

The sky is divided into 88 constellations, or 88 parts. When the Earth moves around the Sun; the Sun, the Moon and the Planets appear to pass through 13 constellations. These 13 constellations are called Zodiacs and the line which is followed by the Sun, Moon and Planets is called “The Line of Ecliptic”. If we study it astronomically, then the Zodiacs are 13 but Astrologers always consider 12 Zodiacs. But we will not discuss it for the time being.

Line of Ecliptic shown to pass through the Zodiac Constellations

As you can see in the above image, the Ecliptic (dark red line) passes through all the Zodiacs (boundaries shown in red), and all the Planets, Moon and the Sun appear to travel along with the Ecliptic.

Western and Eastern Astrology are quite different from each other. The difference in both is that the Western Astrology is based on the Tropical Zodiac system, while Eastern relies on Sidereal Zodiac system.

Tropical Zodiac is a fixed system. On March 21, on Vernal Equinox, the year of Tropical Zodiac starts from Aries. 2500 years ago, when the Zodiac system was developed, the Sun used to be in the Constellation Aries from 20^th March to 20^th April.

Every day as the Sun appears to rise from East and set in the West, it actually follows a defined path which is called the Ecliptic. The Ecliptic passes through 13 Constellations out of 88. Therefore 13 zodiacs are there. The Sun spends a few days in each of these Zodiacs throughout the year. In the image below, you will find that on 23^rd March, 0 A.D, the Sun was in the Constellation Aries.

The Sun is shown to pass through the Constellation Aries on 23rd March, 0000.

People at that time observed the movement of the Sun throughout the year and then exact dates were assigned to every Zodiac. And Tropical Zodiacs still follow the same dates. But are these dates still correct? Does the Sun pass through Aries today on the same dates?

Astronomically, when we study the apparent movement of Sun through the constellations of Zodiac, the Sun is in the Constellation Aries from April 18 to May 13. This is because, over the cycle of 25,700 years, the axis of Earth slowly wobbles like a spin top, which causes the change in the apparent position of constellations and the Zodiac system. This wobble, the Precession of Equinoxes is a fact, which is simply overruled by Western Astrology. That is why a person, who was Aries at the time of Ptolemy, would still be considered an Aries.

The precession of equinoxes or simply precession, was not known at the time Astrology was established, therefore it disregards the change in the position of constellations as viewed from Earth. But Eastern system by its virtue, since it uses Sidereal system, always follows precessional movement.

The Precessional Movement

From the above image, it is clear that the axis of Earth continues wobbling over a period of almost 25,700 years. During the course, the positions of stars and constellations, as we see them from the Earth, changes.

So the actual, astronomically proven fact is that the Sun is not in the constellation Aries on 23^rd March now. It is in Pisces, as shown in the picture below.

The Sun in the Constellation Pisces on 23rd March 2011

But things differ when you consider the situations under Eastern astrology or Jyotish. The Sidereal Zodiac system used by Eastern Astrologers follows the change in the axis of rotation of Earth. Thousands of years ago, these 2 astrological systems, Western and Eastern completely coincided with each other at the time of their establishment. But as the time passed, the axis of Earth kept wobbling; this made the apparent position of Planets, Constellations, the Sun and the Moon very different from those of the starting point. Since Western system is not allowed to follow the change, it remained fixed. But Jyotish system kept changing over time. Therefore, there is a huge difference between Eastern and Western astrology.

Now we will once again talk about the change.

Over the course of almost 2500 years, the axis of Earth has rotated so much that zodiacs have shifted about 1 month in time. Consider me, a Scorpion under Western system. My date of birth is 18^th of November. Under Western astrology, the Sun is in the constellation Scorpio from 23^rd October to 22^nd November. Under Sidereal system or Eastern astrology, it’s in Scorpio from 13^th November to 30^th December. But according to real astronomical calculations, the Sun is in the constellation Scorpio from 23^rd November to 29^th November and my birthday falls in the Libra portion which is from October 30^th to November 23^rd.

But does that really mean that my sign has changed to Libra? The answer is YES & NO, it’s because this zodiac shift is based on astronomical calculations, which are slightly different from Astrology and aren’t considered by Astrologers. So according to Astrology, my sign is same as before (depending on the system used), but Astronomy, which is 100% scientifically correct and in accordance with modern observations and Mathematics, tells me that my Zodiac has been shifted and I have a new sign.

How?

Astronomers take the scientific route, which is a well established fact with correct data. While Astrologers are still using the old and self-made method of dividing the sky in 12 equal parts of 30 degrees each. This in fact is against the scientific data, which tells us that the dates have been shifted and the Zodiacs are 13 instead of 12.

Astrology was established when there was no extensive knowledge of celestial system. The Geocentric system was in use for explaining the Earth-Sun-Planetary system, which considered Earth to be stationery and everything to revolve around it. There was no knowledge of celestial mechanics at that time. Therefore, astrology is also called a pseudoscience, which does not have any scientific and correct foundation.

Below is the comparison of different zodiac systems.

Comparison Chart

Zodiac	Eastern/Sidereal	Western/Tropical	Astronomical
Aries	14 April – 14 May	March 21 to April 20	April 18 to May 13
Taurus	14 May – 14 June	April 21 to May 20.	May 13 to June 21.
Gemini	14 June – 14 July	May 21 to June 21.	June 21 to July 20
Cancer	14 July – 14 August	June 22 to July 22.	July 20 to August 10
Leo	14 August – 13 September	July 23 to August 22.	August 10 to September 16
Virgo	13 September – 14 October	August 23 to September 22.	September 16 to October 30
Libra	14 October – 13 November	September 23 to October 22	October 30 to November 23
Scorpio	13 November – 14 December	October 23 to November 22	November 23 to November 29
Ophiuchus	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	November 29 to December 17
Sagittarius	14 December – 13 January	November 23 to December 21	December 17 to January 20
Capricorn	13 January – 12 February	December 22 to January 20	January 20 to February 16
Aquarius	12 February – 14 March	January 21 to February 18	February 16 to March 11
Pisces	14 March – 14 April	February 19 to March 20	March 11 to April 18.

Since both, new zodiac signs and Eastern zodiac signs rely on Sidereal zodiac system; they both tend to change over the time. But even though Sidereal Zodiac system is not completely correct. A minor difference of a few days is because new Astronomical Zodiac system also includes Ophiuchus, the 13^th constellation, whereas it is not included in Eastern system. Also, the Sun is said to be in the Constellation Scorpio for 1 month in both Sidereal and Tropical Zodiac systems, but the fact is, it’s there just for 7 days.

I will now touch the case of 13^th zodiac, Ophiuchus the Snake Holder. Ophiuchus is a constellation and the Sun on its tour through the constellations, passes through Ophiuchus from November 29^th to December 17^th. Based on this path of the Sun, the constellation Ophiuchus is also eligible for being a part of zodiacs and in fact it really is. Astronomers always regard it as a zodiac constellation but astrologers have forgotten Ophiuchus because they divide the whole sky of 360 degrees in 12 equal parts of 30 degrees each, therefore there is no room for Ophiuchus in zodiacs, even though it is a part of it. This once again is a demolition of scientific fact. It is in a complete disagreement with what science is telling us now. So we can surely say that Astrology is an “Unscientific Science” having no scientific roots.

Line of Ecliptic passing through the Constellation Ophiuchus

Constellation Ophiuchus as seen by the naked eye, allthesky.com

You can be sure that the sign which you were told from your birth is not the right one, except for a few people. You can continue to take the unscientific route of Astrology and proclaim yourself the same sign as it was 2500 years ago, or you can choose to accept the truth and welcome your new sign.

This change of zodiacs did not happen overnight. In fact, it took 3 millenniums to reach at this point. In 23,200 years, I will once again become a Scorpion. Until then, I can only wait, and prove to be a good Libra.

Anything that can go wrong,

Will go wrong. Yes, it is the infamous Murphy’s Law. A remark made by a disgusted engineer took the form of an adage, which is widely used today in many of the daily life situations.

It was in 1949, when the U.S Air-Force was carrying out experiments to check the effect of a sudden deceleration on a person in a crash. When the series of tests was started, the instruments for the measurement of gravitational force on the chimpanzees provided no reading. Captain Edward A. Murphy, an aerospace engineer working on the project found that the sensors were improperly installed; therefore, no reading could be expected. An irritated Murphy shouted about the technician responsible “If that guy has any way of making a mistake, he will.”

After the correct installation of the gauges, tests were conducted successfully. In a press conference, a question was raised by the media person that why there weren’t any injuries in the tests. Dr. John Stapp, a physician at U.S Military replied “It’s because we always take Murphy’s Law in consideration, and we counter all the possible failures before they even occur”.

This was the coinage of the world’s most famous adage ever. It was later modified to “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”. With the passage of time, almost all the real life scenarios which tend to trouble us, like failure of a planning, getting late for a bus were termed as Murphy’s Laws.

To date, there are thousands of adages which are now named as Murphy’s Laws. Remember, these laws were not created by Murphy, but even then they are called Murphy’s Laws. They are really interesting and often reflect the daily situations experienced by all of us in a manner similar to the law itself. Some of my most favorite Murphy’s Laws are:

• If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.
  Extreme version:
  If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the FIRST to go wrong.
• If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.
• If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
• In nature, nothing is ever right. Therefore, if everything is going right … something is wrong.
• No matter how perfect things are made to appear, Murphy’s Law will take effect and screw it up.

Apart from the above laws, there are some of the special laws which have been developed by various people around the world, but will always be accredited to Murphy.

Murphy’s Law of Thermodynamics
Things get worse under pressure.

The Murphy Philosophy
Smile . . . tomorrow will be worse.

Murphy’s Law of Research
Enough research will tend to support whatever theory.

Research supports a specific theory depending on the amount of funds dedicated to it.

Murphy’s Laws of Gravitation:

• A falling object will always land where it can do the most damage.
• A shatterproof object will always fall on the only surface hard enough to crack or break it.
• A paint drip will always land on the carpet and will not be discovered until it has dried.

• A valuable dropped item will always fall into an inaccessible place (a diamond ring down the drain, for example) – or into the garbage disposal while it is running.
• The chance of the bread falling with the buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet.

Murphy’s Transportation Laws:

• If you think you have lots of time before your bus, you read the timetable wrong.
• If you’re early the bus is late. If you’re late, the bus was early.
• The bus you plan to take always leaves five minutes before you reach the bus stop. The bus you do take is always ten minutes late.
• While at the railway station waiting for the train, you decide to go in the cafeteria for dining, the train will arrive the moment you start your dinner.

• If you seem to catch the last bus of the day, it left two minutes earlier.
• The more times you ask the driver to tell you when to get off the bus, the chance he won’t tell you is bigger.

Murphy’s Educational Laws:

• A subject interesting to the teacher will bore students.

• Students who are doing better are credited with working harder. If children start to do poorly, the teacher will be blamed.
• Eighty percent of the final exam will be based on the one lecture you missed and from the one book you didn’t read.
• Every instructor assumes that you have nothing else to do except study for that instructor’s course.
• The library will close 5 minutes before you remember that you left your book bag inside.
  Extension: It will be Saturday, and it won’t open until Monday.
  Extension: Your half-finished term paper (due Monday morning) and all your research will be inside.

• On a test day, at least 15% of the class will be absent

• First Law of Final Exams
  Pocket calculator batteries that have lasted all semester will fail during the math final.
  And: If you bring extra batteries, they will be defective.
• Second Law of Final Exams
  In your toughest final, the most distractingly attractive student in class will sit next to you for the first time.

More Laws:

• No matter how long or how hard you shop for an item, after you’ve bought it, it will be on sale somewhere cheaper.
• The other queue always moves faster.
• Your best golf shots always occur when playing alone.
• The worst golf shots always occur when playing with someone you are trying to impress.

• If you want something bad enough, chances are you won’t get it.

Now read all these laws carefully and you will notice that you have been through most of these situations in your life many a times. Hence it was proved that Murphy’s Laws work and the chance of the failure of any law of Murphy stands no chance.

Remember once again,

No matter how perfect things are made to appear, Murphy’s Law will take effect and screw it up.

Cold Night, Mosquitoes, Stars

Ramiz Qureshi from Karachi was online. He told me that he was experiencing almost 100% transparent skies there. I thought to check out my portion of sky and therefore I went up the roof at around 12:30.

Tested the focus of my 10×50 binoculars at Jupiter, which was setting in South-West.

After Jupiter, I looked for Messier 31, The Andromeda Galaxy.

The time was 12:40 when I started looking for it. The sky was clear but there was much light pollution from neighboring homes.

My binoculars doesn’t give a wide-field view when I observe with spectacles on. So for observing I have to take out my spectacles. When I do so, I can’t see the stars and that makes a big problem for me.

Since I had no one to point at the location of objects with a laser pointer, I was at my own. It is said that “need is the mother of invention” therefore I used the water tank of my home as a guide.

I moved in such a position relative to the water tank that all the stars of Constellation Cassiopeia were hidden except the brightest star of it, Shedir (Alpha Cassiopeiae).

Map of Constellation Cassiopeia and location of Shedir

From Shedir, I took a way towards the left and a little down towards the Andromeda Galaxy. It was a small white cloudy thing in the sky. Though I couldn’t identify it as a galaxy, but it surely was distinguishable from the other stars in a sense that there was some cloudy appearance.

M31 - Andromeda Galaxy in Constellation Andromeda

The Andromeda Galaxy is 2.5 Million Light Years away from the Earth. Do you know what does that mean? It means that light takes 2.5 Million Years to reach the Earth from M31. Compare it with the time of 1.2 second light takes to reach from the Moon to Earth.

Map of Constellation Andromeda and location of M31

After the Andromeda Galaxy, I tried to find NGC 752, an open cluster in the Constellation Andromeda but failed.

Seven Sisters were walking towards the West from the East, so I thought to gaze at them as they moved. They look really beautiful. Pleiades is an open cluster in Constellation Taurus. With naked eye, only 7 stars are visible but advanced observations have shown that the cluster contains about 1000 stars.

Messier 45, The Pleiades in Constellation Taurus

This cluster has been known since many ages. It has been found that Babylonian civilization knew about Pleiades cluster in 23rd century BC.

Recently a star disk called Nebra Sky Disk has been discovered which has been successfully dated back to 1600 BC. The disk has illustration of Pleiades on it.

Nebra Sky Disk, dated back to 1600 BC

After the Pleiades, I went for Double Cluster in Constellation Perseus at 12:54 AM.

For finding Double Cluster, I went straight up from the star Ruchbah (Delta Cassiopeiae) towards the star Mirphak (Alpha Persei). Between these two stars lies the Double Cluster NGC 884-NGC 869.

The Double Cluster in Constellation Perseus

Afterwards, I thought to change the position and move at some other place for observing. This time I aimed for searching the South-Eastern region of the sky.

The brave hunter Orion was rising up with his criminal looking dog Canis Major (Big Dog)

Orion and Canis Major are very prominent constellations which are easily identifiable.

Map of Constellation Orion

According to Greek mythology, Orion was a hunter whom Zeus elevated to heavens and placed among the stars.

Constellation Orion by Johannes Hevelius, 1690

Nearby Orion, the dogs of Orion are also present, namely Canis Major and Canis Minor. These are also constellations and have mythologies associated with them.

I tried to find NGC 2362 in the Constellation Canis Major. Since I was using Stellarium software for navigating through the sky, I easily located the site of it. But due to light pollution, I couldn’t notice any cluster there. For locating NGC 2362, I went left from Wezen (Delta Canis Majoris).

Map of Constellation Canis Major and location of several DSO's in it

An asterism by the name of “The Boomerang” is also in the Constellation Canis Major. 6 stars form a pattern similar to that of a boomerang.

Now I once again turned towards the Constellation Cassiopeia and this time, my target was the Owl Cluster (NGC 457).

NGC 457 - The Owl Cluster in Constellation Cassiopeia

At 1:13, I observed the most famous, the most brilliant and the most favorite object for the astronomers of all ages, The Orion Nebula, Messier 42.

The Orion Nebula in the Constellation Orion

Astronomers have studied Orion nebula extensively and the research on this nebula has told answered many questions of our’s regarding the formation of stars and planetary system through the collapse of gaseous clouds. Orion Nebula is a large star forming nursery where clouds of gas and dust collapse to form stars.

In my binoculars, I was able to notice tightly packed luminosity with some nebulosity around it. Imagine you are seeing from the distance of 20 meters, 4 florescent bulbs forming a close square with a white fishnet put over them, and behind these 4 bulbs, thousands of pearls are scattered on a black background, this is what exactly the Orion Nebula looks like in a binoculars similar to mine.

The time was 1:26 and mosquitoes were really annoying me. Thankfully I was wearing a jacket which prevented me from their stings. But their buzzing was really a headache.

Ramiz asked me to look for an open cluster Messier 47 in Canis Major.

If you move left from Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris), you can easily find M47.

Open Cluster M47

Ramiz told me that he was leaving and that he wanted to give me a final recommendation. He asked me to observe NGC 2244, an open cluster in Constellation Monoceros. He also warned me that it was a hard target. And I thought he was joking. But as soon as I tracked the location of it in Stellarium, the first words to come out from my mouth were “Oh My Lord, Ramiz where have you stuck me”. It was so high in the sky that my neck was almost breaking and I felt like someone was pressing my throat.

If you draw a straight line from Procyon (Alpha Canis Minoris, the brightest star of Constellation Canis Minor), to Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis, the brightest star of Constellation Orion), then NGC 2244 lies in the middle of this line. Tried so hard to find it. Found. But couldn’t concentrate on it for even 10 seconds because of high pain in neck and spine.

Open Cluster NGC 2244 in Constellation Monoceros

The time was 1:35, I marked the session end and started writing this report for all of you.

Easy Guide For Collimating Your Binoculars

Hello all, most of the binoculars users experience the problem when their binoculars goes out of the collimation due to jerks etc. Now its not a big problem to solve it. You too can collimate your binoculars within a few minutes. I have written this simplified tutorial for making it easier to understand and apply the procedure yourself.

Introduction:

• A binoculars is a pair of refracting telescopes.
• The alignment between these two telescopes is called collimation.
• Collimation can be easily disturbed.
• Collimation can be adjusted easily.
• How?
• A few of the steps defined below and a screw driver.

Pre-Steps:

• Check the collimation in daylight.
• Focus on a far off building.
• After focusing, determine which objective shows image up and which shows it down.
• Determine what side needs collimation and the image needs to be moved where and how much.

 

An image of a house from a miscollimated binoculars

 

• When you are done, you are ready to collimate.

Collimating the Binoculars:

• Find the porro prism set screws.
• Mount the bino on a tripod or a bino mount, or put it on some high stool so you can look through the binoculars as you adjust the screws.
• It also helps to turn the right eyepiece diopter adjustment all the way to one extreme, to make it fuzzy for one eye, while you look at a star. This helps by preventing the eyes from compensating for any small difference in collimation

 

Collimation Screws Location

 

• Working of screws is very simple.
• Screws move the image.
• Move the right screw clockwise and the image moves downward and to the left.
• Move it counter-clockwise and it goes up and right.
• Similar is the case with left screw.
• Move the left screw clockwise moves the image to the down and right side.
• Moving it in counter-clockwise moves it up and to the left.
• Test it frequently as you drive the screws as to avoid major mis collimation.
• That should do it. Its never a difficult task to collimate a binoculars.

Binoculars Collimation Problem

Recently, I have experienced a frustrating situation, which almost all binocular owners face, the collimation problem. And once the binoculars are out of collimation, they give stupid double images which cause immediate headache while observing.

I picked my binoculars up from Karachi. Brother Abbas from Karachi Astronomers Society had fixed it after it was damaged.

 

An image of a house from a miscollimated binoculars

 

Travelling back to Hyderabad, I noticed that the sky was so dark and clear since it was miles away from city lights. Asked father to stop the car so I could test the bino. As soon as I saw through it, I immediately realized that the binoculars had went out of collimation once again due to Super Bumps on Super Highway.

This turned me off totally for the rest of journey. As soon as I reached back home, I hit the internet in search of collimation guides. Found a few but I was so tired that I thought to give it a try next day.

Next day I went up the roof in daylight and tested the binoculars at a far away person sitting on the roof of a 6 floor building. He was appearing double. Then I started tampering with the Porro-Prism screws of the binoculars, tested it again and again but couldn’t get the satisfaction, so left the work until the night.

At night, I again picked up the screw driver and started turning the screws around. After about 15 minutes of frustrating work, the Double Jupiter finally merged into one image and gave a crisp view. This was the first ever time I saw Jupiter’s Galilean moons.

Collimating a binocular is a super easy but a frustrating technique, as you have to test the binoculars with every drive you give to the screws.

Clear Skies.