Member Reports

The Stars of the Controversies and How they Changed our Understanding of Universe (Part III)

By Bishal Neupane posted yesterday
Be the first person to recommend this.
HD 140283: The Star Older Than the Universe HD 140283 has been known to astronomers since before the start of World War I. William S. Adams measured its spectrum in 1912. He noted its exceptionally high proper motion, its angular movement across the sky due to its velocity through space. At approximately 350 kilometers per second relative to the local standard of rest, HD 140283 is racing through the solar neighborhood on a highly elongated orbit. This orbit will eventually carry it back out into the galactic halo, the ancient, roughly spherical distribution of old stars that surrounds the Milky Way's flattened disk. Spectroscopic analysis in the 1950s ...
0 comments

The Stars of the Controversies and How they Changed our Understanding of Universe (Part II)

By Bishal Neupane posted yesterday
Be the first person to recommend this.
Betelgeuse: The Red Supergiant with a Hidden Partner Between October 2019 and April 2020, Betelgeuse underwent an unprecedented dimming event. This star, one of the brightest in the night sky and the prominent red supergiant marking Orion's shoulder, faded dramatically. The star normally varies between apparent magnitudes 0.0 and 1.3. It faded to magnitude 1.6, a factor of approximately 2.5 in brightness, over just a few months. This "Great Dimming" was visible to the naked eye. It sparked widespread speculation, including sensational media reports that the star might be on the verge of exploding as a supernova. Supernovae are rare enough that most astronomers ...
0 comments

The Stars of the Controversies and How they Changed our Understanding of Universe (Part I)

By Bishal Neupane posted yesterday
Be the first person to recommend this.
Delta Cephei: The Standard Candle That Burns Imperfectly Henrietta Leavitt spent countless hours in the early twentieth century examining photographic plates of variable stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. Working at Harvard College Observatory, she noticed something remarkable. A tight mathematical relationship existed between how long these stars took to brighten and dim (their period) and how intrinsically bright they were (their luminosity). This period-luminosity relation, which she published in 1912, transformed astronomy. For the first time, scientists had a reliable method to measure distances beyond our immediate ...
0 comments

AN ASTROPOETRY DIALOGUE WITH ALFREDO CARONIA By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 2 days ago
1 person recommends this.
AN ASTROPOETRY DIALOGUE WITH ALFREDO CARONIA By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe . Alfredo Caronia is an Italian amateur astronomer (and former officer in Rome) who discovered five asteroids and settled in Romania, where he collaborates with SARM. . A BIZARRE PULSAR FOR THE MILLISECOND By Alfredo Caronia . Sequentially I am a master of alternating power, with a discreet cadence, then I change the pace and vibrate with an intense beat, trembling motion toward the galactic center, I vibrate in tentacular impetuosity, I call myself by name and numerical acronym, an arrow of pulsating defiance that plows through space-time in lively ...
0 comments

A WINTER WITHOUT STARS (15) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 2 days ago
2 people recommend this.
SIRIUS Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe . After I photographed the Sun and Jupiter again, on February 11, 2026 I was also able to photograph the chief of the Winter Triangle (for the first time this year). With the emotion of this reunion, I could only say to him: "I greet you, old friend!" #poetry
0 comments

A WINTER WITHOUT STARS (14) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 2 days ago
1 person recommends this.
JUPITER Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe . After another snowfall, on February 4, 2026 I was able to photograph the Sun and Jupiter (for the first time this year). "There are periods of time - the great planet explained to me - when the clouds help the stars to rest for the eyes of people." . #poetry #poetry #poetry
0 comments

A WINTER WITHOUT STARS (13) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 4 days ago
1 person recommends this.
AS A HOPE Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe , Once, the Moon did not come like a planetary nebula, but as a hope that someday there will be clear skies... . (at least for Global Astronomy Month 2026!) . #poetry #poetry #poetry #poetry
0 comments

ASTRONOMY OUTREACH EVENT at Tata Institute of Social Sciences , Hyderabad

By Ravi Raja Pothineni posted 4 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
ASTRONOMY OUTREACH EVENT at Tata Institute of Social Sciences , Hyderabad We, THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY FOR TRAINING, RESEARCH AND OUTREACH (ASTRO) , successfully conducted an Astronomy Outreach session at TISS, Hyderabad, on February 28, 2026. The event saw enthusiastic participation from both faculty and students, featuring a deep-dive discussion on positional astronomy followed by a hands-on celestial observation session.
0 comments

One People, One Sky: Celebrating Global Astronomy Month 2026 Outreach Events

By Ravi Raja Pothineni posted 4 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
One People, One Sky: Celebrating Global Astronomy Month 2026 ​This April, the world turns its eyes upward. ASTRO, THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY FOR TRAINING, RESEARCH AND OUTREACH (ASTRO) , in proud association with Astronomers Without Borders (AWB), is thrilled to announce a month-long series of outreach events for Global Astronomy Month (GAM) 2026. Under the guiding philosophy of "One People, One Sky," we invite you to step away from your packed schedules and reconnect with the cosmos. ​As the National Coordinator for AWB, I am honoured to lead an initiative that transcends borders through the shared language of ...
0 comments

A WINTER WITHOUT STARS (12) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 4 days ago
1 person recommends this.
HIGH RAGE Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe . Forbidding the stars, the clouds were sometimes defeated by the Sun’s revolt. . #poetry
0 comments

A WINTER WITHOUT STARS (11) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 5 days ago
1 person recommends this.
NOCTURNAL ILLUSION Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe . One evening, the sky appeared to me like a being with one eye. It wasn't a Cyclops though, but it was just the Moon! . #poetry
0 comments

A WINTER WITHOUT STARS (10) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 9 days ago
1 person recommends this.
SOLAR HAIKU Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe . You can see the Sun in different forms - but he is always the same . #poetry
0 comments

A WINTER WITHOUT STARS (9) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 9 days ago
1 person recommends this.
WHEN I SAW THE MOON FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2026 Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe . I know, the Sun gives light to the Moon, but I saw him so shy once at the end of February! Then I thought that the Moon came in the evening to give... confidence to the Sun! . #poetry
0 comments

Easter and the Moon!

By Clarence G. Underwood posted 10 days ago
1 person recommends this.
Easter and the Moon! . Easter is a religious day, Many remember it more Than any other day. This Year Easter will take place On April 5th, and Good Friday will be on April 3rd. That is the original dating Of the first Easter. We read That on the first Good Friday There was a Blood Moon. A Total Lunar Eclipse. While the Text says there were three days Between Good Friday and Easter With the eclipse being a marker Our day count falls short. Yes, We had a Lunar Eclipse in March, it wasn’t Easter yet! After this coming Easter there Will be 7 more to the 2,000 year Marking the 1st one. Funny thing, In 2,033 AD Easter will ...
0 comments

A WINTER WITHOUT STARS (8) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 10 days ago
1 person recommends this.
AURORA BOREALIS Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe . On many cloudy days in the winter of 2026 I felt so depressed that I thought about what a future without stars would be like because of light pollution, natural cataclysms or artificial satellites. But on January 21 in the morning I caught a remnant of the aurora borealis, who had surprisingly visited Romania, and I was so happy… for me it was like the remnant of a supernova! . #poetry
0 comments

A WINTER WITHOUT STARS (7) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 11 days ago
1 person recommends this.
AMONG SNOWFALLS Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe . Three snowfalls in January 2026. Fortunately, the Sun's replicas assured us that he would never capitulate. . #poetry
0 comments

A WINTER WITHOUT STARS (6) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 13 days ago
1 person recommends this.
HIGH RELAXATION Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe . Beginning of January in 2026. Despite the clouds, the solar service sometimes provided colorful spots in the sky. . #poetry
0 comments

Two Days and Thousands of Years!

By Clarence G. Underwood posted 15 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
Two Days and Thousands of Years! . By Clarence G. Underwood . The month of February can be short Or long. Twenty eight or Twenty nine Days, how can you go wrong. This Year the month had something to say. Yes, it was within two days if we add Way back when, when recording conjunctions Had just began. We saw many things In the sky. The Chinese had keen eyes. Applying then to now many years have passed! On February Twenty eighth of this year a great gathering We did cheer. Six planets were seen in The sky, some two days earlier back in 1953 BC five planets were observed within The sky. The Chinese were watching the Sky several thousand years ago, oh ...
0 comments

A WINTER WITHOUT STARS (5) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 15 days ago
1 person recommends this.
BEGINNING OF 2026 Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe . The beginning of a starless winter, with the sky covered almost all the time by clouds or fog. Only the Sun shone sometimes and for a few weeks I believed that he remained the only heavenly body in the Universe. . #poetry
0 comments

A WINTER WITHOUT STARS (4) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 16 days ago
1 person recommends this.
THE FIRST SNOW Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe . Christmas 2025 with the first snow. Enjoying an electric star is not the same as observing a real star. .. #poetry
0 comments