Transit of Venus - June 06, 2012

Image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Venus_transit_2012_Minneapolis_TLR1.jpg

For the past few days, I've been hearing that there would be a transit of Venus on the Sun. As I woke up this morning, all news channels were telecasting this news and we thought we'll get into the Nehru Planetarium to get a better view and they would have made arrangements like telescopes and glasses to view the Sun.

We reached Nehru Planetarium at around 9:30 in the morning, there were quite a few astronomy enthusiasts crowded near the Telescopes set by the Planetarium. Few of them had bought the Solar Glasses to view the Sun. Few were watching through the Welder's Glass. There were few volunteers too, who were helping set-up the telescope positioning every now and then. Bangalore was a little cloudy this morning so, ofttimes the clouds would cover the Sun.

When I viewed through the telescope, I could see a black spot on the Sun. By then, the spot was moving towards the end of the Sun's arc. I saw through the Welder's glass as well. All I could see is the Sun directly. But I couldn't trace the Venus spot within. Later at 10:00 AM, once again I watched through the Welder's Glass, the person who handed me the glass said, you can see the spot one the left hand side at the 11 o'clock position near to the arc. I could then spot a little mark on the Sun. But it was clearly visible through the telescope.

We then, entered the Planetarium gallery. Apart from the Astronomy information, there was a Projector displaying the Venus Transit and the NASA live telecast of the transit. On another side, there were couple of Volunteers, exhibiting the transit models and explaining the transit process. It was really educative. The guy explained the process in a very simpler way.

It goes this way, as per my understanding: "The Earth and all other planets orbit around the Sun which is the universal truth. It takes 365 days (365.25 days to be precise) for the Earth to orbit round the Sun. Venus too orbits round the Sun. However, Earth orbits the Sun slower than Venus. Which means the Sun, Earth and Venus come in conjunction once in 1 years 6 months. So, why do we not see the Transit or Conjunction from Earth every 1.6 years? It's visible only when Venus, with an orbit inclined by 3.4° relative to the Earth's, usually appears to pass under or over the Sun. This specific conjunction taken place at a peculiar intervals of 8 years (Which was on 8th June 2004), 121 years (to be precise 121.5 years - the current transit), 8 years (Next transit is on December 2117) and 105 years (105.5 which will be on December 2125).

We had a question, when the orbit is divided by two: one segment of the orbit takes 105.5 years and the other segment takes 121.5 years to orbit round the Sun. Since the shape of the Sun is elliptical, the time-frame varies from one segment to the other.

So, the last transit and current transit was important for us, as none of us are sure to make it to 100+ years of life from now. ;)"

Thanks to the volunteer at the Nehru Planetarium for providing us with the above information.

Good Morning wonderful friends!!!

Remember? every morning my friends used to receive a mail with the subject “Good Morning”. There was a time when I used to send Good Morning e-mails every day at 08:00 AM, there was consistency. Gradually, over a period of time, my e-mails came in irregular intervals. And then, I totally stopped sending good morning messages.

Of late, I realized I’ve lost touch with many of my friends. We used to at least exchange a good morning and a smile every day. :) Since I used to blog frequently, I thought I’ll restart this habit in a unique way. So, here I'm back! Henceforth, you can find a good morning message every morning at: http://cutemorningalways.blogspot.in/.

McDonalds Drive Thru @ Kasturba Road

These stones tell you many stories…

After an exhausting evening at Avenue Road, on our way back we stopped at McDonalds at Kasturba Road for a quick bite. Being 10.30 at night we thought McDonalds would be a convenient option. As usual, we grabbed our meals and headed upstairs. The best thing here is the usage of pebbles as part of the restaurant interiors. Whoever gets in here, have something or the other to pen in these pebbles. Their feelings, emotions, friendship, love, fun, illustrations, graphics and so on. You get to read many stories from these pebbles.

Imagination has always been a favorite hobby or pastime for me. It is somewhat interesting observing these pebbles and imagining the stories from the engraved illustrations or names. Some scribble about their emotions to their partners, the depth of friendship with their names engraved in blue, red ballpoint pens or even using a permanent marker. Creative thinkers would scribble or illustrate creative graphics on them. Its like, when you pick each pebble from the box, you get to imagine a story behind that. 
 

At times, I get back to my college days where we used to have such fun when with friends. A couple of year back, I had come to the same McDonalds and my friend had done a portrait on the pebble. I remembered that and I was trying to find that particular pebble. After few minutes search, I found that pebble and I started laughing looking at the pebble. My friend had drawn a girl’s portrait and someone had added a mustache on that. That was funny! Things will not remain the same when you next find them. This is what I thought at that moment.
 

I love to visit this place always, cherishing my memories and creating stories from someone else’s memories.

Here is the link to the pictures taken at the McDonalds drive thru… https://plus.google.com/photos/107767421120953479303/albums/5680325651489142209

P.S: All the images here are copyright protected to Prashant Bhandare. Anyone who wants to publish or use these images for any purpose, please contact the concerned for permission.

Birdwatching - My new-found hobby

I had always enjoyed being amidst nature. However, I had never given a serious thought into bird watching. Nevertheless, I always enjoy the chirping of the birds.

Off late, I have started enjoying my new-found hobby - Birdwatching! It is kind of recreation for me from the hectic schedule and from the hassle bustle of city life. I agree we hardly get to spot any birds around the city. Where are the birds, which we used to find in the gardens in our childhood? Are all of these birds threatened with extinction?

One Sunday morning, I was in my deep sleep and my friend calls me and says, “I’m at Kaikondrahalli Lake and there are lot of birds here. Come over here and you’ll enjoy.” I din’t want to wake up early, but somehow I made my mind to go there once and see what kind of birds are there. So unwillingly, I woke up and headed towards Kaikondrahalli Lake.  It was a pleasant morning. Cool breeze, tranquil lake and serene environment! Even though the lake is beside the Sarjapur main road, as you enter the lake you will not feel you are in the city. I felt refreshed as I entered.

Now comes the exciting Birdwatching part. My friend went busy with his photo shoots.  I started spotting different varieties of birds. I never knew Kaikondrahalli Lake had so many species of birds. Yes, I heard amateur photographers heading towards Hebbal Lake, Lalbaugh to name a few. I was stunned to find these varieties of species here. I found few birds and I did not know their species, what are they called, I was seeing them for the first time.  That day when I came back home, I searched for the bird species information and their habitats.

After that, almost every weekend I try to join my friend at Kaikondrahalli. An added advantage for my for friend as he says my eyes are sharp and I spot the birds easily. That helps him in his photography. :P So far at Kaikondrahalli Lake I have spotted these species of birds:

• Green bee-eater
• Ashy Prinia
• Indian small cormorant
• White browed wagtail
• Yellow Wagtail
• Jungle Myna
• Common Kingfisher
• Pied Kingfisher
• Pond Heron
• Grey Heron
• Purple Heron
• Black Drongo
• Red Wattled Lapwing
• Paddy Field Pipit
• Common Coot
• Spot Billed Duck
• Common Moorhens
• Kites
• Brahminy kites
• Sparrows
• Parakeets
• Sunbirds
• Small Egret

I might have not yet noticed few of the water birds. My favorite among all these birds are Pied Kingfisher. I spotted this bird at Kaikondrahalli Lake only once. This bird is so awesome. The way it flew and attacked on its prey, unbelievable. I was just starring; it was so quick in its action. I just went crazy for this birdie. J

Next on my list are Grey and Purple Heron. It is because; there are quite a few Grey and Purple Heron at Kaikondrahalli Lake. However, they sit on the islet or hide near the bushes waiting for its prey or they will just sit quite and silently in the tree far from the shore. I sit near the lake and watch these birds, waiting for prey, they just concentrate without any movement, and sometimes you can only see its long neck.

Green bee-eater, this bird is not shy about human beings. :P When my friend was photographing, this birdie used to come sit close and kind of shows it’s attitude. Common click as many as pictures you want. LOL.

There are plenty of Little Cormorants at Kaikondrahalli Lake or you can say anywhere in India you can find lot of Cormorants. Nevertheless, you will not get bored watching this bird. They are very funny. The way they get wet and the way, they keep their wings open. I assume they dry the water after refreshing in the water. You will love to watch that scene. They most of the time fight with each other.

There are couple of Brahminy Kites, if they see Human beings coming close by they don’t mind but if they see Camera’s with big lens focusing on them they just escape. These birds are very smart you know.

Kingfisher, they are so shy birds yet so beautiful. I will be so excited when I spot Kingfishers. But, they just fly away when they hear human beings coming near them. I recently visited the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary just for Pied Kingfisher and the Common Kingfisher. I was content with my trip as I could spot these birds there. Someone had mentioned in a blog that Pied Kingfisher is the super model of Ranganathittu. Yes, indeed it’s the supermodel over there. :P

On my last visit to Kaikondrahalli Lake, I saw a little birdie; I am yet to research about its species and habitat. I loved the texture and the color of this bird. God has created amazing creatures on this earth. Truly, god is the great artist. He has used all the beautiful color in his creations.

Another inspiration for my newfound hobby is the Rio movie. This movie inspired me a lot in terms of Bird watching and learning more about the bird’s habitat and their behavior.

On my last visit to the Kaikondrahalli Lake, I also spotted a Reptile - a huge Spectacle Cobra. After seeing the snake so close to me, I could not get my nerve to stay there for long.

You can find my experience at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary at http://travelsoiled.wordpress.com/. I will put up a post about my experience about the birds at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary and our Mysore visit soon.

Overall, I am really enjoying this hobby. With all the hectic schedule and city lifestyle, this rather gives me relief from all the stress. Yes, for me bird watching is a stress buster!

You can view the bird photos captured at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/meprashant/sets/72157627662109439/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/meprashant/sets/72157627703116508/. The pictures will be updated randomly. All the images here are copyright protected to Prashant Bhandare. Anyone who wants to publish or use these images for any purpose, please contact the concerned for permission.