Today early morning as I went to bed at 3.30 am, something that was rapidly changing colours caught my eye. It was a star - The Rigel ! I have been seeing it for the past I don't know how many years...but never have I noticed it to be a magnificent binary - the fact that it was binary was so very evident ! It shimmered shades of red, ornage, white and kept changing colours - as if it were a spherical rainbow spinning at top speed and my eye was able to catch only a couple of hues of the rainbow.
To my surprise, I then noticed that the rest of the stars in the eastern sky were shimmering too...as if they were happily dancing to the tune of the magical music of the August sky ! Wonder why the stars never seemed to twinkle as much as they did today ... Maybe today marks the beginning of a life full of peace, happiness, contentment and success :)
This seems so much in tune with the NASA image of the day titled "Lighting up the night" - The launch of space shuttle Discovery. I also learnt that it was on my birthday last year that Chandrayan I was launched ...pity that the poor thing is left floating abandoned now in space.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
On the MRT platform ...
Last Monday, as I was coming back from the NDP Appreciation Dinner at Jurong Camp 1, Boon Lay, I spotted a red moon (almost a crescent), just above a bunch of tall HDB apartments. It felt like a picture out of a kids' story book...a big moon atop a tall building, with a dark blue background for the sky :) It felt like a symbolic message- "Everything's great! The future is yours to decide !" - A truth that we as kids readily accepted and fantasized about.
The sunrise on Monday morning was quite unique too. A thin streak of florescent orange-red in a light purple sky !
The sunrise on Monday morning was quite unique too. A thin streak of florescent orange-red in a light purple sky !
Monday, August 17, 2009
Magical Dawn
Imagine the magical crescent of the moon with a bright enchanting Venus right above it in the eastern sky(more of the north-eastern sky)....what is called the chandrabindhu is dance forms. This was what I saw first thing today morning at 6 am, when I awoke to switch off the alarm and get back into my sweet sleep ! What 3 or 4 blaring alarms, deadlines, phone calls and what not could not do for the past few months - getting me to wake up early morning - the moon and the venus that I have been seeing for 19 years have accomplished by peeping quietly into my room through the window from behind the silhouette of a tree.
It was an enchanting two hours, sitting cross legged on my table and looking out through the window of my still dark room. Right below the moon towards the eastern sky was the Procyon(Canis Minor), one of the 3 stars of the Winter Triangle, along with Sirius and Beteguese. Obviously, my eyes automatically went towards spotting the Orion - The hunter - my favourite constellation and the one that I use as my reference area usually for observing the sky. From there, it was the Canis Major & Canis Minor, the dog companions. But there was one constellation north of the moon that I did not recognise...6 stars forming a closed irregular hexagon, north of the moon. I checked this site:
"http://www.astroviewer.com/currentnightsky.phplon=103.85&lat=1.3&city=Singapore&tz=UT%2B8"
It happened to be the constellation of Auriga. What attracted me to it was the bright star, capella. This "star" is a total wowwwwww ! Its a 4-star system aka a 2 binary-star systems put together ! Its known as the 'Interferometrist's Friend' :P
And finally of course, there was Reddd Mars right between the canis minor and the orion, above the moon and the venus. Just the previous evening I had spotted Jupiter, as I generally do most evening in Singapore. Finally it slowly began dawning and the shimmering stars magically faded away, leaving only the crescent and venus to dominate the magic of the dawn. A wisp of clouds passed the two of them, with hues of orange and red along the band of the horizon....it was one speechless moment in my life, that's not to be forgotten.
But obviously, the best moment of all my observations was the day I spotted mercury in the background of a clear sunset and a distict round orange ball, the sun ! That was the first and the last time I spotted mercury and I was such a layman then, that I thought I had spotted Mars !
However the sunrise today was'nt as good as the one that I observed last wednesday when there was just an orange globe in the slighly purplish sky, with a thin lining of 'translucent' clouds every where!
It was an enchanting two hours, sitting cross legged on my table and looking out through the window of my still dark room. Right below the moon towards the eastern sky was the Procyon(Canis Minor), one of the 3 stars of the Winter Triangle, along with Sirius and Beteguese. Obviously, my eyes automatically went towards spotting the Orion - The hunter - my favourite constellation and the one that I use as my reference area usually for observing the sky. From there, it was the Canis Major & Canis Minor, the dog companions. But there was one constellation north of the moon that I did not recognise...6 stars forming a closed irregular hexagon, north of the moon. I checked this site:
"http://www.astroviewer.com/currentnightsky.phplon=103.85&lat=1.3&city=Singapore&tz=UT%2B8"
It happened to be the constellation of Auriga. What attracted me to it was the bright star, capella. This "star" is a total wowwwwww ! Its a 4-star system aka a 2 binary-star systems put together ! Its known as the 'Interferometrist's Friend' :P
And finally of course, there was Reddd Mars right between the canis minor and the orion, above the moon and the venus. Just the previous evening I had spotted Jupiter, as I generally do most evening in Singapore. Finally it slowly began dawning and the shimmering stars magically faded away, leaving only the crescent and venus to dominate the magic of the dawn. A wisp of clouds passed the two of them, with hues of orange and red along the band of the horizon....it was one speechless moment in my life, that's not to be forgotten.
But obviously, the best moment of all my observations was the day I spotted mercury in the background of a clear sunset and a distict round orange ball, the sun ! That was the first and the last time I spotted mercury and I was such a layman then, that I thought I had spotted Mars !
However the sunrise today was'nt as good as the one that I observed last wednesday when there was just an orange globe in the slighly purplish sky, with a thin lining of 'translucent' clouds every where!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Red Moon
As I type this, I am watching the magnificent red moon from my room 701 in Kuok Foundation House. My table is facing the window and as I was trying to get the friend selector for add author of mishmash working, I spotted the moon above the black outline of some trees in the eastern sky ! Its red, dark and mysterious. Looks just too beautiful, in the background of purple clouds.
Reflected like a small orange , a small glowing orange fluorescent bouncing ball on the black glass of the windows...The moon seems to tell me "Shhh ! Don't tell anyone I am here ..i am taking a stroll in a disguise :)".
It feels as if I am observing a red mars from outer space while watching the red globe move up the eastern sky camouflaged in the sky, holding a meaning deeper than what we see. It somehow instills a confidence in me...I feel I am born to do something great. I feel great. Something that the world will look upto me for, even after i am no more...I will leave behind an permanent imprint of sands of time ! I know it and the universe is echoing to me my greatness!
Reflected like a small orange , a small glowing orange fluorescent bouncing ball on the black glass of the windows...The moon seems to tell me "Shhh ! Don't tell anyone I am here ..i am taking a stroll in a disguise :)".
It feels as if I am observing a red mars from outer space while watching the red globe move up the eastern sky camouflaged in the sky, holding a meaning deeper than what we see. It somehow instills a confidence in me...I feel I am born to do something great. I feel great. Something that the world will look upto me for, even after i am no more...I will leave behind an permanent imprint of sands of time ! I know it and the universe is echoing to me my greatness!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The Sky on a Sunday evening
The moon up in the sky now, looked as if it just moved out of one of Ravi Varma's paintings. With a halo around it in the background of the Canis Major and 2 bright stars in the south western sky, the moon looked much bigger than usual and was centered around a happening stage of a sky ! A ocean of wispy cumulonimbus clouds in the shape of a diagonal slanted line moved slowly from the eastern sky towards the moon with uniform speed and continue to circle the sky, swept by a gentle breeze... It seemed to reiterate the fact that the world is round ! As i watched the whole scenario for 15 mins, I feel a peacefulness and a feeling that the world is mine ... The world is open and I am here to dream and accomplish all that I want to.
Dear Venus...
Its 1 am here in Singapore, 19th June 2009 & good old Venus is up in the eastern sky. With her tranquility and brightness she manages to mesmerize me everytime I look at her.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Speak with the Universe !
The universe reflects back to you, what you think and voice out. So think and scream what you want to happen & it happens! Even if I just whisper my mind to not the whole universe, but just the Orion, it comes true...however, the "whispering method" takes its own sweet time. I have a feeling that when I say " Universe hear me , hear me & reflect back to me....", what I say echoes through space and echoes back like a boomerang !
My first observation of this began with the undergraduate admission offer to National university of Singapore. Though I said and wished in words that I will get through IIT aeronautical, my thoughts corresponded to a place that is quite similar to NUS. I used to dream of studying in this foreign country and that I would get opportunities to do research there. I dreamt of staying at a hostel, away from home and making decisions for myself and not letting anything from home influence me, rather force me to think and do what I don't want to. Many a time I've wished this to the Orion constellation, especially when things didn't feel so great.
But what confirmed this theory of mine was my experimentation during semester 2 year 1 of my under graduation. Everyone told me that this module called cs1101c was a terror and even to pass was extradinarily difficult. Even the prof Raymond Tan used to discourage everyone by saying that. So I decided to take it up as a challenge to get an A+ in the module ! I used to scream to the universe everyday asking for an A+ in the module ... The best was my practical exam... I scream to the universe saying that "I am going to finish my practical exam in 30 mins and ace the module" ...presto !!! It happened...I really did finish the PE in 30 mins. What was even more surprising was, even the so-called-geniuses of my batch did not finish the PE ! I eventually ended up with an A+ for the module...my first ever A+ and I wish I will get another A+ before I graduate.
But the problem with this theory is that to implement it you need to believe in it, while making efforts to be optimistic enough to scream to universe regularly. But it always happens ... even though any practical person would say what you want is unlikely, if you scream to the universe about your wishes, it always happens ! Is this the secret of success ? Could be !
My first observation of this began with the undergraduate admission offer to National university of Singapore. Though I said and wished in words that I will get through IIT aeronautical, my thoughts corresponded to a place that is quite similar to NUS. I used to dream of studying in this foreign country and that I would get opportunities to do research there. I dreamt of staying at a hostel, away from home and making decisions for myself and not letting anything from home influence me, rather force me to think and do what I don't want to. Many a time I've wished this to the Orion constellation, especially when things didn't feel so great.
But what confirmed this theory of mine was my experimentation during semester 2 year 1 of my under graduation. Everyone told me that this module called cs1101c was a terror and even to pass was extradinarily difficult. Even the prof Raymond Tan used to discourage everyone by saying that. So I decided to take it up as a challenge to get an A+ in the module ! I used to scream to the universe everyday asking for an A+ in the module ... The best was my practical exam... I scream to the universe saying that "I am going to finish my practical exam in 30 mins and ace the module" ...presto !!! It happened...I really did finish the PE in 30 mins. What was even more surprising was, even the so-called-geniuses of my batch did not finish the PE ! I eventually ended up with an A+ for the module...my first ever A+ and I wish I will get another A+ before I graduate.
But the problem with this theory is that to implement it you need to believe in it, while making efforts to be optimistic enough to scream to universe regularly. But it always happens ... even though any practical person would say what you want is unlikely, if you scream to the universe about your wishes, it always happens ! Is this the secret of success ? Could be !
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