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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)