There is nothing closer to Astronomy than a nightout under dark skies and a clear atmosphere. Dark skies are indeed a farcry for us living in Mumbai, thanks to all the light pollution. There are few places to rival Mahuli Fort as a stargazing holyland thanks to its proximity to Mumbai, connectivity and really dark skies. This is indeed the place we are planning to go on 12th of Feb, the friday closest to the new moon. Mahuli is the highest point of Thane district at an altitude of 2815 feet.
How and when to reach the base village?
I would be ideal if everyone can reach Asangaon well before dark. There is a train from CST at 04.05pm that passes via Thane at 05.03pm and reaches Asangaon at 06.11pm. Autorickshaws are available from Asangaon west to Mahuli village. Alternately if one reaches early, one can walk for 1.5 hours, a distance of around 5km to the base village. There is a Shiva Temple there. The temple and the railway station can act as meet up points
Reaching the observation site ...
One of the admins will be there to escort the group from the Shiva temple at the base to the obsevation site accessible by a 30 minute hike through the wilderness at the foothills. There is a large clearing similar to the one in the photo. We shall halt for the night here
What to expect ...
We are all enthusiasts. We are all beginners. We can get to know each other, the amateur astronomers based in Mumbai. As the night progresses, we will share our information on the night sky and a host of other interesting topics. We will identify as many stars and constellations as possible with the naked eye and hope for an occasional meteor to whizz past. The study of the night sky can be augmented with a 7x50 Nikon Binoculars and a 100mm telescope. This will also act as a practice session for a Messier marathon that we can undertake some time later.
Eligibility ...
There is no criterion as such. A deep interest in Astronomy and a heart to learn is all that is expected.
SO WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? I AM ALREADY EXCITED !!!
Written by : Arun Kumar
Contact:
Vikrant Rao vikrant.forums@gmail.com
Nice endeavor
ReplyDeleteVikrant/Arun:
ReplyDeleteMy 11 year old son is fascinated by space/stars/planets and often peers in to the night sky through an old binocular.
I will like to encourage him in this field. Appreciate if you can share more details of your field trips, telescopes we should have etc.
You can write to me at rrao@dow.com.
Thanks,
Rajiv