Cover StoryCHINESE ASTRONAUTS SUCCEED IN MANUAL

DOCKING WITH SPACE LAB & RETURN SAFELY TO

EARTH

From The News Desk Latest Updates On

UNIVERSE IN THE SCHOOL SPACE EVENTS

AstroinquisitesWHY LUNAR ECLIPSE

OCCURS ON FULL MOON NIGHT?

S P A C E N E W S July’13

Monthly Newsletter of SPACE Group

Chief Editor : Sachin BahmbaEditors : Amit Verma & Divya Kanchanbaras

Astronomy At Home

BLOGPOSTOVERNIGHT

OBSERVATION: AN EXPERIENCE OF

STUDENTS

Guest ArticleDIPPING FOR

CONSTELLATIONSBIG DIPPER :

POINT TO POLARIS AND

ARC TO ARCTURUS!

INDEXS No Topic Page No.

1 Universe In The School News 3

2 Blogpost - Overnight Observation: An Experience Of Students 4

3 Events News 5

4 Cover Story - Chinese Astronauts Succeed In Manual Docking With Space Lab & Return Safely To Earth

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5 Astroinquisites - Why Lunar Eclipse Occurs On Full Moon Night?

12

6 Guest Article - Dipping for Constellations 13

7 Astronomy At Home - Fiery Fountain 15

8 Job Vacancies at SPACE 20

9 Contact Us 21

3

UNIVERSE IN THE SCHOOL NEWSWAY TO GO MODERNITES!

ASTRONOMY DAY AT MODERN SCHOOL, BARAKHAMBA

SPACE highly appreciates the Modern School Principal, SPACE Club Coordinator, teachers and specially students' efforts towards successful running of SPACE Astronomy Club at the institution. The school organized an Astronomy Day on May 9, 2013 where the students showcased their learning and interest towards astronomy through stalls of different activities like, Hydro rocketry, Quiz, Solar System Walk, Movie, Photo Exhibition of club sessions and Comet Kitchen, etc on this day. The event turned out a grand success.

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OVERNIGHT OBSERVATION: AN EXPERIENCE OF STUDENTS

“Ma’am!! When are we going for next overnight observation??!” the usual question that I get from students

of Centre for Students Excellence program of BBPS Pitampura. Despite the fact that the students had gone

for such overnight observation for more than two three times. This is the lure of an overnight session, a

mesmerizing discovery of stars planets constellations. The journey begins with an overnight session, starting

with very basic knowledge of orientation of night sky to observation of deep sky objects, every observation

being a platform to learn and see the beautiful wonders of the sky. A three four hour ride to the observation

site from the light polluted city initiates excitement and anticipation among the students. With approaching

darkness, their eagerness grows for their date with the stars. The first time experience of an all-nighter under

star studded blanket above you in a dark area surrounded by greenery, far away from urban civilization gives

a sense of peace and thrills that is missed in the city. A fun filled experience with friends without the

materialistic mobiles, iPods and ipads takes you to the time when people used to lead a very simple life

without these gadgets. A beam of green laser light takes them through the stars constellation and small

patches representing star cluster or galaxy far far away. Using red torch as the tool, students act like a

professional astronomer! Suddenly able to name the constellations that they never knew existed! Knowing

the brightest star of the night sky! Telescope pointing towards the nearest galaxy, nebula, star cluster! This

starts an expedition of observational astronomy of our young and enthralled astronomers.

Manalee Deka, SPACE Educator

To Have Fun With Astronomy & For UITS Updates

EVENTS NEWS

PAST EVENT

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PROJECT PARIDHI during Summer Solstice, 21st June 2013

Under the aegis of Project Paridhi which is a flagship project of SPACE, SPACE replicated an ancient experiment and calculated the circumference of our planet Earth by using 2 landmarks in Delhi on the day of summer solstice, June 21st. The giant Minar of the famous heritage site at Qutub Minar was used as a towering gnomon for the 1st time and the shadows cast by this monument on the ground due to the movement of the sun was marked and used to calculate the local noon, and in turn to measure the circumference of the earth. This was demonstrated to the public thus spreading a joy of hands on science in an area where there is a large tourist footfall. Project Paridhi was also conducted at Barapullah Flyover using the sundial as a gnomon for the 3rd time in order to complete a 1 year cycle of measurements during all solstices and equinoxes to fulfill the scientific need to conduct the same experiment during a different angle of the Sun in the sky. The event at Qutub Minar was aimed to educate the general public about how this complex measurement was done in the ancient times when there were no sophisticated equipments. Around 200 visitors at Qutub Minar watched the event keenly and children were quite excited to know the science behind the experiment. Mr. Vasant Swarnkar, Superintending Archeologist, Delhi Circle, Archeological Survey of India attended the event.

Project Paridhi in progress at Qutub Minar

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All India Asteroid Search Campaign - Congratulations to our discoverers!

It was a day of pride for India when a team of two schools students Shourya Chambial and Gaurav Pati from Amity International school, Pushp Vihar, New Delhi, achieved a Provisional discovery of a new Main Belt Asteroid during the Phase II of All India Asteroid Search Campaign 2013. The discovery has been confirmed by the international scientific community and the asteroid has been provisionally named as 2013 LS28, waiting to be placed in the world’s official minor body catalogue maintained by International Astronomical Union ( Paris). There have already been 3 Preliminary Discoveries during this campaign in Phase II – Mihir Chawla and Nikhil Sharma of Ryan International School, Vasant Kunj have 2 discoveries, and D. Singhal and A. Gupta, the team from Bal Bharati Public School, Sector-14, Rohini, New Delhi also have a Preliminary discovery. To date, there have also been 86 NEO observations and 1 NEO Confirmation during Phase II.

Shourya Chambial (L) and Gaurav Pati (R) the young asteroid discoverers in conversation with SPACE Team

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All India Asteroid Search Campaign – Phase III begins from July 9th to August 13th. Watch out for more asteroid discoveries by young astronomers of Delhi Schools!

UPCOMING EVENT

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For other upcoming celestial occurrences follow

SPACE CALENDAR

ISS EarthKAM Workshops - July 8th to 12th

SPACE brings the enthralling experience of imaging Earth from a unique perspective of space to our schools. ISS EarthKAM is an international educational program of NASA through which school students can select and take stunning, high quality images of Earth from a digital camera mounted at a nadir pointing window in the Destiny lab of the International Space Station (ISS). The next EarthKAM mission is scheduled on July 8th to 12th. Workshops will be conducted by SPACE at Amity International School, Pushp Vihar for schools in the Amity chain (check). Workshops will also be held at Indraprastha World School - Paschim Vihar, Indraprastha International School – Dwarka, GD Goenka – Rohini and Gurgaon, Step by Step School – Noida and Bal Bharati Public School – Pitampura. These schools are all associated with SPACE as Centers for Science Excellence schools. In the workshops, students will be guided by SPACE educators to select the location of their choice on Earth via a website interface on their computer which provides the tools to look at the upcoming ISS orbits, evaluate terrain and check the weather conditions.

COVER STORY Chinese Astronauts Succeed In Manual Docking

With Space Lab & Return Safely To Earth

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The Launch

China sent their first female Taikonaut and 2 others into Space on a historic flight to rendezvous and dock with the Tiangong 1 space lab module. The Shenzou 9 spacecraft was launched atop a Long March 2F rocket on June 16, 2012.

Successful Docking

The three astronauts manually docked their space capsule at an orbiting module on June 24, a major first for China's space program and the country's plans to build a large space station. The astronauts docked their Shenzhou 9 spacecraft with the unmanned Tiangong 1 module 213 miles (343 kilometers) above Earth.

It was the second orbital linkup in a week for the two spacecraft, which performed China's first automated space docking on June 18. Shenzhou 9's astronauts Liu Wang, Jing Haipeng and Liu Yang — who is China's first female astronaut — are the fourth Chinese crew to fly in space. The astronauts launched into orbit on June 16, atop a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's northern Gansu province.

A file photo of Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft mission Wang Yaping, Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang. - Getty Images

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The astronauts undocked the two spacecraft and flew Shenzhou 9 about 1,300 feet (400 meters) away. They then maneuvered their capsule by hand, with Liu Wang at the helm, back into docking configuration with Tiangong 1 at 12:48 p.m. China Standard Time, or 12:48 a.m. EDT (0448 GMT).

"The success of the manual rendezvous and docking mission represents another important phase achievement of the Shenzhou 9 and Tiangong 1 rendezvous and docking mission," Wu Ping, spokeswoman of the China Manned Space Program, said during a press briefing following the docking. "The three astronauts will once again enter the orbiting module of Tiangong 1 to carry out scientific experiments.

"The mission's docking maneuvers are a milestone in the development of China's manned space program, which flew its first astronaut in space in 2003. Tiangong 1 (which means "Heavenly Palace" in Chinese) is a prototype for China's first manned space station, which officials say will be functional by 2020. China is the third country after Russia and the United States to fly astronauts into space.

This still from a CNTV broadcast shows China's Shenzhou 9 space capsule just after it was manually docked to the Tiangong 1 space lab by astronaut Liu Wang on June 24, 2012. CREDIT: CNTV/CCTV View full size image

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The mission is part of China's plans to build a space station of its own to rival Russian and American space exploits. This is the second experimental mission and China was expected to conduct more such missions in future to master the manual and automatic docking technologies.

Safe Return

The Chinese astronauts safely returned to Earth on June 26, 2013 after a 15-day trip - the longest in country's history -- to a proposed space lab set to be ready by 2020, marking the latest success for China's manned space programme.

Commander-in-chief of China's manned space programme Zhang Youxia announced that the Shenzhou-10 mission was successful after the three crew members landed safely and left the spacecraft's re-entry module this morning. Country's second woman astronaut Wang Yaping successfully conducted a 40-minute space lecture in orbit for millions of Chinese students on Earth with assistance of astronauts. Nie, commander of the Shenzhou-10 space mission, first successfully came out of the spacecraft's re-entry module at around 9:30 am local time.

The three astronauts aboard China's Shenzhou 9 spacecraft grasp hands to celebrate their successful manned docking with the Tiangong 1 orbiting module on June 24, 2012. At center is astronaut Liu Wang, who piloted the successful docking. Mission commander Jing Haipeng is at left with astronaut Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut, at right. CREDIT: China Manned Space Engineering

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ASTROINQUISITES Q. WHY LUNAR ECLIPSE OCCURS ON FULL MOON NIGHT?

Answer: A Lunar Eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its shadow. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned in a straight line, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a full moon. We all know that Full Moon occurs every month but not Lunar Eclipse, why?.. The reason behind this is the 5.2° tilt of the plane of the moon’s orbit with respect to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun (the ecliptic plane). The Moon passes through the ecliptic only twice a month at a pair of points called the nodes. The rest of the time the Moon is either above or below the plane of the Earth's orbit and does not pass directly through the Earth's shadow. The conditions for eclipses occur only at the points at which the Moon's orbit passes through the ecliptic plane. If this happens during a new moon, a solar eclipse occurs, during a full moon, a lunar eclipse occurs.

GUEST ARTICLE - Dipping for ConstellationsBig Dipper : Point to Polaris and Arc to Arcturus!

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When we step out under a star-studded canopy in the great outdoors, or even to our roofs where the ambient light allows far few stars, we wonder 'Where do we start'? How can we look at our starcharts and planispheres and make sense of it? What will it take to be able to point to a star cluster and confidently state 'That's the Big Dipper' and impress our friends? In the night sky, there are some prominent constellations that are easily recognizable! Lets figure out how to spot these distinct ones and they in turn, will lead us to a few more.

Wherever you are in the Northern Hemisphere either the Big Dipper or Cassiopeia constellations are distinct and extremely bright and easy to recognise. Both of these constellations provide a handy way to locate the Pole star. Polaris, also known as the North star always points North, and is the bright star that is closest overhead to the line passing though Earth's axis of rotation The 'Big Dipper', or ‘Saptarshi’ as it is known in India is really an 'asterism' and part of the constellation Ursa Major or 'Great Bear'. It is a group of 7 bright stars, 3 of which form a handle and 4 form the bowl, to make a 'Dipper' (ladle). The Big Dipper is rather handy, in that it “points” to other, less-well-known constellations.

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Arcs to Arcturus and Speed to Spica The Big Dipper itself leads to other constellations. Another constellation that is easily found via the Big Dipper is Boötes, the Herdsman. Follow an imaginary “arcing” line from the Dipper’s handle stars to the next brightest star in that arc. This golden/orange star is Arcturus, the fourth brightest star in the sky, part of the constellation Bootes, the Herdsman. The trick to remembering this is 'Arc to Arcturus'! Then ‘speed to Spica’, for that same arc, continued past Arcturus for roughly the same distance, will come to the bright bluish star Spica in the constellation Virgo. (See Image) Further more, the bottom of the Big Dipper bowl points to the constellation Gemini, and the left side of the bowl to the constellation, Leo. There, now you may be able to locate and identify a few constellations. Once you are comfortable spotting these, you can use these as identifiers to fan out and locate more.

-Mila Mitra, Scientific Officer SPACE

The most important one is Ursa Minor, the Little Dipper, which contains the North Star, Polaris. Follow a line from the two outermost bowl stars in the Big Dipper, and the next bright star you’ll see is Polaris (see image), about one dipper length away. This is a handy fact, and was used for navigation in ancient times. The other way to find Polaris if you are lost is by using the Cassiopeia constellation , which looks like a big letter W (or M, depending on how it is oriented), with one branch of the W wider and deeper than the other. The mouths of the two V's in the W will open up in the direction of Polaris. Go about two W-lengths in that direction.

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ASTRONOMY AT HOME - Fiery Fountain

‘FIERY FOUNTAIN’ is an interesting experiment to show one of the properties of air i.e., Air travels from high pressure area to low pressure area.

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Step 1: First of all, take the lid of the glass jar. Make a hole in it and pass the dropper through it so that it tightly fits in the lid. The nozzle of the dropper should be towards the inner side of the lid and keep the maximum part of the dropper towards the outer part of the lid. Apply glue at the top and the bottom to seal the joint and wait for the glue to get dry.

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Step 2: Now take a candle, stick it on the inner side of the lid and then place inverted lid on a glass full of colored water. Remember that the broad opening of the dropper should be in the water.

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Step 3: After placing the lid on the glass, light the candle fixed on the lid.

Step 4: Now hold the lid and the glass with one hand and screw the glass jar on its lid tightly

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As you will screw up the jar on the lid, you will notice that the water will start coming in the jar in the form of a fountain. This will happen because the burning candle will use the air in the jar due to which a low pressure area will be created and to fill that area the water will start coming in the jar. Hence, this shows that Air travels from low pressure area to high pressure area.

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SPACE India Is Hiring!!

We have been expanding very rapidly, and offer scope for rapid growth. We value entrepreneurial attitude and a result oriented approach. Above all, we are passionate and sincere about improving the science education scenario in India and the world. If you are interested in a satisfying career helping define what learning can be, then do apply to us.

If you are interested please follow the link of company website to see the job details:

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