Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Tracking heavenly bodies

The observatory of the University of Kerala will soon get a new telescope worth Rs. 4 lakhs. The observatory, which has assumed prominence by showcasing celestial spectacles over the last two years, will then be able to generate computerised displays of such events in the future.

According to Director of the observatory, V. K. Vaidyan, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had already sanctioned Rs. 6 lakhs for infrastructural improvements at the observatory.

"The five-inch refractor telescope we have is ill-suited to be linked to a computer. Once we get the new telescope, celestial events such as the transit of Venus across the sun on June 8 can be shown on the computer or projected on to a larger screen. The new telescope would also be able to automatically track the object it is programmed to. Now, we have to manually keep aligning the telescope at a celestial body for continued viewing," Dr. Vaidyan said.

The University of Kerala has approved in principle the starting of an M.Phil. course in Astronomy at the Observatory - a first of its kind in the State. There are also plans to set up a programme in Astronomy for children.

During the tenure of B. Ekbal as the Vice-Chancellor, the observatory had planned to set up a multi-media programme to present various aspects of astronomy to students and others who were interested.

The then Director of the observatory, Gopchandran, had said that this CD-driven programme would, in addition to imparting basic information about the Big Bang, the formation of galaxies, black holes and so on and also walk viewers through the latest breakthroughs in the frontier areas of the celestial science.

There were also plans to set up an exhibition room at the observatory having charts of all the known constellations, lunar globes, sun-system globes, telescopes and the like. These projects are, however yet, to take off.

In May 2003, when the planet Mercury made its transit across the face of the sun, the university observatory had its telescope up and running to allow the public to watch a tiny dot make a dash across a gigantic orb. That time, however, there were very few people who made it to the observatory, in the absence of any notice that such arrangements would be made there.

In August 2003, it was a different story altogether, at a time when the planet Mars was zooming closer to the earth - nearer than it had ever come in the last 73,000 years. Many students made it to the observatory to see this rare spectacle. Astronomy buffs feasted their eyes on the many-hued rings of Saturn and turned around to watch Jupiter lording over this spectacle in the opposite horizon.

For many, that was their first glimpse at these planets about which they had only read about in textbooks. The observatory also witnessed a rush of people who came to see the transit of Venus across the Sun on June 8.

University officials say they hope that the new-found status of the observatory would trigger the flow of more funds for its elevation into a full-fledged centre of excellence in astronomical studies.

A new team took charge of the University Union on Wednesday as the acting Vice-Chancellor, S. Kevin, administered the oath of office to the chairman, A. A. Rahim. The new chairman, in turn, read out the oath to the other office-bearers, including the general secretary, K. P. Manish.

According to Mr. Rahim, the union would finalise its agenda for the year only after holding discussions with top university officials regarding the union's budget for the year.

"We wish to organise programmes that would benefit the student community of the university as a whole. We will continue the good work done by our predecessors," he said.

By G. Mahadevan

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