The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : At 84, still passionate about astronomy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

At 84, still passionate about astronomy

Swahilya

Devadas' affair with astronomy began in Class IX

P. Devadas — Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

CHENNAI: Twinkle twinkle bright and faint stars, / We know well, stars don't twinkle, / But our air waves make them... These are just a few lines of a long poem `Know your twinkling stars' by P. Devadas, an avid stargazer. He just turned 84, but speaks with the enthusiasm of a teenager.

Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, London, and member of the British Astronomical Association, the Astronomical Society of India, the Planetary Society, U.S.A, and the Optical Society of India, Mr. Devadas also heads the Tamil Nadu Astronomy Association. He is all energy, when he teaches observational and practical astronomy, and astrophysics to school and college students visiting the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre, where he is called upon to give lectures.

Mr. Devadas' passion for astronomy began in Class IX. "I made a chart of planetary orbits. I was frightened when the inspector called me. He said, `Very good. Continue the work.' "

That was the beginning. He tried his hand at making a telescope at the Solar Physics Observatory in Kodaikanal where he was a trainee after he completed his M.Sc. in physics. And since, has never taken his eyes off the celestial bodies.Around 1961 he learnt about the origin of lunar rays. This motivated him to write papers on the igneous and volcanic origin of the lunar and planetary craters, banded structures on the clouds of Venus, and the nature and origin of sun and moon illusion.

A recipient of the Tamil Nadu State Award for popularising science, Mr. Devadas manufactures astronomical telescopes and has established an engineering firm for the production of telescopes in India. The instruments are being supplied to research institutions, university departments, colleges, schools and amateurs.

"The sun's diameter is 1,392,000 km and is composed of 70 per cent hydrogen, 28 per cent helium and two per cent heavier elements," he informed a class of astronomy enthusiasts of various ages at the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre workshop on Sunday, never missing an opportunity to talk about the photosphere, dark and grey spots, flares and solar prominences.

He is a keen advocate for including astronomy and astrophysics in higher studies. Ask him what the scope for stargazing is, and he rattles off... "Well, there's comet hunting, lunar occultation, sun spot studies, double star observation, nova star bursting ... The scope for amateurs is immense."And, above all, "It takes the mind away from worldly affairs and makes one not just observe, but think deeply." "We can die, but our work will live for ever," he says.

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