30-May-2010
Today at 7:55 PM, my friend Amjad Nizamani visited my place. He wanted to see the telescope and binoculars of mine, so I showed him both and briefed him with the design of the telescope. Then I turned on my computer, made two cups of tea, and showed Amjad bhai some stars and planets through Stellarium, also told him about some star clusters. We picked up binoculars and moved to the terrace.
Due to plenty of haze and light pollution, very few stars were visible. I then pointed towards Constellation Ursa Major (Big Bear). Ursa Major hosts a double star. Amjad bhai got neck strain while trying to find that double star, because by that time Ursa Major was almost at 80 degrees angle from the horizon. But atlast he found that and was happy to see.
Then I also showed him the star Vega (Alpha Lyrae) in the constellation Lyra (The Harp). Vega is the brightest star of Constellation Lyra and the fifth brightest star of the night sky.
After this little observing session, we moved inside my room. I showed him some pictures of galaxies, nebulae etc taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. A little discussion about telescopes and their working inside and outside the Earth atmosphere also took place. Finally at 9:45 PM, Amjad bhai left for his home.
I enjoyed his company alot, and I hope so did he.
