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Vainu Bappu Observatory
The Vainu Bappu Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. It is located at Kavalur in the Javadi Hills, near Vaniyambadi in Tirupathur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is 200 km south-west of Chennai and 175 km south-east of Bangalore. History The Vainu Bappu Observatory of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics traces its origin back to 1786 when William Petrie set up his private observatory at his garden house at Egmore, Madras, which eventually came to be known as the Madras Observatory. Later it was moved to Kodaikanal and functioned there as the Kodaikanal Observatory since 1899. However, Kodaikanal had very few nights available for observation and hence astronomers searched for a new site after India's independence. M.K. Vainu Bappu who took over as the director of the Kodaikanal Observatory in 1960, found a sleepy little hamlet called Kavalur in the Javadi Hills as a suitable site for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kavalur
Kavalur is a village in the Jawadhu Hills in Vaniyambadi taluk, Tamil Nadu, India. The village hosts the Vainu Bappu Observatory (VBO), which was established in the 1970s, and contains the Carl Zeiss Telescope, and the Vainu Bappu telescope. Demographics census, Kavalur had a total population of 1010 with 496 males and 514 females. The sex ratio was 1036. The literacy rate was 48.45. See also * Vainu Bappu Observatory *Vellore *Vainu Bappu Manali Kallat Vainu Bappu (10 August 1927 – 19 August 1982) was an Indian astronomer and president of the International Astronomical Union. Bappu helped to establish several astronomical institutions in India, including the Vainu Bappu Ob ... * Jawadhu Hills References Further reading * {{cite web, title=Primary Census Abstract - Census 2001 , url=http://www.census.tn.nic.in/pca2001.aspx , publisher=Directorate of Census Operations-Tamil Nadu , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619061056/http://ww ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fabry–Pérot Interferometer
In optics, a Fabry–Pérot interferometer (FPI) or etalon is an optical cavity made from two parallel reflecting surfaces (i.e.: thin mirrors). Optical waves can pass through the optical cavity only when they are in resonance with it. It is named after Charles Fabry and Alfred Perot, who developed the instrument in 1899. ''Etalon'' is from the French ''étalon'', meaning "measuring gauge" or "standard". Etalons are widely used in telecommunications, lasers and spectroscopy to control and measure the wavelengths of light. Recent advances in fabrication technique allow the creation of very precise tunable Fabry–Pérot interferometers. The device is technically an interferometer when the distance between the two surfaces (and with it the resonance length) can be changed, and an etalon when the distance is fixed (however, the two terms are often used interchangeably). Basic description The heart of the Fabry–Pérot interferometer is a pair of partially reflective glass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supernovae
A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion. The original object, called the ''progenitor'', either collapses to a neutron star or black hole, or is completely destroyed. The peak optical luminosity of a supernova can be comparable to that of an entire galaxy before fading over several weeks or months. Supernovae are more energetic than novae. In Latin, ''nova'' means "new", referring astronomically to what appears to be a temporary new bright star. Adding the prefix "super-" distinguishes supernovae from ordinary novae, which are far less luminous. The word ''supernova'' was coined by Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky in 1929. The last supernova to be directly observed in the Milky Way was Kepler's Supernova in 1604, appearing not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nova
A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramatic appearance of a nova vary, depending on the circumstances of the two progenitor stars. All observed novae involve white dwarfs in close binary systems. The main sub-classes of novae are classical novae, recurrent novae (RNe), and dwarf novae. They are all considered to be cataclysmic variable stars. Classical nova eruptions are the most common type. They are likely created in a close binary star system consisting of a white dwarf and either a main sequence, subgiant, or red giant star. When the orbital period falls in the range of several days to one day, the white dwarf is close enough to its companion star to start drawing accreted matter onto the surface of the white dwarf, which creates a dense but shallow atmosphere. This atmosphe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Clusters
Star clusters are large groups of stars. Two main types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of ten thousand to millions of old stars which are gravitationally bound, while open clusters are more loosely clustered groups of stars, generally containing fewer than a few hundred members, and are often very young. Open clusters become disrupted over time by the gravitational influence of giant molecular clouds as they move through the galaxy, but cluster members will continue to move in broadly the same direction through space even though they are no longer gravitationally bound; they are then known as a stellar association, sometimes also referred to as a ''moving group''. Star clusters visible to the naked eye include the Pleiades, Hyades (star cluster), Hyades, and 47 Tucanae. Open cluster Open clusters are very different from globular clusters. Unlike the spherically distributed globulars, they are confined to the galactic plane, and are al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sky, night, but their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed stars, fixed points of light. The most prominent stars have been categorised into constellations and asterism (astronomy), asterisms, and many of the brightest stars have proper names. Astronomers have assembled star catalogues that identify the known stars and provide standardized stellar designations. The observable universe contains an estimated to stars. Only about 4,000 of these stars are visible to the naked eye, all within the Milky Way galaxy. A star's life star formation, begins with the gravitational collapse of a gaseous nebula of material composed primarily of hydrogen, along with helium and trace amounts of heavier elements. Its stellar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srinivasa Ramanujan (; born Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar, ; 22 December 188726 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician. Though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions, including solutions to mathematical problems then considered unsolvable. Ramanujan initially developed his own mathematical research in isolation: according to Hans Eysenck: "He tried to interest the leading professional mathematicians in his work, but failed for the most part. What he had to show them was too novel, too unfamiliar, and additionally presented in unusual ways; they could not be bothered". Seeking mathematicians who could better understand his work, in 1913 he began a postal correspondence with the English mathematician G. H. Hardy at the University of Cambridge, England. Recognising Ramanujan's work as extraordinary, Hardy arranged for him to travel to Cambridge. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4130 Ramanujan
__NOTOC__ Year 413 ( CDXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Herclianus and Lucius (or, less frequently, year 1166 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 413 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Heraclianus, Roman usurper, lands in Italy with a large army to fight Emperor Honorius. He is defeated in Umbria and flees to Carthage, where he is put to death by envoys of Honorius. * May 8 – Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the Italian provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, which were plundered by the Visigoths. * The Visigoths, led by King Ataulf, conquer the towns of Toulouse and Bordeaux by force of arms. After a successful siege of Valence, h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schmidt Telescope
Schmidt may refer to: * Schmidt (surname), including list of people with the surname * Schmidt (singer) (born 1990), German pop and jazz singer * Schmidt (lunar crater), a small lunar impact crater * Schmidt (Martian crater), a crater on Mars * Schmidt (volcano), in Kamchatka * Schmidt Block, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Scott County, Iowa, USA * Schmidt Brewery, a St. Paul brewery * Schmidt camera, an astronomical telescope designed for photography * Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope, a version of the Schmidt camera * Schmidt Site, an archeological site in Michigan, USA, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 * Schmidt Spiele, a German games manufacturer * Schmidt Baking Company, makers of Schmidt's Blue Ribbon Bread * von Schmidt auf Altenstadt, a German baronial family in Kirchgattendorf, part of the municipality of Gattendorf * Schmidt Island, an island in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean * Schmidt Peninsula (Sakhal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; however, with its larger volume, Saturn is over 95 times more massive. Saturn's interior is most likely composed of a core of iron–nickel and rock (silicon and oxygen compounds). Its core is surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium, and finally, a gaseous outer layer. Saturn has a pale yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. An electrical current within the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to Saturn's planetary magnetic field, which is weaker than Earth's, but which has a magnetic moment 580 times that of Earth due to Saturn's larger size. Saturn's magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth of Jupiter's. The outer atmosphere is g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planetary Ring
A ring system is a disc or ring, orbiting an astronomical object, that is composed of solid material such as dust and moonlets, and is a common component of satellite systems around giant planets. A ring system around a planet is also known as a planetary ring system. The most prominent and most famous planetary rings in the Solar System are those around Saturn, but the other three giant planets (Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune) also have ring systems. Recent evidence suggests that ring systems may also be found around other types of astronomical objects, including minor planets, moons, and brown dwarfs, and as well, the interplanetary spaces between planets such as Venus and Mercury. Ring systems of planets There are three ways that thicker planetary rings have been proposed to have formed: from material of the protoplanetary disk that was within the Roche limit of the planet and thus could not coalesce to form moons, from the debris of a moon that was disrupted by a large i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars (mythology), Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter (mythology), Jupiter) and father of Cronus (Saturn (mythology), Saturn). It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune, and both have bulk chemical compositions which differ from that of the larger gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. For this reason, scientists often classify Uranus and Neptune as "ice giants" to distinguish them from the other giant planets. As with gas giants, ice giants also lack a well defined "solid surface." Uranus's Atmosphere#Others, atmosphere is similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's in its primary composition of hydrogen and helium, but it contains more "volatiles, ices" such as water, ammonia, and methane, al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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