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Astronomy Club
Science and Technology Council
Students’ Gymkhana
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Presents
CYGNUS
The Wall Magazine
2002-2003 II
Club Coordinators
1. Amar V. Chandra
2. Ashutosh K. Gupta
3. Jaya Jha
Other Contributors
1. Anshuman Sinha
2. Vinay Mishra
3. Amitabh Virmani
4. Archisman Ghosh
5. Saujanya Golwelkar
On the lines of VIBGYOR
Spectral Classes of Stars
Categorizing the stars, all different and huge in number had really been a challenging task for
astronomers. In the classification of stars mentioned here, the stars are classified in various
categories according to the strength of the Balmer lines of their hydrogen absorption spectra,
each class being denoted by an alphabet. The alphabets have been arranged in an order so as to
correspond to a sequence of decreasing surface temperatures and hence intrinsic luminosity i.e.
energy emitted per unit time.
So various spectral types of stars are: O
B
A F
G
K
M (R N).
But how to remember this odd sequence of alphabets?? There are many sentences that had
been formed for the same. One of the famous ones is: O Baby, a Fine Girl, Kiss Me (Really
Now!).
Mythology cannot go unnoticed
Cassiopeia- In Greek Mythology
Cassiopeia was the beautiful wife of Cepheus, king of Ethiopia, and the mother of Andromeda.
She is most famous in connection with the myth of her daughter, Andromeda. The queen made
the mistake of bragging that she was lovelier than the Nereids and even Juno herself. The
goddesses were, needless to say, rather insulted, and went to Neptune, god of the sea, to
complain. Neptune promptly sent a sea monster (Cetus) to ravage the coast. The king and queen
were ordered to sacrifice their daughter to appease Neptune's wrath, and would have done so
had Perseus not arrived to kill the monster in the nick of time. As a reward, the hero was wedded
to lovely Andromeda.
By most accounts, Cassiopeia was quite happy with the match. In some versions of the myth,
however, the queen objects to the marriage and is turned to stone when Perseus shows her the
head of the Gorgon Medusa.
Although Neptune placed her in the heavens, the sea-god saw fit to humiliate her one final time
(and for all eternity). He placed her so that she is seated on her throne, with her head pointing
towards the North Star Polaris. In this position, she spends half of every night upside-down.
They dared change time!
Gregorian calendar
The calendar we use now days is Gregorian calendar. It was reformed from Julian calendar. It
was originally a brainchild of Emperor Julius Caesar who decided to make a new calendar system
(Julian calendar). After him his successor Augustus Caesar made some corrections in it. And in
1582, Gregorian calendar comes in existence after changing Julian one a lot. There are several
opinions about the dates of corrections. Some documents say even something like this last
correction being the result of some conspiracy!
Initially, Julius Caesar ordered to have year of 365 days and leap year in every 4 th year (In 43
B.C.). But due to some misunderstanding it becomes a leap year in every 3rd year. And It was
corrected by Augusts Caesar in 10 B.C. This new calendar was out of phase with tropical year by
1 day in every 131 years. One and half millennium later it was observed that Ester is moving in
summer. And calendar is increasingly out of phase with seasons. So, In 1852 Pope Gregory XIII
ordered these changes in Julian calendar.
 Since 0 A.D. Julian calendar was 12 days ahead from season cycles so 10 days was
removed from calendar. Means 5 October 1982 becomes 15 October 1982.
 There will be leap year every 4th year. (As Julian Calendar)
 Years dividable by 100 will not be leap but year dividable with 400 will be leap year. (By
this they have removed 3 days in every four hundred years from Julian calendar which
means 1 day in every 133.33 years)
 There is one more rule proposed. As Julian calendar was inaccurate by 1/131 in a year
but they corrected it by 3/400 every year, it creates an error of 1 day in every 3300 years.
So it was proposed to add 1 day after 4000 years. But it has not yet been implemented.
This was not included in the orders of Gregory either.
After all these changes, Julian calendar becomes Gregorian calendar, but it was difficult to
ensure that everyone follows these changes. This dispute remained for a long time and it finally
settled down in start of twentieth century.
Dates for different countries accepting the reform:
Austria: Different regions accepted it on different dates. At some places 5th October 1583 was
followed by 16th Oct 1583. At other places 14th December 1583 was followed by 25th December
1583.
Bulgaria: 8th Mar was followed by 1st Apr 1916.
China: Some authorities say 18th Dec 1911 was followed by 1st Jan 1912 while according to
others 18th Dec 1928 was followed by 1st Jan 1929.
Czechoslovakia: 6th January was followed by 17th January in 1584.
Denmark: 18th February was followed by 1st Mar in 1700.
France: 9th Dec was followed by 20th Dec in 1582.
Germany: Catholic states on various dates in 1583-1585.
Prussia: 22nd Aug 1610 was followed by 2nd Sep in 1610.
Great Britain and Dominions (including USA): 2nd Sep was followed by 14th Sep in 1752.
Greece: 9th Mar was followed by 23rd Mar 1924.
Hungary: 21st Oct was followed by 1st Nov in 1587.
Japan: According to some sources 19th Dec 1872 was followed by 1st Jan 1873. Others say
18th Dec 1918 was followed by 1st Jan 1919.
Latvia: During German occupation in 1915 to 1918
Poland: 4th Oct was followed by 15th Oct in 1582.
Portugal: 4th Oct was followed by 15th Oct 1582.
Prussia: 22nd Aug was followed by 2nd Sept 1610.
Russia: 31st Jan 1918 was followed by 14th Feb 1918.
Spain: 4th Oct was followed by 15th Oct in 1582.
Transylvania: 14th Dec was followed by 25th Dec in 1590.
Turkey: 18th Dec was followed by 1st Jan 1927.
Contemporary Subjects
Neutrino Astronomy-Mysteries and Challenges
For last 1000 years astronomers have looked in to all parts of electromagnetic spectrum and they
have collected good amount of information about the content, structure and evolution of our
universe. Still our knowledge is far from complete. We are learning further about the cosmos
beyond the solar system by observing cosmic rays (essentially protons). But these charged
particles do not point to their place of origin because of the galactic and extra-galactic magnetic
fields affecting their path.
What is needed is a particle, which goes un-deflected by these magnetic fields and doesn't get
attenuated by dust or gas on its journey, a "weakly interacting particle". Neutrinos are the best
candidate. They are neutral, weakly interacting particles and come to the detector without any
disruption, straight from their source. It is doubtless that we will get a wonderful view of the
universe in neutrino light. It is possible to see even sun in neutrino light during "night hours".
Neutrinos were made in huge amount as universe cooled after big bang. Stars, supernova etc.
are good producer of neutrinos. Flux of neutrinos at earth is largely dominated by neutrino
produced in sun. Lots of neutrino observatories around the world are operating to measure this
neutrino flux. Note that it is a difficult task because neutrinos are weakly interacting. India is on its
way of constructing Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO).
As these observation came up the whole community was surprised to see that flux observed is
nearly half of what is predicted from standard stellar physics. This thirty-year mystery persists in
the deficit of about a half in the numbers of neutrinos detected compared to expectations, the socalled "Solar Neutrino Problem". All kinds of ideas came up to explain this puzzle and perhaps
more then 200 "solutions" are floating in literature. But these observations clearly made
astronomers realize that they have not yet understood these particles at a satisfactory level!
Unfortunately, still there is no conformity among physicist about the masses and types of
neutrino. Search is on and we will see many new surprises in the coming years.
Amazing Facts
Do you know
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

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That just a pinhead of the Sun's raw material could kill someone up to 160 kilometers
away!
That Saturn has such a low density that it would float if put in water!
That Jupiter’s magnetic field is so massive that it pours billions of Watts into Earths
magnetic field every day!
That the energy in the sunlight we see today started out in the core of the Sun 30,000
years ago - it spent most of this time passing through the dense atoms that make the
sun and just 8 minutes to reach us once it had left the Sun!
That the star known as LP 327-186, a so-called white dwarf, is smaller than the state of
Texas yet so dense that if a cubic inch of it were brought to earth it would weigh more
than 1.5 million tons!
What do the coordinators say
Activity… Activity… Activity… Astronomy Club
Be it the heat of April, or the rains (drought!!) of August, the club is on its way, trying to do as
much as possible. And as consequence here are we, as promised, with the second issue of
Cygnus- the wall magazine.
The response towards the activities we have organized has been quite satisfactory, but we still
hope to see more and more of you getting involved with the club and explore the light from behind
the dark sky (that’s what we prefer!).
Suggestions, regarding the activities of the club, always help us know the expectations of Junta
and encourage us as well. Please do keep pouring in your suggestions.
Activities done so far
Promises are to be kept!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Celebration of Astronomy Week in April, 2002 with lots of events
Two Observation sessions in April itself.
Two issues of Cygnus.
Assembling of the telescope acquired in the last term during the summer vacation.
Acquiring new mount for the 6” telescope.
Freshers’ Astronomy Quiz on August 15th, 2002
Telescope Making Workshop on August 16th, 2002
We believe in doing more than what promised. All we need is an enthusiastic participation from
you!
Before We End
Quotes Not to Be Quoted ;-)
1. "Comets are like cats. They have tails, and they do precisely what they want."
David Levy (Comet discoverer, observer and writer)
2. At the physics exam: Describe the universe in 200 words and give three examples.
3. When people run around and around in circles we say they are crazy. When planets do it
we say they are orbiting.
4. Which would be the last planet an astronomer would choose to live?
Answers invited… Chocolate promised!
Joining the Club
It is Simple
Drop a mail to [email protected].
Quiz Corner
Find the answers to the following questions and post on
iitk.gymkhana. The first person posting all correct answers will get a
prize.
1. Name the planets:
a)
b)
c)
d)
The planet, which rotates about an axis almost in its plane of orbit, is ___________.
The satellites of this planet were first identified after the moon. The planet is
The planet whose existence was predicted before it was seen is __________.
The planet, which has moons whose names mean, “fear” and “death” is__________
2. Match the objects in the first column with the constellations in the second columns:
a) Brightest star
b) Galactic Centre
c) Nearest spiral galaxy
d) South Pole star
e) Closest Star
f) Beehive
g) Plaides
h) Sun on 15th Aug 2002
1. Centaurus
2. Cancer
3. Taurus
4. Leo
5. Andromeda
6. Sagittarius
7. Octans
8. Canis Major
3. Given the description of a few astronomical phenomena, identify them:
a) One of the most energetic explosive events in the sky. It occurs at the end of a star's lifetime,
when its nuclear fuel is exhausted and it is no longer supported by the release of nuclear energy.
b) Extremely dense star, perhaps the densest form of matter in the universe and fate of all stars
whose masses are within a certain range.
c) Radio-waves emitted by a star that has undergone an explosion and is rotating very fast.
d) Dark spots on the surface of the sun, related to magnetic activity.
e) A huge cloud of solar gas ejected from the surface of the sun.
Answers
Answers to the Quiz in Cygnus-Volume I
1. Varuna 2. Total time of precision 3. Sirius 4. Meteor Showers normally happen when some
debris from some comet enter the earth’s atmosphere and glow up due to friction there by
producing a spectacular shower of light. 5. Angle between the axes of both the motions is about
90 degrees. 6. Some meteors hit the Siberia (Tanguska) jungles. The shape of destruction, which
appears (from air) on the field, is in the shape of butterfly. 7. Mrig (Deer) 8. Milky way! 9. Cancer
10. Undefined.