मेरा दोस्त मिस्टर लिकी

मैं जून माह होशंगाबाद विज्ञान की कार्यशाला में गया था| वहा मैंने हाल्डेन की ‘मेरा दोस्त मिस्टर लिकी’ किताब देखी| एक बार मेरे दोस्त ने इस किताब के बारे में मुझे बताया था की, यह एक अच्छी विज्ञान की किताब है| तो मैंने इसे ख़रीदा| लेकिन पता नहीं था की इसे कब पढ़ पाऊंगा| खैर मैं इस तरह किताबे खरीद कर रख लेता हूँ और जब कभी समय मिले तो उन्हें पढता हूँ| इस किताब को वैसे मैंने जल्द ही हाथ में लिया| यह एक विज्ञान कथा है, पर जैसे मैंने पहली कहानी पढ़ी तो मुझे लगा के मैं विज्ञान कहानी पढ़ रहा हूँ या फिर कोई जादुई कहानी| हां, हाल्डेन की इस किताब में मिस्टर लिकी एक जादूगर है| इतना ही नहीं इसमे उनका एक अब्दुल मक्कार नाम का जिन्न है, साथ में एक नन्हा सा नटखट सा ड्रैगन पोम्पई, ओलिवर नाम का एक ऑक्टोपस जो उनका नौकर है, लियोपोल्ड नाम का बीटल, एक उड़ती कालीन और कई सारे जादुई मित्र| लेकिन हमारे लेखक के मित्र मिस्टर लिकी कोई साधारण जादूगर नहीं है, वे जादू के साथ साथ कई सारी वैज्ञानिक बाते बताते है|

जे. बी. एस. हाल्डेन (J. B. S. Halden) की इस किताब को पढ़ते वक़्त हमेशा ऐसा लगता है की उनमे विज्ञान की जटिल बातों को, उनका अर्थ बिगाड़े बिना, अत्यंत साधारण रूप से कहने की विलक्षण क्षमता थी| बच्चों के लिए विज्ञान साहित्य बहोत कम लिखा गया है, और जो कुछ थोडा सा लिखा गया है, वह कभी कभी बच्चों की समझ के बाहर होता है, या उसे इतना हल्का किया जाता है की बच्चे उसमे विज्ञान देख ही नहीं पाते| हाल्डेन का ऐसा मानना था की एक वैज्ञानिक होने के नाते, यदि हो सके तो, विज्ञान को साधारण व्यक्तियों और बच्चों के लिए आसानी से समझाने योग्य कुछ लिखना चाहिए| उनका यह प्रयास इस किताब में दिखाई देता है| एक छोटीसी जादुई कहनी के साथ उन्होंने विज्ञान की कई रोचक बाते बताई है|

इस किताब में कई सारे पौंधे, कीटों, प्राणी और पंछियों का जिक्र आता है, तब हाल्डेन ने उन जीवों की बारीकियों को इस कदर लिखा है की पढने वाले के मन में जिज्ञासा उत्पन्न होती है| जैसे, लेखक को बाथटब में मिस्टर लिकी के पार्टी का न्योता देने आई सुनहरी मछली कोई साधारण सुनहरी मछली नहीं थी, वह तो न्यूजीलैंड के गर्म पानी के सोते में रहने वाली है, इसलिए वह बाथटब के गर्म पानी को सह लेती है| हाल्डेन अलग अलग जगह के बारे में भी लिखते है| एक बार लेखक मिस्टर लिकी के साथ उड़ती कालीन पर दुनिया की सैर पर निकलता है, जब वे हिंदुस्तान पार कर के दक्षिणी गोलार्ध में पोहचते है तो वह से दिखने वाले आकाश में बारे में भी हाल्डेन ने लिखा है| विज्ञान में अध्ययन करने के बावजूद शायद ही किसी वैज्ञानिक ने बच्चों के लिए ऐसा कुछ लिखा होगा|

हाल्डेन एक प्रतिभावान वैज्ञानिक थे| उन्होंने शरीर विज्ञान, जैव रसायन और आनुवंशिकी के क्षेत्र में महत्वपूर्ण योगदान दिया| वे जनसँख्या आनुवंशिकी के संस्थापकों में से एक थे और विकास का गणितीय सिद्धांत उनका बहुचर्चित योगदान माना जाता है| साथ साथ में हाल्डेन मानवमात्र की भलाई चाहने वाले वैज्ञानिक भी थे| अपने विद्यार्थी जीवन में पहले विश्वयुद्ध में ब्रिटन की ओर से सिपाही के तौर पर लड़ते हुए देखा हुआ तबाही का मंजर और बाद में द्वितीय विश्वयुद्ध के भी साक्षी रहे हाल्डेन ने समाज की भलाई के लिए कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी की सदस्यता ली और समाजवादी विचारधारा के समर्थक बने| लेकिन धीरे धीरे कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी के खोकलेपन की वजह से वह चुपचाप इस विचारधारा से अलग भी हो गए|

बाद में ब्रिटिश और फ़्रांसिसी सरकार के सुएज़ पर किये गए आक्रमण से नाराज हो कर वे भारत चले आये, यहाँ की नागरिकता स्वीकारी और मरने तक उन्होंने भारत में विज्ञान के अनुसंधान तथा विज्ञान शिक्षा में कार्य करते रहे| उन्होंने अपने विद्यार्थियों को वैज्ञानिक मान्यताओं को साधारण जीवन के अनुभवों से जोड़ने की सिख दी, जो उन्होंने अपने जीवन में भी आत्मसात की थी|

हाल्डेन का हिंदुस्तान से लगाव इस किताब में दिखाई देता है|1936 में लिखी गयी इस किताब में ब्रिटिश हिन्दुस्तान की कई सारी बाते हाल्डेन बताते है, चाहे वह हिंदुस्तान की चाय हो या आम| वैसे एक हिन्दुस्तानी जादूगर श्री चन्द्रज्योतिष भी है इस कहानी में| मिस्टर लिकी की बस तीन कहानिया इस किताब में है| बाकि तीन कहानियों में मिस्टर लिकी से मुलाकात नहीं होती| पर ये कहानियाँ भी बहोत खुबसूरत तरीके से लिखी है| इनमे से एक कहानी में बड़े होशियार चूहे है जो लन्दन के बंदरगाह पर तबाही मचाते है| एक कहानी में एक सनकी अमिर व्यक्ति है जो अपने सांप को सोने के दांत लगवाता है| और आखरी कहानी में एक जादुई बटन है| इन कहानियों में भी जादू, परियां, अकलमंद जीव और ढेर सारी विज्ञान की बातें है|

एक और खासियत इस किताब की आपको बताना भूल गया था, वह है क्विन्तिन ब्लेक (Quintin Blake) की चित्रकारी| बालकथा के चित्रकार क्विन्तिन ब्लेक जिन्होंने रोआल्ड डाल (Roald Dahl) के कई सारी किताबों में चित्रकारी की है, उन्होंने इस किताब में भी बहोत सुन्दर चित्र बनाकर हाल्डेन के पात्रों में एक तरह से जान डाल दी है| उनका पोम्पेई ड्रैगन, होशियार चूहे और रोज़ी मगरमच्छ बड़े ही प्यारे बने है| क्विन्तिन का मिस्टर लिकी तो हाल्डेन जैसा ही दिखता है| अगर आप बच्चों के (विज्ञान) साहित्य को पढ़ने की रूचि रखते है तो ‘मेरा दोस्त मिस्टर लिकी’ जरुर पढ़े|

मेरा दोस्त मिस्टर लिकी

मूल लेखक: जे. बी. एस. हाल्डेन

हिंदी अनुवाद: अमिताभ पांडे

प्रकाशक: विज्ञान प्रसार

Capturing Star Explosion...

Sky is full of Surprises!!!!

That’s what I experience unexpectedly two days back. Day before yesterday sky in Sirohi became clear suddenly with not a single trace of cloud. I thought it is good opportunity to take some photograph of sky. Month of August shows mix constellations of summer and winter nights. This time we can see center of our milky way in Sagittarius constellation, near to Sagittarius Scorpio constellation makes stunning appearance. These two constellations are enough to fall in love with night sky. I took some photographs of these two constellations. 

Scorpio constellation

Bright Venus

Then I took some pictures of Venus in west. Now days Venus is shining brightly in West sky after sunset. And then I turned my camera above head and took picture of Lyrae, Aquilla and Cygnus. These are summer time constellations. Near to these brighter constellations you can find a small, not much brighter but very beautiful constellation Delphinus a dolphin. This is one of my favorite constellations. And I never miss chance to capture it in my camera. After spending time to observe and capture pictures of sky I went back to my work.

Main stars of Lyrae, Cygnus and Aquilla are Vega, Deneb and Altair respectively. These stars form a triangle in sky known as Summer Triangle

Delphinus a dolphin is very beautiful constellation of sky

In late night I was checking my mail. I got few mail from my astronomer friends that few days back one star was exploded in Delphinus constellation and become brighter enough to see with naked eye. But it was few days back. Then suddenly think of that I have taken photographs of this region too. There might be possibility of getting this exploded star in my pictures.

But when such explosion happens in space then suddenly stars brightness increases millions times than its actual brightness and hence we can see a new star in sky where it was not visible previously. Yes, I said we observe new star in sky because although it’s an explosion but this explosion is happening thousands or sometimes millions or billions light-years away from us. So, we can observe only flash of light which appear suddenly in sky and then after few time it disappear again. Sometime these new stars remain for months and sometimes for few hours.

So, I was bit doubtful to find it in my photographs. Then I trace its reports of everyday brightness after its appearance from various astronomers. I found this new star was showing steady decline in brightness. On 28^th August its brightness was 6.5. And it was near to visibility of my camera. Then I found some Photographs of other astronomers plus maps showing accurate position of new star and some 8^th magnitude star charts. I started comparing my photos with these maps.

I was excited to find out this new star in my photographs. But, due to my excitement I was finding every star pattern in map and photo same. Oh!!! I can’t find out in this way, I thought. I calm down myself and then again start search in photo. After spending three hour I doubt on one object in my picture that this might be new star. Okay!! Let’s check it. After spending half hour I found ‘no, it’s not the new star’. Actually the position of map and photo was quit tilted which confused me. I correct this position with other maps. I also observe some astronomers photos. And after one and half hour of checking and rechecking I found that new star. But I decided to recheck my photos from other astronomers. I sent my photographs to my friend astronomers to check and confirm it. Then I went to sleep.

Next evening I got mail from my friends. They said the object which I was spotted was exactly on the position where other astronomers reported. And hence it’s a Nova!!! a new star.

This nova was sighted first by Japani astronomer Koichi Itagaki on 16^th August 2013. Explosions of stars are common sights in space. But exploding up to visible brightness is rare case. Many times I tried to observe such events in past but failed. This time I got this opportunity totally surprisingly in rainy season.

But it’s not over. If weather permits, I need to observe and capture it every day to observe its decreasing brightness.

Here, I am giving sequence of photographs. This is only one photo.I have edited and zoomed in to show position of nova. 

Eight years on Mars...!!!!

Spirit Mars rover - view from Husband Hill summit Spirit snapped this self portrait from the summit of Husband Hill inside Gusev crater on Sol 618 on 28 September 2005. The rovers were never designed or intended to climb mountains. It took more than 1 year for Spirit to scale the Martian mountain. This composite image was created by an international team of amateur astronomers and appeared on the cover of the 14 November 2005 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine and the April 2006 issue of Spaceflight magazine. Also selected by Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) on 28 November 2005. Credit: Marco Di Lorenzo, Douglas Ellison, Bernhard Braun and Kenneth Kremer. NASA/JPL/Cornell/Aviation Week & Space Technology

January 2012 marks the 8th anniversary since of the daring landings of “Spirit” and “Opportunity” – NASA’s now legendary twin Mars Exploration Rovers (MER), on opposite sides of the Red Planet in January 2004. They proved that early Mars was warm and wet – a key finding in the search for habitats conducive to life beyond Earth.

This story focuses on Spirit, first of the trailblazing twin robots, which touched down inside Gusev Crater on Jan. 3, 2004. Opportunity set down three weeks later on the smooth hematite plains of Meridiani Planum. Team was seriously thinking both Spirit and Opportunity would be finished by the summer of 2004. But, every Sol was a gift and both rovers push themselves as hard as they can.

'Calypso' Panorama of Spirit's View from 'Troy'
This full-circle view from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the terrain surrounding the location called "Troy," where Spirit became embedded in soft soil during the spring of 2009. The hundreds of images combined into this view were taken beginning on the 1,906th Martian day (or sol) of Spirit's mission on Mars (May 14, 2009) and ending on Sol 1943 (June 20, 2009). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

Spirit endured for more than six years and Opportunity is still roving Mars today!

The dynamic robo duos were expected to last a mere three months, or 90 Martian days (sols). In reality, both robots enormously exceeded expectations and accumulated a vast bonus time of exploration and discovery in numerous extended mission phases.Spirit survived three harsh Martian winters and only succumbed to the Antarctic-like temperatures when she unexpectedly became mired in an unseen sand trap driving beside an ancient volcanic feature named ‘Home Plate’ that prevented the solar arrays from generating life giving power to safeguard critical electronic and computer components. Spirit was heading towards another pair of volcanic objects named von Braun and Goddard and came within just a few hundred feet when she died.

Everest Panorama from Husband Hill summit

It took Spirit three days, sols 620 to 622 (Oct. 1 to Oct. 3, 2005), to acquire all the images combined into this mosaic, called the "Everest Panorama". Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

By the time of her last dispatch from Mars in March 2010, Spirit had triumphantly traversed the red planets terrain for more than six years of elapsed mission time – some 25 times beyond the three month “warranty” proclaimed by NASA as the mission began back in January 2004.

The "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater on Mars

Husband Hill is 3.1 kilometers distant. Spirit took this mosaic of images with the panoramic camera at the beginning of February, 2004, less than a month after landing on Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell

Altogether, the six wheeled Spirit drove over 4.8 miles (7.7 kilometers) and the cameras snapped over 128,000 images. NASA hoped the rovers would drive about a quarter mile during the planned 90 Sol mission.

Carbonate-Containing Martian Rocks discovered by Spirit Mars Rover

Spirit collected data in late 2005 which confirmed that the Comanche outcrop contains magnesium iron carbonate, a mineral indicating the past environment was wet and non-acidic, possibly favorable to life. This view was captured during Sol 689 on Mars (Dec. 11, 2005). The find at Comanche is the first unambiguous evidence from either Spirit or Opportunity for a past Martian environment that may have been more favorable to life than the wet but acidic conditions indicated by the rovers' earlier finds. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

Spirit became the first robotic emissary from humanity to climb a mountain beyond Earth, namely Husband Hill, a task for which she was not designed.After departing the Gusev crater landing pad, Spirit traversed over 2 miles to reach Husband Hill. In order to scale the hill, the team had to create a driving plan from scratch with no playbook because no one ever figured that such a mouthwatering opportunity to be offered.

Spirit Rover traverse map from Gusev Crater landing site to Home Plate: 2004 to 2011

It took over a year to ascend to the hill’s summit. But the team was richly rewarded with a science bonanza of evidence for flowing liquid water on ancient Mars.

Spirit then descended down the other side of the hill to reach the feature dubbed Home Plate where she now rests and where she found extensive evidence of deposits of nearly pure silica, explosive volcanism and hot springs all indicative of water on Mars billions of years ago.

“Spirit’s big scientific accomplishments are the silica deposits at Home Plate, the carbonates at Comanche, and all the evidence for hydrothermal systems and explosive volcanism, What we’ve learned is that early Mars at Spirit’s site was a hot, violent place, with hot springs, steam vents, and volcanic explosions. It was extraordinarily different from the Mars of today.

NASA concluded the last attempt to communicate with Spirit in a transmission on May 25, 2011.

Spirit Rover traverse map from Husband Hill to resting place at Home Plate: 2004 to 2011

The Last View Ever from Spirit rover on Mars
Spirit’s last panorama from Gusev Crater was taken during February 2010 before her death from extremely low temperatures during her 4th Martian winter. Spirit was just 500 feet from her next science target - dubbed Von Braun – at center, with Columbia Hills as backdrop.
Mosaic Credit: Marco De Lorenzo/ Kenneth Kremer/ NASA/JPL/Cornell University
Mosaic featured on Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) on 30 May 2011 - http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110530.html

Opportunity keeps chugging along

Opportunity landed on the opposite side of Mars from its twin, Spirit, on a flat plain known as Meridiani Planum. The evidence suggests that Opportunity’s landing site was once the shoreline of a salty sea. This region had been chosen because the Mars Global Surveyor mission had identified concentrations of the mineral hematite there and on Earth the presence of hematite is often associated with water. Opportunity’s landing is often referred to as a “hole-in-one” because the spacecraft unexpectedly came to a rest inside a small crater.

Opportunity did indeed find hematite here, in the form of small concretions nicknamed “blueberries.” After thoroughly investigating its landing site, Eagle crater, Opportunity traveled to several other craters, the slightly larger Endurance Crater, the shallow crater Erebus, and finally, after a long journey, to the much larger Victoria Crater, located roughly 7 km from the landing site. The layers of sedimentary rock exposed in the walls of these craters contain minerals, such as sulphites and jarosite, and chemicals, such as chlorine and bromine that require considerable interaction with water to produce.

Edge of Victoria crater

This image was taken by opportunity Image source: Nasa

Surviving on mars is not easy task and she made it. During her travel on mars between 26 April 2005 and 4 June 2005 Opportunity was stuck in a Martian sand dune. After that in 2007 she survived through the Martian dust storm which was lasted for three month.

After a three-year trek, Opportunity made it to the 14-mile-wide (22-km) Endeavour Crater in August 2011. The robot has spent the last few months poking around Endeavour's rim, where it recently uncovered what researchers say is the best evidence yet for liquid water on ancient Mars.

Now, the Martian winter is setting in, and Opportunity has already found a nicely sloped outcrop where it can hunker down. But the rover won't go into hibernation; it will stay awake, studying the surrounding rocks and perhaps even moving a few feet now and then, researchers have said.

Over the next few months, the rover team also plans to track radio signals from Opportunity, using the robot's movement as a proxy for the rotation of Mars. Scientists can thus get very precise measurements of the planet's spin, which could reveal information about Mars' interior structure.

Opportunity should be ready to rove again by June or July, researchers have said. While the robot is showing some signs of its advanced age, such as an arthritic shoulder joint in its robotic arm, there's no reason to think it won't hit the ground running. Mars Exploration Rover team said that she's in excellent health.

Opportunity Rover seen by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter NASA

Opportunity will soon have some company on the Martian surface. NASA's 1-ton Curiosity rover is set to land on the Red Planet in August this year. Curiosity is five times larger than Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity and carrying ten times the mass of scientific instruments. She is already on the way towards Mars and is expected to operate for at least one Martian Year(686 Earth days). This mission will try to gauge whether Mars is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life.

The League of Mars Exploration Rovers: Pathafinder(centre), MER Rover(left)and Curiosity(right)

Jupiter rising in the sky

Jupiter rising in sky

Have you seen a very bright star rising in the East every night the past few months? If you’re a night owl, you may have noticed it moves across they sky from the East into the West, shining brightly throughout the night. However this object is not a star! It’s the planet Jupiter and it is the brightest object in the night sky at the moment, apart from the Moon.

At the end of October Jupiter will be at opposition. This means the mighty planet (the largest in our solar system) will be directly opposite the sun as seen from Earth and it will also be at its closest point to Earth in the two planets’ orbits around the Sun. This makes Jupiter or any other object at opposition appear brighter and larger. The opposition of Jupiter occurs on October 29, 2011.

But Jupiter has been gracing our night sky for several months, and will continue to shine brightly as it moves in and out of opposition. But enjoy the view now, as this will be the closest opposition until 2022!

Visually, even with the naked eye, Jupiter is stunning! A burning yellowish-white star-like object, many times brighter than any other stars. But through a pair of ordinary binoculars or a small telescope, Jupiter comes to life. Not only is it possible to see the disc of the Planet, you can also see the four Galilean moons.

The Galilean moons, Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io were discovered by Galileo over 400 years ago and are amazing worlds in their own right.

Callisto is the outermost moon with a very ancient and heavily cratered surface. It is the second largest of the four moons, but does not interact tidally with an “orbital resonance” unlike the other three moons. Ganymede is the largest of the four moons and is also the largest moon in the Solar system, being larger than the Planet Mercury. The bizarre surface is a mix of two types of terrain – highly cratered dark regions and younger, but still ancient regions with a large array of grooves and ridges. Ganymede is the only moon in the solar system to have its own magnetosphere.
 

Jupiter's four largest satellites from left to right Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto

Europa is the second closest moon and is also the smallest. It has one of the smoothest and newest surfaces in the solar system, being covered purely with ice. Europa is likely a water world and it is believed that below its icy surface, lies a deep moon-wide ocean surrounding a warm mantle. It is one of the most likely places to harbour life in the solar system. Io is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter and third largest. It is the most geologically active body in the solar system with over 400 active volcanoes and an ever changing and hostile surface of sulphur and silicates.

 

When you look up tonight and stare at Jupiter, or you are looking at it through binoculars or a telescope, just think – Jupiter and the four Galilean moons are a very interesting place, almost a mini solar system with our larger solar system! Occasionally you will see Jupiter’s “Great Red Spot” or the shadow of one of the moons on Jupiter’s surface. The Jupiter system is always changing.

October Sky..must watch..

Have you seen the movie ‘October Sky’?

No?

Then you should watch it.

Based on true story, this movie is about a boy who found his dream and tries to pursue it. Homer Hickam is a high school boy in Coalwood, West Virginia. On 4th of October Russians launches Sputnik, the first man-made satellite. He saw the Sputnik with his friends and neighbours who react with fear (those days Americans were really scared not because of satellite but because somebody else has did it before them). But Homer instantly fascinated by the object which is moving some incredible speed and orbiting around Earth. At that time he decides that he will built rocket. He started studying everything he can find on jet and rocket engine.

While many of Homer's friends are puzzled by his new obsession, several new friends share his enthusiasm, and with the encouragement of his teacher, Homer and his fellow "Rocket Boys" begin designing and launching their own homemade missiles. However, Homer's father takes a dim view of his son's interest in rockets and is convinced Homer's future should be the same as his own, working in the local coal mines.

Because, Coalwood’s main trade was coal mining and everybody have to do mining job for surviving in that small place. Only those students can escape from that small village if they can able to get football scholarship. Homer tries to get place in football team, but failed every time. Then by designing rockets and fighting against all odd condition this small village boy wins a science competition and got scholarship. For which he make everybody to proud him. This high school boy then becomes a NASA engineer Homer H. Hickam, Jr.'s.

Actually why I like the movie is that because like Homer, I also wanted to build rocket and tried too. Many times. I like the way he pursue his interest in rockets did whatever he want to know about the rockets. He read books, took help of others, and always tries new things after each failure. When I compared myself with Homer I found I did not do those things which he did. After a long time, when I joined Model Rocketry Lab of Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre then I learned rocket science and aalso learned to make model rockets.

Making rockets is always a very exciting experience to me. I especially enjoyed designing part of rocketry. Trying new types of models. Not every time gives you a success, but when design works and rocket roar and jump towards sky I cannot express my feeling. I think making rockets by your own and flying them successfully, it’s like AWESOME yaar!!!! At least once in a lifetime everyone should experience it.

But before that watch October Sky. I know you will like this movie...

Moon CLick

I have taken this foto on Ganesh Chaturthi from Jaipur with my simple Kodak Digital Camera by using night landscape mode..