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The Confederation of Indian Amateur Astronomers (CIAA) is a national level organisation of amateur astronomers in India that convenes a national meeting of members every year, and coordinates the activities of amateur astronomers throughout the country. It was established in 1993 and registered in 1994, following an Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics meeting in 1991. [1] [2]
Astronomy in India has been a passion since the Vedic period. Records exist of scriptures on the subject since the time of the Maurya Dynasty in the (322 to 185 BCE). It came to be recognized as a science after Aryabhata penned and published the Arya-siddhānta. Today Aryabhata is regarded as the father of astronomy in India. The first Indian satellite was named after him. The Surya Siddhanta is another ancient script that explained the cosmic sciences.
This science lost its importance the British era and gradually came to be treated as an expensive science and restricted to only those academically involved. There was no room for amateurs. Several years after Independence, with the arrival of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Indian sciences, amateur astronomy started taking roots. Due to the vast distance between locations, the high cost of telescopes, and slow communications, the need for the formation of a common platform was felt. Prof. Jayant V. Narlikar suggested that a Confederation be formed and Dr. N. C. Rana of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune was assigned this job.
The Confederation of Indian Amateur Astronomers (CIAA) was formed at the fourth All India Amateur Astronomers' Meet held at Calcutta on January 22, 1994.
The Confederation is a conglomeration of amateur astronomers and amateur astronomy associations from all over India. [3] It has a scientific advisory committee to support members in their projects and endeavours.
Indian amateur astronomers use the platform of CIAA for the use of a range of instruments to study the sky, depending on a combination of their interests and resources. Methods include simply looking at the night sky with the naked eye, using binoculars, using a variety of telescopes of varying power and quality, as well as additional sophisticated equipment, such as cameras, to study the sky in both the visual and non-visual spectrums. Some people focus on amateur telescope making as their primary interest within the hobby of amateur astronomy. Some members are interested in comet hunting, meteorite hunting, or are interested in radio astronomy.
The association conducts an annual astronomy meet for amateurs from different amateur astronomy associations from all over India. This meet is hosted by different associations every year at different locations. All amateurs are given a chance to present papers regarding any outstanding or unusual work they may have done in the vast field of astronomy at these meets.
Registered under the Societies Act and the Bombay Public Trust Act, The Confederation of Indian Amateur Astronomer Association goals are spreading the message of astronomy into the most interior parts of the country. Lately, even amateur groups from across the borders have started involving themselves in the activities of CIAA. The confederation has appointed regional representatives and gathered information on the other amateur's activities for better interaction.
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Indian astronomy is slightly different from modern astronomy. Unlike the constellations the science is based on the Rashi - Twelve Zodiacal Constellations and Twenty Seven Nakshatras. The number of Nakshatras varies from 27 to 28 depending on the language and location. These Nakshatras are also known as the wives of the moon, since our celestial neighbor travels over the sky in period less than a month.
Amateur astronomers residing in rural areas use the ancient form of Hindu astronomy which is close to the Āryabhatīya, the magnum opus of Aryabhata named above. Aryabhata was an amateur astronomer. His passion for sciences began with his first encounter of the solar eclipse. He is credited as the first astronomer to make an attempt at measuring the Earth's circumference since Eratosthenes (circa 200 BC). Aryabhata accurately calculated the Earth's circumference as 24,835 miles, which was only 0.2% smaller than the actual value of 24,902 miles. Aryabhatta was the first to prepare the Indian Almanac, better known as panchangam. Rural amateur astronomers still use the panchang, while some assist the pandits in drafting the annual almanac.
Indian amateur astronomers use maps that, depending on experience and intentions, may range from simple planispheres through detailed maps of very specific areas of the night sky for getting involved in projects like photographing the whole sky, the Messier objects or observing the occultation of the stars by the Moon, or studying asteroids. A range of astronomy software is available and used by amateur astronomers, including software that generates maps of the sky, software to assist with astrophotography, and software to perform various calculations pertaining to astronomical phenomena.
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either observational or theoretical astronomy. Examples of topics or fields astronomers study include planetary science, solar astronomy, the origin or evolution of stars, or the formation of galaxies. Related but distinct subjects like physical cosmology, which studies the Universe as a whole.
Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers make contributions in doing citizen science, such as by monitoring variable stars, double stars, sunspots, or occultations of stars by the Moon or asteroids, or by discovering transient astronomical events, such as comets, galactic novae or supernovae in other galaxies.
Jyotisha or Jyotishya is the traditional Hindu system of astrology, also known as Hindu astrology, Indian astrology and more recently Vedic astrology. The term Hindu astrology has been in use as the English equivalent of Jyotiṣa since the early 19th century, whereas Vedic astrology is a relatively recent term, entering common usage in the 1970s with self-help publications on Āyurveda or yoga.
Aryabhata or Aryabhata I was the first of the major mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. His works include the Āryabhaṭīya and the Arya-siddhanta.
The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) is an autonomous institution set up by the University Grants Commission to promote nucleation and growth of active groups in astronomy and astrophysics in Indian universities. IUCAA is located in the University of Pune campus next to the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, which operates the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. IUCAA has a campus designed by Indian architect Charles Correa.
Nakshatra is the term for lunar mansion in Hindu astrology and Indian Astronomy. A nakshatra is one of 28 sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to a prominent star or asterisms in or near the respective sectors.
The National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) of India is a research institution in India in the field of radio astronomy is located in the Pune University Campus, is part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India. NCRA has an active research program in many areas of Astronomy and Astrophysics, which includes studies of the Sun, Interplanetary scintillations, pulsars, the Interstellar medium, Active galaxies and cosmology and particularly in the specialized field of Radio Astronomy and Radio instrumentation. NCRA also provides exciting opportunities and challenges in engineering fields such as Analog and Digital Electronics, Signal Processing, Antenna Design, Communication and Software Development. NCRA has set up the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), the world's largest telescope operating at meter wavelengths located at Khodad, 80 km from Pune. NCRA also operates the Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT), which is a large Cylindrical Telescope located near Udhagamandalam, India.
Jayant Vishnu Narlikar is an Indian astrophysicist and emeritus professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA). He developed with Sir Fred Hoyle the conformal gravity theory, known as Hoyle–Narlikar theory. It synthesises Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and Mach's principle. It proposes that the inertial mass of a particle is a function of the masses of all other particles, multiplied by a coupling constant, which is a function of cosmic epoch.
The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), with its headquarters in Bengaluru, is an autonomous Research Institute wholly financed by the department of Science and Technology, Government of India. IIA conducts research primarily in the areas of astronomy, astrophysics and related fields.
Astronomy is a monthly American magazine about astronomy. Targeting amateur astronomers, it contains columns on sky viewing, reader-submitted astrophotographs, and articles on astronomy and astrophysics for general readers.
Indian astronomy has a long history stretching from pre-historic to modern times. Some of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valley Civilization or earlier. Astronomy later developed as a discipline of Vedanga or one of the "auxiliary disciplines" associated with the study of the Vedas, dating 1500 BCE or older. The oldest known text is the Vedanga Jyotisha, dated to 1400–1200 BCE.
The Sūrya Siddhānta is a Sanskrit treatise in Indian astronomy in fourteen chapters. The Surya Siddhanta describes rules to calculate the motions of various planets and the moon relative to various constellations, and calculates the orbits of various astronomical bodies. The text is known from a 15th-century CE palm-leaf manuscript, and several newer manuscripts. It was composed or revised c. 800 CE from an earlier text also called the Surya Siddhanta.
Aryabhatiya or Aryabhatiyam, a Sanskrit astronomical treatise, is the magnum opus and only known surviving work of the 5th century Indian mathematician Aryabhata. Philosopher of astronomy Roger Billard estimated scripture of book around 510 CE based on speculative parameters in text.
Vishuddha Siddhanta Panjika is a panjika (almanac) that was first published in 1297 Bengali year. Madhab Chandra Chattopadhyay of the Bengal of undivided India was the first editor.
Shri Venkatesh Bapuji Ketkar was a scholar, astronomist and astrologist from Maharashtra, India. This forgotten star from the field of Indian astronomy, the legendary 'Jyotirvid' born in 1854, dedicated his life for the research and purification of Indian almanac system (Pañcānga) of timekeeping. It is a lesser known fact that he predicted the existence of 'Pluto' in 1911; even before its discovery in 1930. He authored a number of books on astronomy, Pañcānga and literature and also published many research papers in European science journals.
Chile can be considered astronomy's world capital. In 2011, Chile was home to 42% of the world's astronomical infrastructure consisting mostly of telescopes. In 2015 it expected to contain more than 50% of the global infrastructure by 2030. In the Atacama desert region of northern Chile, the skies are exceptionally clear and dry for more than 300 days a year. These conditions have attracted the world's scientific community to develop in the Atacama desert the most ambitious astronomical projects in the history of mankind.
Mahamahopadhyaya Chandrasekhara Singha Harichandana Mahapatra Samanta, better known as Pathani Samanta, was an Indian astronomer and scholar who measured the distance from the Earth to the Sun with a bamboo pipe, and traditional instruments. He was born on 13 December 1835 in Purnimanta Pousha Krishna Ashtami, and died on 11 June 1904 in Purnimanta Adhika Jyeshtha Krishna Trayodashi.
Narayan Chandra Rana was an Indian Professor.
Ajit Kembhavi is an Indian astrophysicist. He is presently a Professor Emeritus at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, (IUCAA) at Pune, India, of which he was also a founder member. He also serves as a Vice President of the International Astronomical Union.
