NASO Founder Vice President Participating in IAU General Assembly, Beijing, 19-31 Aug 2012

Founder Vice President of Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO),  Mr. Sudeep Neupane, has been to Beijing, China to participate in International Astronomical Union - General Assembly (IAU-GA) going to be held from Aug 19 to Aug 31, 2012. He will be representing  (NASO) as well as Nepalese Astronomy Community in IAU. Mr. Neupane will be presenting his oral presentation on special session of Office of Astronomy for Development.

This is the continuation of NASO to represent Nepalese Astronomy at IAU and orther international meetings. So far, NASO has been to many IAU regional and general meetings/assemblies representing the Nepalese astronomy community.

Perseids reaching its pick on 11th, 12th and 13th of August

(Image source: space.com)

The Perseid meteor shower is rising to its peak, as it does every year at this time. The peak mornings will be August 11, 12 and 13. August 12 might be the best morning. August 11 might be better than August 13.  

[ IMO observations  found the timing of the mean or "traditional" broad maximum varied between λ⊙ ∼ 139.8° to 140.3°, equivalent to 2012 August 12, 07^h to 19^h30^m UT, (Nepali time: 12:45 hrs. to 01:15 hrs. next day morning)] (Source: International Meteor Organization-IMO)]

The Perseids should be a spectacular event because the Moon is in its waning crescent phase, so the light reflecting off its lunar surface should not interfere with the meteors traveling across our night sky.

The moon on those mornings will be near the bright planets Venus and Jupiter in the eastern predawn sky. It’ll be a beautiful early morning scene.

You can see the meteors any time before this date, as they have been flying across the sky since about July 17. And they will remain visible until August 24. (Source:IMO)

The meteors within the Perseid meteor shower are material from the Swift-Tuttle comet, which has a 130-year orbit around the Sun.

More on:

http://www.imo.net/calendar/2012#per

http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors

AstroFest on ToV2012- Nepal, July 4-6, 2012

Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) in association with Nepal Academy of Science & Technology (NAST), Russian Center of Science & Culture ( RCSC), Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Group Nepal ( ACRG-Nepal) -Tribhuvan University ( TU) and ESPRO Foundation organized three days Astronomy Festival with different programs in Nepal during June 4-6 , 2012 to celebrate the last Transit of Venus of Twenty-first Century. The next Transit of Venus will occur after 105 years in December 2117. To provide more opportunity for Nepalese to witness this rare celestial event in different regions of Nepal, NASO extended its supports to Pokhara Astronomical Society (PAS) in Kaski, Damak Astronomy Club in Jhapa and Nepal Astronomy and Space Science Association (NASSA) in Chitwan.

GTTP Session:

A half day workshop was organized on June 4, 2012 from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm as a special session on Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP)-Nepal. This special session of AstroFest on ToV2012-Nepal was organized in order to increase the opportunity to witness ToV2012 in Nepal. During the session, hands-on activities on safe solar viewing techniques were provided to the students from 7 selected schools.

Public Talk Sessions:

On Monday, June 4 and 5, public talks on ToV were organized at Russian Center of Science and Culture, Kamaladi, Kamalpokhari, Kathmandu by Associate Prof. Dr. Binil Aryal, Chair-ACRG-Nepal and by Associate Prof. Dr. Raju Khanal, Central Department of Phycics, Tribhuvan University (TU) at Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), Khumaltar, Lalitpur respectively.

Special Screening of “Acquainted With the Night”:

A special screening of 79 minute long Gemini Award Winning documentary “Acquinted With the Nights” held on June 4 and 5 at RCSC from 4:30 pm for the first time in Nepal with the special permission to NASO from the Michael Macnamara, Director of the documentary. “Acquainted With The Night” is a feature documentary that traces a journey through a night from sunset to sunrise. The clock dictates the stories as they change, hour by hour, from 6pm to 6am. Some stories are joined in progress; others begin in one hour, and resolve in another.

Observation Programs:

An observation program was scheduled and co-ordinated at different places of Kathmandu Valley as well as at Damak, Chitwan and Pokhara to have better opportunities for public and students to observe this rare celestial event from their nearest places.More than 5, 000 people witnessed this unique and rare celestial event in Nepal with NASO.