CosmoGaze

On the 4th day of February, 2023, the Astrae Club of IISc invited sky gazers to explore the depths of the Cosmos through various telescopes that the club has. CosmoGaze attracted a huge, curious and highly enthusiastic crowd at the Gymkhana Cricket ground of IISc. Cosmogazers were amazed to observe through the telescopes the beauties of the skies like the Sun, the solar system planets like Jupiter, Venus and Mars, the Moon, and deep sky objects like the Pleiades cluster (also known as the seven sisters, Krittika, and Messier 45), the Orion Nebula (the stellar nursery Messier 42), the open cluster Messier 41 (in the constellation of Canis Major). However, the celebrity of the evening was a special visitor from the outer solar system - the "Green Comet" C/2022 E3 (ZTF). With telescopes at the ready, observers were able to get an up-close view of the comet's icy nucleus and the beautiful stream of dust and gas that trailed behind it. Some even managed to capture stunning photographs of the celestial spectacle. This wonderful sight was also screened for the crowd to watch.

The above video is a brief glimpse of the event, featuring one of our beloved ex-convenors, Hemansh Shah. He is explaining the structure of a comet and the Physics behind it. We also organized the CosmoQuiz which had questions based on what was being discussed throughout the event. The winners of the CosmoQuiz are as follows.

• 1st prize: Mayank K
• 2nd prize: Shriram, Venkatesan Iyer, Aishani Panda, Avva

We also organized an Astrophotography contest, and the winners of the same are as follows.

• 1st prize: Ravi Kesh Mishra
• 2nd prize: Mukil Saravanan
• 3rd prize: Vibhore Jain

Congratulations to all the winners and all the enthusiastic participants.

The Club is thankful to our dear mentor Prof. Aloke Kumar (Mech. Engg. Dept.) and the IISc administration, especially to the Assistant Registrar, Mr. Veeranna Kammar for their support to the cause.

Mesmerizing clicks from the winners of the astrophotography contest and the attendees!

The Pleiades Cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and Krittika (Image: Ravi Kesh Mishra)

Horse Head Nebula (centre) and Flame Nebula (bottom left) (Image: Ravi Kesh Mishra)

The Orion Nebula, also called Messier 42, is the center of the Orion's Sword (Image: Ravi Kesh Mishra)

The Andromeda Galaxy (centre), also called Messier 31, along with its satellite galaxies Messier 32 and Messier 110 (Image: Ravi Kesh Mishra)

Milky Way Patch (Image: Ravi Kesh Mishra)

Milky Way Band (Image: Mukil Saravanan)

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), the Green Comet (Image: Harshit Avasthi)

Starry Night Sky showing the Orion constellation (Image: Vibhore Jain)

Starry Night Sky showing the Pleiades cluster, the Taurus constellation (Image: Vibhore Jain)

Sirius and the crescent Moon, the dark side of which is illuminated due to sunlight reflected from the Earth (Image: Shilpa Jadhav)