jupiter thrills!

saw jupiter thru our telescope for the first time tonight...no not as clear as this image above, but just seeing two dull-grey bands along the centre was enough to send me soaring.

right next to the full moon, it held its own...

Jupiter is the fourth brightest object in the sky (after the Sun, the Moon and Venus). It has been known since prehistoric times as a bright "wandering star". But in 1610 when Galileo first pointed a telescope at the sky he discovered Jupiter's four large moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto (now known as the Galilean moons) and recorded their motions back and forth around Jupiter. This was the first discovery of a center of motion not apparently centered on the Earth. It was a major point in favor of Copernicus's heliocentric theory of the motions of the planets (along with other new evidence from his telescope: the phases of Venus and the mountains on the Moon). Galileo's outspoken support of the Copernican theory got him in trouble with the Inquisition.

called some building boys too...more gasps...the beginings of the sai baba astronomy club?? err constellations ko hindi mein kya boltey?! heehee! big bear...marathi mein hum log sapt rishi boltey...haaan!