Episode

Title

Contents

Emphasis / Comments

1.

Overview of the Serial

- Glimpse into the contents of the serial 

- Astronomy – the oldest science - Creation of the Universe, galaxies, stars, solar system

- Famous astronomers

- Famous telescopes.

2.

What is astronomy?

- Introduction to astronomy

- Basics of sky watching

- The objectives of astronomy

- The movement of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets in the sky

- Daily change in position of the Moon

- Seasonal change Sun’s position in the sky

- Study of astronomy as a means to understand the cosmos

3.

In the beginning

- Early ideas about the astronomical objects based on naked-eye observation

- Greek, Vedic and Egyptian ideas about the Sun, Moon and planets

- Mystery of the phases of the Moon

- Erratic motion of ‘planets’

- Apparent motion of the Sun, Moon and the stars around the Earth. 

- Changing phases of the Moon

- Terrestrial events linked to rising of stars; e.g., flooding of the Nile with heliacal rising of Sirius

4.

Patterns in the stars

- The Sumerian origin of constellations

- Early constellations

- Ptolemy’s work

- Polar constellations, Pole Star as navigation aid

- Constellations as imaginary shapes in the sky

- True nature of constellations

- Stars in a constellation not a single group but spread over great distances

- Naming the constellations

- The importance of the Pole Star as a navigational aid

- Seasonal and latitude-specific visibility of the constellations

5.

Constellations of the Zodiac

- Importance of the Zodiac

- Movement of the Sun, Moon and planets through the Zodiac.

- 12 constellations of the Zodiac

- The concept of  the Zodiac

- Ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun in the sky

- The relationship between the ecliptic and the Zodiac

- The Zodiac as a guide to the motion of the Sun, Moon and planets

- Visibility of the Zodiacal constellations in different seasons vis-a-vis the motion of the Earth around the Sun

6.

Vedic astronomy

- Astronomy concepts in the Rig Veda, Vedic Samhitas and Brahmanas

- Calendar making based on position of Moon near nakshatras

- Vedic concept of time and large numbers

- Rashis (zodiacal constellations)

- The skill of Vedic people in understanding the motion of celestial bodies on the basis of naked-eye observation and deep knowledge of mathematics

- The Vedic concept of cycles of years, eg., five-year luni-solar cycle called yuga

- Vedic use of astronomical knowledge, mostly for ritualistic purpose

- Concepts of Rashis came during the time of Varahamihira

7.

Story of the Calendar

- Calendars are a method of

  keeping time

- Calendars are based on solar

  motion, lunar motion, or a

  combination of both (luni-

  solar)

- The evolution of the

  Gregorian Calendar based on

  solar motion relative to Earth

- The Hindu Panchang

- calendars used in other parts

  of the country

- Calendars based on Sun’s motion keep pace with the seasons

- Calendars based on lunar motion alone cannot keep pace with the seasons

- Hindu calendar is luni-solar. It can keep pace with the seasons through a device called Adhika Maasa (intercalary month)

- Solar and luni-solar calendars employ corrections from time to time in order that they continue to keep pace with the seasons.

8.

Astronomy vs. Astrology

- Astronomy is an exact

  science

- Astrology makes use of

  positions of stars and planets

  in prediction but is mixed   with speculation.

- Predictions of astronomy

  cannot be independently 

  verified

- Being a delicate issue, this topic needs to be handled tactfully

- In astrology, 9 planets include the Sun, the Moon, and Rahu and Ketu!

- Planets beyond Saturn are not considered! 

- Method of astrological forecasting does not conform to the method of

science

9.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM AUDIENCE-I

10.

Earth at the centre – Ideas of European astronomers

- Early attempts to measure the Earth

- Aristotle’s ideas of Earth-centred universe

- Ptolemy’s attempt to explain motion of the planets using epicycles

- Spherical shape of a flat-looking Earth

- The experiment of Eratosthenes

- Aristotle’s concept of earth, water, air, and fire in a geocentric universe

- Ptolemy’s epicycles to explain retrograde motion of Mars

11.

Earth – Ideas of Indian astronomers

- Aryabhata’s ideas about a spinning Earth causing day-night cycle

- Varahamira and Bhaskara II’s explanation of solar and lunar eclipses

- Pathani Samanta, and other

  astronomers

- Jantar Mantar observatories

- Aryabhata’s simile of a boat ride to explain motion of star in the night sky

- Bhaskar II’s explanation of a solar eclipse as being caused by the shadow of the Moon falling on Earth

- Accuracy of instruments at Jantar

  Mantar

12.

A Sun-centred Universe

- Problems with Ptolemy’s epicycles

- Earth-centred model could not explain change of seasons

- Copernicus’s development of the Su-centred model

- Merits of the Copernican model in explaining observed phenomena  

- Inadequacy of Ptolemy’s model in explaining the various observed phenomena

- Rationale of the Copernican model

- Objections to Copernican model from the Church

- Publication of Copernicus’s book On the Revolution of Celestial Spheres at his death bed

- Success of Copernican model in explaining observed astronomical phenomena

13.

Planetary paths I

- Deficiencies of Copernicus’s circular orbits

- Biography of Copernicus

- Inability of circular orbits to account for correct planetary positions

14.

Eclipses

- Eclipses: What are they?

- Geometry of eclipses

- Solar eclipses: partial,

  annular and total

- Frequency of solar eclipses

- Lunar eclipses

- Frequency of lunar eclipses

- Ascending and descending nodes (Rahu and Ketu)

- Why solar eclipses do not occur on every New Moon Day

- Why Lunar eclipses do not occur on every Full Moon Day

- In a calendar year, minimum number of solar eclipses must be 2, maximum 5. Minimum number of Lunar eclipses could be zero, maximum 3. But total number of eclipses (solar + lunar) cannot exceed 7.

15.

Total Solar Eclipses

- Predictability of solar eclipses : Saros cycles

- Spectacular nature of a total solar eclipse

- Chain of events preceding and following totality

- Baily’s beads, diamond ring, corona, total darkness

- Story of Chinese Astronomers beheaded for not predicting TSE

- Story of Columbus and Red Indians

- Associated superstitions

- Early ideas about eclipses

- Mechanism of lunar and solar eclipses

- Occurrences quite natural, caused by orbital movements of the Sun, Moon and the Earth and their periodic alignments

- Predictability of eclipses

- Eclipses not evil or harmful

- Solar eclipses can be safely observed using proper eye filters

- Eclipses can help decide dates of historical evens.

16

Total Solar Eclipse of 22 July 2009

- Path of Totality

- Weather conditions

- Best locations to observe

  Totality

- Watching TSE safely

- Various phases from 1st contact to 4th contact

- Change in the physical conditions from 1st to 4th contact

- Use only safe solar viewers or observe pin-hole projected image

- Possibility of temporary / permanent injury to eye and how to avoid it

17

Planetary Paths II

- Works of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler

- Kepler’s laws of planetary motion

- Biographies of Tycho Brahe and Kepler

- Kepler’s work with Tycho’s data

- Enunciation of three laws of

  planetary motion by Kepler

- Evolution of astronomy from a religious dogma to a perfect science

18

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM AUDIENCE-II

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM AUDIENCE-II

19

The Starry Messenger

-Use of telescope by Galileo

- Discovery of Moon’s craters, Jupiter’s Moons, sunspots, phases of Venus, starry  nature of Milky Way

- Biography of Galileo and his contributions to mechanics, engineering, art

- First person to use telescope

- 2009 is the 400th anniversary of the first ever use of telescope by Galileo

- His famous experiment at Pisa

- His publication of Starry 

  Messenger in 1610

- He died the same year Newton was

   born

- Galileo’s inquisition

20

Newton’s genius

- The need for a mechanism to explain the motion of planets

- Development of the theory of gravitation

- Explanation of paths of the Moon, planets, and comets

- Prediction of return of Halley’s comet

- Newton’s deduction of the nature of the gravitational force from Kepler’s third law

- Role of Newton’s law of gravitation in the  prediction of orbit of Halley’s comet and in the discovery of Uranus 

21.

Newton’s Contributions

- His contributions to

  Mechanics, Mathematics, 

  Optics

- Gravitation

- His deduction that the same force that pulls an apple to the ground also keeps the Moon in orbit

22.

Einstein’s Universe

- Limitations of Newtonian gravity

- Precession of Mercury’s orbit

- General relativity, space-time continuum

- Force vs field

- Gravitation as distortion in space-time continuum

- Bending of light by gravity

- Inability of Newton’s gravitation to explain the precession of the orbit of Mercury

- Essential features of general relativity

- Concept of space-time continuum

- Evidence of light bending during 1919 TSE

- Einstein’s theory and existence of black holes

- Brief accounts of the work of Prof. Vaidya and Prof. A.K.Raychaudhuri

23.

Biography of Einstein

24..

Beyond the eye

- Limitations of the human eye

- Lippershey’s invention of the telescope

- Galileo’s telescope  

- Telescope as a tool in astronomy

- Low light catching ability of the human eye

 - Higher light gathering power and magnifying power of a telescope

- Principle of refracting telescopes

- Objects appear larger and brighter in a telescope

- Telescope could bring distant objects closer and reveal objects invisible to the naked eye

25.

Amazing reflectors

- Limitations of refracting telescopes; spherical and chromatic aberrations

- Difficulties in making large achromatic lenses

- Advantages of reflecting telescopes; absence of spherical and chromatic aberrations, ease of making and handling large mirrors

- Reflecting telescopes, Newtonian, and other types

- Multi-mirror telescopes

- Principle of reflecting telescope

- Parabolic surface to eliminate spherical aberration

- World’s large telescopes; Hale, VLT, Keck, India’s Vainu-Bappu telescope at Kavalur

- Use of film, photomultipliers, and  CCD to capture image

- Remote telescopy

26.

Beyond the visible

- Infrared astronomy

- Radio stars and radio

  astronomy

- Radio telescopes, Jodrell

  Bank, Ooty, GMRT, VLA

- 1932 Karl Jansky discovers

  radio noise from Milky Way

 Galaxy

- Discovery of pulsars and

  quasars  using radio waves

- Cosmic background 

   radiation

- Indian Radio Astronomy

  Programme

- IR astronomy vital to understand

  how stars form (1960)

- Ground-based IR observations from Gurushikhar, Hanle and other

observatories

- Basics of detection of radio waves

- Radio antennas

- Jansky’s discovery

- Groto Reber’s dish antenna

- Radio ‘images’ of the sky

27.

View from the space

- A large part of electromagnetic spectrum including X-rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet ray of certain wavelengths cut off by Earth’s atmosphere

- Astronomy from space allows observation in these wavelengths

- X-ray stars, Chandra X-ray telescope and the discoveries made by it

- The infrared sky, IRAS

- Ultraviolet sky, IUE

- Gamma rays from space, Compton GRO

- Chandrayaan, Astrosat(2009)

- Chandrayaan II

- Aditya(2012)

- Limitations of ground-based observation

- Going beyond the atmosphere

- First X-ray image of the Sun taken by V2 rocket-borne X-ray camera in 1947

- Discovery of other X-ray objects

- Discoveries made by the Chandra X-ray telescope

- Brief accounts of IRAS, IUE and Compton GRO

- The cosmos revealed in its most violent form

- Description of the objectives and achievements of Hubble, Chandra

- How Hubble was upgraded /

  repaired in space

- Experiments Astrosat and Aditya would carry

28.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM AUDIENCE-III

29.

The Sun and the origin of the solar system

- The Sun, a moderate sized

   yellow star

- The origin of Sun

- The structure of the Sun

- Sunspots and solar features

- Energy generation in the

  Sun

- Origin of solar system

- Aditya Sun Probe (2012)

- A secondary or a tertiary star

- Life exists on the Earth due to the

  Sun

- Current knowledge about the Sun

  and its structure

- Evershed flow (100 years of discovery)

- The future of the Sun: A Red Giant

- Aditya Sun Coronagraph

30.

The terrestrial planets

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

- Why they are called

  terrestrial planets

- Important planetary data

- Structure and atmospheres

- Moons of these planets

- Space probes to Mercury,

  Venus and Mars

- Mercury and Venus show phases and are visible only in the morning or evening

- Transits of Mercury and Venus

- Probability of water, life on Mars

- Mars, the future destination for

  humans

31.

The gas giants

- Jupiter and Saturn

- Important planetary data

- Structure and atmosphere

- Rings of Jupiter and Saturn

- Galilean satellites of Jupiter

  and their peculiarities

- Satellites of Saturn

- Space probes to these

  Planets and their satellites

- The giant planets

- Galileo first observed the satellites

  of Jupiter

- Origin of Saturn’s rings

- Saturn is the planet with maximum

  number of satellites

32.

Beyond Saturn

- Discovery of Uranus, 

  Neptune, and Pluto

- Planetary data

- Structure and atmospheres

- Satellites

- Space probes to these

  planets and their satellites

- Discovery of Uranus by Herschel

- Narrow rings and a large family

- Uranus’ peculiar moon Miranda

- Uranus: Third largest of gas giants

- Rotational axis oriented close to its

  orbital plane

- Discovery of Neptune, a team effort

- Neptune: Most distant and the smallest gas planet

33.

Pluto loses its planetary status

- New IAU definition of

  planets

- Pluto lost its status as a 

  planet in   2006

- Planets, dwarf planets, and 

  small solar system bodies

- Eris, the other trans- 

  Neptunian objects classified

  as dwarf planet.

- Discovery of Pluto by Tombaugh

- A dwarf planet now!

- Pluto and Charon a double planet?

- Kuiper belt

- Ceres, though an asteroid, is 

  classified as a dwarf planet

- New Horizons on way to Pluto

34.

Asteroids

- Asteroidal belt between

  Mars and Jupiters

- Classification of asteroids:

  C, S and M types

- Near- Earth asteroids

- Some near Earth asteroids

  could hit the Earth.

- NEAR spacecraft to Eros

- It is believed that the impact of an

  asteroid or comet wiped out   dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

35.

Comets

- What are comets?

- Origin of comets: Oort’s

  cloud

- Structure of comets

- Orbits of comets

- Superstitions associated with

  comets

- Comets and origins of life!

- Comets develop tail as they

  approach the Sun

- Famous comets: Halley’s comet,

  Encke, Hale-Bopp

- Dust tail and ion tail

- Missions to comets

36.

Exoplanets

- Discovery of extra-solar planets

- Discovery of life-forming molecules in interstellar clouds

- Possibility of life in space

- New techniques of search for extra-solar planets

- Earth-like extra-solar planets

37.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM AUDIENCE-IV

38.

The life of stars

- Birth of stars

- Role of mass in deciding life-span

- Classes of stars O, B, A, F...etc

- Chemistry inside stars

- Variable and binary stars

- Birth of stars by gravitational contraction of gas and dust cloud

- Star birth regions, Orion nebula, etc.

- Relation between rate of hydrogen burning and life-span

- Massive stars age faster

- Variable and binary stars

39.

Supernova, white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes

- Final stage of a star depends on its mass

- Moderate-sized stars expand into red giant and end up as white dwarf

- Massive stars end up in sudden bursts of energy as supernova

- Neutron Star or black hole left behind as remnant from supernova explosions

- Nucleosynthesis of heavy element in supernova

- Black Holes and Hawking Radiation

- Stages in a star’s life after

  hydrogen is used up in the core

- Formation of red giants by

  expansion of the outer shell

- Formation of white dwarfs,

  Chandrasekhar Limit

- Type I and Type II supernovas

- Why Sun is a secondary or a

   tertiary star (we find elements

   heavier than Fe⁵⁶  in the

   atmosphere of the Sun)

40-

Binary Stars, Pulsars, X-ray binaries

- Pulsars as rapidly spinning stars that flash periodic bursts of radio / optical energy

- The Crab pulsar

- Not all pulsars are born due to a supernova explosion. Some could be binary systems of stars.

- How a binary system evolves

- X-ray binaries

- Discovery by Jocelyn Bell in 1967

- Pulsars formed as a result of 

  supernova explosion  are rapidly

  rotating neutron stars

- Pulsars in a binary may have their

  age in the neighbourhood of a

  billion years

- Pulsars as standard clocks

41.

Starlight messages

- Formation of spectra

- Solar spectrum, Fraunhofer lines

- Spectra and composition

- Stellar classes, H-R diagram

- Splitting of sunlight by prism (Newton)

- Dark lines in solar spectrum, relation to Sun’s composition

- Stellar spectra and stellar composition

42.

Saha and his contribution

- Saha’s contribution in explaining spectral lines of stars in terms of ionisation

- Helped in estimating temperature of stars from spectral lines

- Biography of Saha

- Brief outline of Saha’s work on thermal ionisation

- Explanation of stellar spectra on the basis of Saha’s work

- Saha and Calendar Reform Committee

43.

Chandrasekhar and his limit

- Chandrasekhar’s work explained instability of white dwarfs

- Chandrasekhar limit 1.4 solar masses

- Biography of Chandrasekhar

- Brief outline of Chandrasekhar’s work

- Chandrasekhar’s calculations explaining Chandrasekhar limit

- Tiff with Eddington

44.

Measuring the cosmos

- Distances in astronomy much larger than terrestrial distances, need larger yardstick

- Apparent and absolute magnitude of stars

- Measuring distance by measuring parallax

- Light-year and parsec

- Cepheid variables

- Limitations of conventional terrestrial units for measuring astronomical distances

- Distance makes stars appear lighter or dimmer

- Concept of parallax and its use for measuring large distances

- Limits of measurement by method of parallax

- Cepheid variables as indicators of distance

45.

Galaxies

- Most matter in the universe concentrated in galaxies

- Classification of galaxies

- Elliptical, spiral and irregular galaxies

- Most galaxies a collections of billions of stars have a generally flattened shape a central bulge

- Galaxies tend to cluster together

- All galaxies spin slowly

- Galaxies as  conglomerations of billions of stars

- Prominent spiral galaxies, Milky Way galaxy, Andromeda galaxy

- Clusters of galaxies

46.

Our Milky Way galaxy

- The Sun and the solar system as part of the Milky Way galaxy or the Galaxy

- It takes its name from the Milky Way, the irregular luminous band of stars that can be seen on clear, Moonless nights

- At the very centre of the Galaxy lies a remarkable object – most probably a massive black hole surrounded by an accretion disk of high-temperature gas.

- The object is readily detectable at radio wavelengths and has been dubbed ‘Sagittarius A’ by radio astronomers.

- The Milky Way as seen from Earth

- View of the Galaxy with the position of the Sun indicated

- Dimensions of the Galaxy

- Astronomers did not know that the Galaxy had a spiral structure until 1953

- Discovery of ‘Sagittarius A’, probably a black hole at the centre of the Galaxy

- Rotation of the Galaxy

47.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM AUDIENCE-V

48.

Cosmological Models

- Origin of the Universe

- Red Shift and Expanding

  Universe

- Big Bang theory: generally

  accepted

- Formation of galaxies

- Origin of the Big Bang theory, work of Lemaitre, Gamow, and others

- Discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation as evidence of Big Bang

49.

Alternative cosmologies

- Steady State theory

- Quasi-steady State theory

- Hoyle and Narlikar

- Evidence in support of quasi-

  steady state theory

- Open Questions:

1. Why was the early Universe so hot?

2. Why the Universe is uniform over large scale?

3. Why did the Universe start out with critical rate of expansion to avoid re-collapse?

4. Universe contains local lumps. What is the origin of these density fluctuations?

50.

Smashing particles to understand the structure of the Universe,Dark matter, excess of matter over antimatter

- Nature of dark matter

- Elementary particles and

  fundamental forces

- Smashing high energy

  fundamental particles could

  help understand how the

  Universe evolved soon after

  the big bang

- What gives particles their    

  mass? The search for the

  Higgs particle

- Why dark matter?

- Search for dark matter

- Evidence of dark matter

- Particle accelerators

- Large Hadron Collider at CERN

- Possible outcome of results

51.

Explosive phenomena in the Universe

- Explosive phenomena like gamma-ray bursts, X-rays

- Quasars

- Mechanism of violent phenomena

- Source of high-energy radiations

52.

Life in other parts of the Universe

- Possibility of life on Mars:

  Could it or did it exist?

- Extra terrestrial civilizations

- How could  we possibly

  detect life elsewhere?

- SETI

- Life forms (bacteria) detected at a height of 41 kms in ISRO balloon experiment : resistant to UV!

- This question has fascinated

  human beings for centuries!

- Fiction: War of the worlds, Contact

- Films: Star Wars, Contact

- Pioneer I and Pioneer II

53.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM AUDIENCE-VI

54.

Tomorrow’s excitement

- Journey to Moon

- Journey to Mars

- Chandrayaan I and II

- Astrosat

- Aditya space coronagraph

- Challenges to Einstein’s

  theory of General Relativity

- Careers in astronomy

- The excitement is unending

- Space probes by several countries

- Efforts of NASA and ESA