Beyond Earth Stargazing✨

To the most surreal experience and a beautiful beginning to the year 2024! 

It all started when Liyana (YWCA Hostel friend) came up with the idea to go to Camp Hideout in Temghar for stargazing. What excited me the most was the part where she told me that it's not just gazing at the stars, but experts from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) were going to share knowledge about stars, planets, different constellations, and deep-sky objects!

A week before the stary weekend we started planning everything - conveyance, warm clothes, essentials and so much more. I couldn’t wait to see what was to come in our journey!

Slowly more people got involved in the trip, and six girls from YWCA Hostel – Liyana, Deboparna, Devika, Vasvi Di, Apranta Di, and I – were ready to go!

On January 20, 2024, we woke up at 7:00 a.m., had breakfast, and quickly got ready. We arrived at Andheri Station, took a train to Dadar, and rushed to the Dadar bus stop to catch the Shivneri Bus to Pune. The journey to Pune had finally begun! 

In Shivneri Bus

The bus stopped in the middle for a quick break; we rushed to freshen up and get something to eat. We almost thought we lost Apranta di in the crowd but found her at the very last minute! Phew…

Just an hour away from the Pune bus stop we had to get down, I couldn’t be more excited to reach the campsite! We got down at Chandani Chowk Bus Stop (Not the Delhi one XD), booked an Uber and headed towards the campsite.

Little did we know the car we were in was ill-suited for the rocky road ahead of us. Dancing and singing some great Bollywood travel songs played by the in-house DJ Ritvi, we were just 5 km away from our destination! However, our enthusiasm took an unexpected turn, revealing a rocky and poorly constructed road. We stopped and asked around, only to discover that this challenging terrain was our only route to the campsite. Thanks to our driver, he hit the accelerator and we took the road less travelled. We were losing hope because we were still a few kilometres away, and the road was not getting any better. 

We called the campsite organizer asking for help as the driver was not ready to go ahead. In a gesture of kindness, they were sending someone from the campsite to rescue us. The driver dropped us at a resort nearby and our eyes were treated with a beautiful view. Racing to the garden off the road, we enjoyed the view and took pictures creating timeless memories while we awaited our next mode of transportation.

Somewhere On The Roads of Mulshi Village

Amidst the click of shutters, a sturdy jeep came to pick us up. We took our backpacks and ran towards the jeep! The journey ahead was no less than a roller coaster ride; up, down, left and right – we were all dancing with the turns of the road.

Finally, we had reached the destination! We were all soaking-in the sun with the beautiful view of the hills, the calm lake and the greenery around us! All the tiredness of the journey had swooshed away with the refreshing air. Our grumbling stomachs found relief in warm tea, bhajia, and bhel puri.

Savoring Snacks With Scenic View

We were now ready to catch the beautiful sunset, but it wasn’t easy. We had to trek our way up there. Dividing into two groups, Liyana, Debo, and I led the way, while Vasvi Di, Devika, and Apranta Di followed. Slippery sand and rocky path couldn’t stop up from reaching on top of the mountain. We sat in peace, soaking in the calmness of the scene! It was a treat to our eyes to see the layers of mountains, the still lake, lush greenery and a sky painted in orange, yellow, and blue! 

Sunset Point

We started to trek down – slipping, sitting and balancing ourselves, and stopped for another adventure – “The Swing”. With cold feet and racing hearts we did the swing! Feet reaching heights parallel to the mountain before me, I could feel the cool breeze gently touching my face. The sun was beginning its descent on my right, radiating a warm glow across the landscape. It was a moment of connection with the world around me, as if time stood still and I became one with the mountains and the setting sun. As I stood there for others, I felt a profound appreciation for the simple yet magnificent moments that nature offers.

The Swing

Back at the campsite, we relaxed before exploring the night sky with a telescope, uncovering the night sky's wonders.

Telescope in a Stary Night

We observed: 

1. Saturn – the 6th planet of the Solar System. The rings were clearly visible, and it looked exactly like the emoji🪐.

2. Titan – the largest moon of Saturn.

3. Andromeda Galaxy - the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. Not very clear or sharp but looked like a white patch of cotton.

4. Orion Constellation - a hunter in Greek mythology. Finding Orion's Belt is the easiest way to locate the Orion Constellation. Orion's Belt is formed by three bright stars followed by his legs, face, body, shield and sword. Orion is the outer part of the Milky Way.

5. Orion Nebula - the closest large star-forming region. It is an enormous cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium, and other ionized gases where vast numbers of new stars are being formed. Its bright, central region is the home of four massive, young stars that shape the nebula. To spot Orion Nebula, we spotted 3 stars of Orion's Belt and Orion's legs; in the middle, we can spot Orion Nebula. It is one of the brightest nebulae in the sky.

6. Canis Major – The dog of the Hunter/Orion. Just below Orion, we spotted - Sirius, the brightest star not only in Canis Major but in the entire sky. Sirius is the neck of the dog followed by a triangular head, the body starting from Sirius and the end of its neck, legs, and the tail.

7. Taurus – Just above Orion, we observed Taurus. First, we spotted a V-shape consisting of an actual star cluster. The bright red star that shines in the V represents the Bull’s fiery eye.

8. Jupiter – the 5th planet of the Solar System. The white circle like a tablet with 2 grey parallel lines which were ongoing storms on Jupiter. It falls far short of the mass required to become a star; otherwise, we would have 2 stars in our solar system – The Sun and Jupiter.

9. The Moon – The blue line outlining the moon with the craters and mountains on it. My eyes couldn't believe it – the moon that I had seen in pictures since childhood was now right before me, a surreal closeness I had never experienced before.

10. Alpha Centauri – it is two binary stars that are sunlike stars. It’s the closest star to our sun.

11. Omega Centauri - the largest star cluster of the Milky Way. Due to so many stars together it looks a white patch.

12. Dead star with ghostly glow.

13. Cassiopeia - It is a constellation that consists of five stars. They form an "M" or "W" shape.

14. How to spot the North star with the help of Cassiopeia - The three stars that form the middle portion of the "M" or "W" can be used to roughly locate the North Star. Look at this point as if it were an arrow. Follow the direction of the arrow forward. You should eventually land on a somewhat bright star. This is the North Star.

15. Gateway to Heaven – a structure of a parallelogram. It is called the gateway of heaven because the sun, moon, and all the planets go through it. 

16. Gemini - The two heads of the Gemini Zodiac Sign are 2 stars of the gateway of heaven and the other two stars are part of their legs. Along with their neck, body and hands that go on each other's shoulders.

17. Procyon Star or the Little Dog Star – it is in the constellation of Canis Minor and is part of the Dog Star, Sirius. It helps you tell time at night as well. It rises from the east and sets in the west.

We also learned that:

1. The North star is right above the axis of the North Pole so it never changes its direction. There is no such star in the South Pole so they are not lucky to spot the direction at night like us.

2. If it's not blinking, it’s a planet and not a star.

3. Our sky moves 15 degrees in an hour (360 degrees/24 hours = 15 degrees/hour).

4. Story of the Tilt of Earth – We learned that it happened because of the “big whack,” a collision between proto-Earth and a Mars-sized planet and as a result, Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees and the Mars-sized planet is the moon. Thus, it shows how the formation of the moon is tied up with Earth’s current axial tilt, which is responsible for climate-moderating seasons on Earth.

The Moon

After looking at how beautiful the universe is beyond Earth, I felt so little (or as Liyana says “Chintu”) thinking about how big the universe is. We are just a part of one solar system out of tens of billions of solar systems in one galaxy (Milky Way) out of 100 billion other galaxies in the entire universe. Multiverse is true, indeed! 

We had our dinner, attended the presentation the professor had prepared for us, and sat near the bonfire looking at the sky. The professor from IUCAA informed us that if we want to see Planet Venus and other constellations, we need to wake up at 4:45 a.m. to see them before sunrise. We all went to our tents! 

There was another experience for all of us. No one except Vasvi Di had ever slept in a tent. It wasn’t the most comfortable stay but definitely an adventurous one. I shared the tent with Devika and Liyana, whispering and giggling we managed to set ourselves in the tent. Struggling with the chilly night and compact tent, we were able to sleep for a few hours until it was time to wake up and look at the sky again!

Experiencing The Tent Life

Stepping out of the tent, we found ourselves beneath a completely transformed sky! Some constellations had set with time and others had risen.

Stary Night In Vegre Village

We gathered our courage to face the chilly temperature and made our way to the observation spot. The bonfire was lit and we were seeking comfort in the warmth of the flames. The sky was even prettier with so many stars. We were waiting for Planet Venus to rise. Meanwhile, we observed and learned:

1. Scorpio Constellation – Zodiac sign Scorpio. It is the inner part of the Milky Way

2. Sagittarius is the center of the Milky Way

3. Ursa Major/The Great Bear/The Big Dipper/ Saptarishi – The seven stars. It looks like a bowl with a handle.

4. How to spot the North star with the help of Ursa Major - the two bright stars that form the side of the bowl/square farthest away from the handle's tip. These are the "pointer stars." Drawing an imaginary line connecting the pointer stars. Extending that line, we were able to spot the North Star. (It was behind the hills, but we got the idea of where it was)

5. Planet Venus – Just like a bright star with a tint of orangish-yellow on the corner.

Planet Venus

After watching the sunrise, we had breakfast in the warm sunlight, followed by a reading session of Zodiac Signs Traits of each of us by Devika. It was so much fun to get to know each other. We wondered if we really knew the true Debo after reading her zodiac sign’s personality traits.

Bright Sunlight Breakfast

Now the challenge was how do we go back? The organizer suggested that Yogesh from the camp would drop us halfway where we could get on a bus that would drop us at the Pune city bus stop. We enjoyed few moments near a flowing river on the way to the bus stand.

Wandering By The River

Little did we know what was waiting for us, definitely not a bus! We couldn’t catch the bus, and the next bus was coming after 1 hr, so we decided to get an auto and all 6 of us somehow on top of each other adjusted in a small auto. We then reached the bus stand and took the bus to Swargate, Pune. We were so tired that all of us slept in the shaky bus without worrying about the final stop.

After getting down at Swargate Bus Station, we started to look for a place to eat and thanks to Google found a restaurant with not-so-good food. We rushed to catch the next bus to Bombay and slept our way through. Arriving at the hostel, a hot shower and dinner was the perfect end to the day!

Vasvi di’s inquisitiveness, Liyana’s coordination, Debo’s sarcasm, Devika’s stories and Apranta di’s posing ideas made it a perfect trip!