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India.com
3 days ago
- India.com
The Best Hidden Clifftop Views For Stargazing Near Mysuru
Mysuru stands as the cultural center of Karnataka state while earning fame for its royal architecture and traditional cultural activities. Mysuru holds both an urban charm and untouched natural attractions that transform it into an excellent stargazing location for astronomy fans. The city of Mysuru enables stargazing by offering select cliff locations that face little light pollution allowing chaotic views of space. The following list presents seven secluded locations which deliver extraordinary star-gazing perspectives near Mysuru. 1. Chamundi Hills: A Convenient Escape Within a 13-kilometer distance from Mysuru city lies Chamundi Hills which represents one of the easiest places to observe stars. The main attraction on Chamundi Hills is the Chamundeshwari Temple while visitors find peace in this location because it exists outside Mysuru's city center. The lack of powerful artificial lights during clear evenings gives observers stunning opportunities to see stars from Orion and Cassiopeia as well as watch the Milky Way. The stargazing venue is available both by hiking trails and by vehicle parking at the summit which appeals to casual observers alongside families. 2. Biligiriranga (BR) Hills Wildlife Sanctuary: Nature's Observatory The BR Hills area within 80 kilometers southeast of Mysuru doubles as an important biodiversity hot spot and an ideal place for people who want to observe stars. The sanctuary exists at more than 5000 feet elevation where visitors can see throughout the night sky because the area does not have city lights. During winter weeks spectators can view Jupiter and Saturn most clearly thanks to the skies becoming crystal-clear at this location. The combination of camping among the stars with the surrounding vegetation enhances the adventurous ambiance of your nighttime observatory session. 3. Nugu Dam: Tranquility Amidst Water and Sky Nugu Dam provides a rarely-seen combination of peaceful surroundings and celestial sky views in the district about 35 kilometers south of Mysuru. The absence of artificial lights from surrounding forests and the extensive reservoir enables perfect viewing conditions during meteor showers including Perseids and Geminids. Photographers and nature lovers especially love this location because the water surface reflects starlight in a way that creates a magical atmosphere. 4. Kabini Backwaters The Kabini backwaters near Mysuru stand at approximately 90 kilometers from the city and serve as an outstanding area for observing the stars and night sky. The Nagarhole National Park maintains this region as an untouched area to prevent urban factors from creating disturbances. From your calming position by the undisturbed waterbody you can experience the natural sounds playing through the night sky and thousands of stars from your vantage point. The night skies in this location allow observers to easily identify nebulae and galaxies using telescope or binocular viewing. 5. Melkote: Spiritual Serenity Under the Stars The small town of Melkote is situated at a 50-kilometer distance from Mysuru where visitors get to experience traditional temples along with spiritual scenery. The stars create an enchanting show because of the high elevation around the town of Melkote. The skies of Melkote become illuminated with starlight during religious festival evenings when village gatherings conclude at night. The tranquil setting at this location creates an ideal atmosphere for all visitors who want to experience both spiritual and astronomical elements. 6. Bandipur Tiger Reserve: Wilderness and Wonder Combined Bandipur Tiger Reserve exists about 80 kilometers south of Mysuru and serves as a second location to observe distant wilderness with the universe. The elevated protected location of this reserve functions as a natural dark space exposing viewers to an absolute clarity of starlight. Your choice between forest guesthouses camping and eco-lodges accommodation provides the perfect blend for experiencing both the natural wildlife encounters alongside cosmic viewing in a completely unique adventure. 7. Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta: The Highest Point in the Region Standing at 1,450 meters above sea level, Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta reaches the highest point of Chamarajanagar district where it rests about 60 kilometers outside Mysuru. The forested hill turns into a perfect spot for star watchers when evening arrives because of its smooth grasslands and morning fog. The elevation at this peak provides excellent visibility for observing the sky because of the unblocked horizon views. The pleasant wind and unlimited starry sky create a mystical environment which seems unreal. Tips for Stargazing Near Mysuru The following guidelines will help you enjoy unobstructed views from these hidden clifftop observations points: The visibility for night viewing improves when you plan your visits during new moon phases due to darker skies. The importance of bringing a telescope together with binoculars and star charts with a red-light flashlight to maintain night vision cannot be forgotten. During evenings you must prepare with appropriate clothes since altitude benefits necessitate warmth. Layered clothing is recommended. Local guidelines apply to these protected areas since they offer camping facilities and waste management requirements. Final Thoughts The Mysuru vicinity displays multiple environments which welcome tourists of all interest profiles especially people obsessed with star gazing. The unique cosmic views of space become accessible through two distinct spots which include Chamundi Hills' sacred slopes and the untamed wildlands of Bandipur Tiger Reserve. When you move past the city limits you discover Mysuru acts as an entry point to both its cultural heritage and its interminable cosmic wonders. Equipped with your equipment you should shield yourself from the night's shadows while experiencing the cosmic display that Mysuru's surroundings provide.
India.com
12-05-2025
- India.com
Know Few Of The Best Hidden Clifftop Views For Stargazing Near Goa
The fame of Goa as a beach destination combined with its active nighttime life and lush landscapes reduces because the region delivers spectacular clifftop vistas perfect for watching stars. You can witness the magnificent night sky with pure clarity at these isolated locations that lie beyond city lights. Astronomy fans together with star-gazing enthusiasts will find seven undiscovered cliff viewpoints near Goa to experience marvelous celestial observations. 1. Cabo de Rama Fort Cabo de Rama Fort sits approximately 30 kilometers from Goa City so visitors can admire splendid Arabian Sea views from its cliff position. A historic fort delivers daily panoramic scenery yet operates as an enchanting nighttime location to see stars in the sky. Light pollution remains minimal at this remote location because of the absence of artificial lights so viewers can experience clear observation of Orion and the Milky Way. The height of this fort presents spectacular conditions for viewing meteor showers when the Perseids or Geminids reach their peak. 2. Dudhsagar Viewpoint Visitors come to Dudhsagar Falls for its waterfalls but they discover the same enchantment at nighttime from the vantage point by the falls. The Western Ghats mountains at this elevation position create an ideal spot to catch the entire horizon. The thick forest canopy encircling this location minimizes all forms of lighting interference thus providing perfect visibility for astronomical observations. The stars at this vantage point become visible to observers equipped with telescopes because observation conditions remain unobstructed. 3. Colva Beach Cliffs Most people who visit Colva Beach stick to the visited areas although the secluded cliff areas remain empty. Growing up between the limited activity at the beachfront, you will find these tall rock formations that create superb conditions for star-watching. Settle into the peaceful atmosphere of the cliffs when most people have left after sunset to watch the stars in comfort. Winter air produces dry conditions which boost the visibility of stars including shooting stars because of its clear atmosphere. 4. Chapora Fort Science buffs unite with nature enthusiasts at Chapora Fort due to its popularity in Bollywood movies. The vantage position on a hill offers panoramic views of the Vagator coastline together with surrounding areas to all visitors. During nighttime the darkness produced by settlements distant from the area creates ideal conditions to observe the stars. When you stand in this specific location you will clearly see major celestial patterns along with occasional appearances of planets such as Venus and Jupiter. 5. Talpona River Estuary People searching for peaceful time alone can enjoy splendor and cosmic sightlines from cliffs located around the Talpona River estuarine region. The location gets its isolation from area mangroves and undeveloped land which blocks out artificial light sources. The combination of the peaceful river and broad night sky space produces a dreamscape atmosphere. The full moon creates a special sight because its light reflects across the water surface. 6. Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary exists as a biodiverse protected area which lies southeast of Goa City where it borders steep hills that meet extensive forest cover. The sanctuary provides a dual purpose as a wildlife reserve together with an area that attracts space watchers. Different heights throughout the sanctuary offer better sky visibility due to the surrounding vegetation which protects against nearby village lights. According to numerous visitors the spectacular astrophysical views should be experienced by spending at least one night under the stars. 7. Mormugao Headland Near Vasco da Gama stands Mormugao Headland which presents itself as a secret observation point for stargazing enthusiasts. This rough sea-facing area extends far into the ocean region with a complete view of the distant scenery. Minimal human traffic prevailing in the Mormugao Port Trust territory ensures there is limited disturbance there. For clear night conditions the headland offers a front-row viewing experience that displays stellar performances with both star twinkling and fireball meteor displays in the night sky. Tips for Stargazing Near Goa City These five practical guidelines will enhance your experience during stargazing: Obtain clear weather information because it ensures the best stargazing conditions. Planning your trip during June to September is not recommended because these months bring heavy cloud cover to the region. The journey to star-gazing requires basics including flexible blankets alongside nutritional snacks and water bottles and repellent against pests. The use of a red flashlight is essential because of its ability to maintain night vision preservation. You should utilize stargazing applications like SkyView and Stellarium which enable users to recognize celestial formations along with planets. The conservation of nature requires you to leave behind no signs of human presence. Generously dispose of waste properly together with maintaining a respectful distance from regional living organisms. Conclusion Goa possesses more than its well-known beachfront lifestyle and cultural richness because mysterious observation points appear that reveal the universe's wonders to visitors. Both Cabo de Rama Fort and Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary offer different star-gazing opportunities from their cliffside locations although they provide separate viewing experiences. The darkness of remote Goa features places that will make you sense an unearthly dimension. You should prepare your equipment together by throwing yourself into a celestial trip while relying on celestial navigation.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Peak of ETA Aquarids comes to an end: When will the next meteor shower be visible?
Within the first five months of 2025, stargazers were treated to three dazzling meteor showers that sent "shooting stars" streaking across the night sky. The peak of the latest meteor shower, known as the ETA Aquarids, has now come and gone after becoming most active for two nights in early May. The bad news? Stargazers will have to wait a few months for the next observable meteor shower activity. But there's also good news: When the cosmic phenomenon resumes in July, spectators will be treated to a string of meteor showers – two of which will overlap during their peaks. Here's everything to know about this summer's meteor shower activity, which will hit a crescendo in August with the peak of the best meteor shower of the year: The Perseids. ETA Aquarids: Peak ends, but meteors still active The Aquarids, which first became active April 19, peaked between May 5 and May 6 as Earth passed through the densest part of the cosmic debris from the famous Halley's comet, according to the American Meteor Society. While the meteors won't be as bright or dazzling after the peak, stargazers could still catch some up until about May 28. When is the next meteor shower? 2 to peak at same time Up next, both Southern delta Aquarids and the alpha Capricornids are due to peak at the same time between July 29 and July 30, according to the American Meteor Society. The Capricornids begin their activity July 12, followed by the Southern delta Aquarids on July 18. Both meteor showers will remain active until Aug. 12. Unfortunately, neither shower is famed for being very strong. The Southern Delta Aquarids are faint meteors that are difficult enough to spot as it is. But if the moon is visible at all, it will be near impossible, according to NASA. Perseids, best meteor shower of the year, coming up In August, what is widely considered among stargazers and astronomers alike to be the best meteor shower of the year will hit its peak. The Perseid meteor shower gained its reputation for the plentiful whizzing meteors and blazing fireballs it reliably produces each year pretty much around the globe. Fireballs, large explosions of light and color, can persist even longer than an average meteor streak, NASA says. This year, the Perseids are expected to peak Aug. 12-13. But they'll be active even longer, July 17-Aug. 23. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Peak of ETA Aquarids comes to an end: When is the next meteor shower?
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Why are meteor showers so unpredictable? The sun may be to blame
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Our sun is wobbling, and this has a huge impact upon the regularity of many of Earth's meteor showers, according to new research that discovers why streams of comet dust bob and weave in and out of Earth's orbit. Stargazers are familiar with half a dozen or so bright meteor showers that return with unerring regularity every year — April's Lyrids, August's Perseids, Decembers's Geminids and others. What most people don't realize is that Earth has approximately 500 distinct meteor showers. Many of these are seemingly unpredictable. But now astronomers think they know why. When comets come close enough to the sun, they begin to warm up, which causes ices to vaporize and pockets of gas beneath the surface to expand and burst out, carrying dust into space. Although we're familiar with dusty comet tails close to the sun, tail formation can begin while a comet is still beyond the orbit of Saturn. The streams of material they leave behind linger long after their parent comet has headed back out of the solar system on orbits lasting centuries or even millennia. Related: Meteor showers 2025: When, where and how to see the best 'shooting stars' of the year Stuart Pilorz and Peter Jenniskens of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in California wanted to track some of these meteoroid streams back to their parent comet. Meteoroids are how we refer to these small dust particles and pebbles when they are in space; once they enter the atmosphere as a shooting star we call them meteors, and if they manage to reach the ground, they are called meteorites. However, tracking the streams back to their parents is not easy, because the streams move, weaving in and out of Earth's orbit and spreading out over time. The regular meteor showers that we are most familiar with come from meteoroid streams that have dispersed quite widely; some of these familiar periodic meteor showers can last weeks as Earth moves through the wide stream. However, when a meteoroid stream is still relatively young, it is quite narrow and, as it moves around, sometimes the Earth will pass through it, sparking a meteor shower. Other times, Earth will miss it. Computer simulations were having trouble explaining this movement of the streams. Then Pilorz and Jenniskens realized something that in hindsight might seem obvious. "Contrary to popular conception, everything in the solar system does not orbit the sun," said Pilorz in a statement. "Rather, the sun and planets all orbit their common center of mass, known to scientists as the solar system barycenter." The sun appears to wobble as it moves around this barycenter, which is located just outside the sun — pretty close to it, because the sun contains the vast majority of mass in the solar system. The position of this barycenter shifts, matching the orbits of the planets, particularly the two most massive, Jupiter and Saturn. It's the same principle that allows astronomers to use radial velocity measurements to discover exoplanets based on how a star wobbles about the center of mass in its system. When Pilorz and Jenniskens introduced this fact to their simulations, they found it accurately described the movement and dispersal of the meteoroid streams as they loop around the sun. The meteoroids in a cometary dust stream gain a gravitational boost, or are braked, by interactions with the wobbling sun as they pass close to it. Pilorz compares it to the way spacecraft can be sped up in a gravitational slingshot effect, or slowed down, during planetary flybys. The duo also noticed that, while beyond the orbit of Jupiter, meteoroids in a stream orbit the solar system's barycenter. Their orbit is therefore referred to as barycentric. However, inside the orbit of Jupiter, the sun's gravity is great enough to make the meteoroids orbit the sun rather than the barycenter, hence they become heliocentric. "Long-period comets spend most of their lives so far away from the solar system that they feel the tug from the barycenter," said Pilorz. "But every few hundred years, they swoop inside Jupiter's orbit and come under the sun's influence." This subtle difference results in a step-change in the motion of the streams. "We found that the two jumps in the plane of motion, when the sun takes control as the comet approaches and then again when it hands control back to the barycenter as the comet heads away, kicked the inclination and node of the orbit by a small amount," said Pilorz. "Again, if we considered the sun fixed at the center, the reason for this change is not obvious." Related: Comets: Everything you need to know about the 'dirty snowballs' of space Related stories: — Lyrid meteor shower 2025 delights stargazers with the help of a dramatic fireball display (photos) — Meteor showers and shooting stars: Formation and history — Solar system planets, order and formation: The ultimate guide To test this model, Jenniskens made a prediction that one particular meteor shower would return when Jupiter and Saturn were in certain locations in their respective orbits, their gravity pulling the barycenter and the wobbling sun in a certain direction to nudge the stream so that it cut across Earth's path. "We traveled to Spain in an attempt to record one of these showers and saw what was described in the past as 'stars fall at midnight,'" said Jenniskens. "The whole shower lasted only 40 minutes, but there was a bright meteor every minute at the peak." The motion of Jupiter and Saturn in their orbits — which last 12 and 29 years, respectively — results in this particular meteor shower returning every 60 years, Jenniskens and Pilorz found. Over millennia or longer, these meteoroid streams will disperse like the others, becoming wider. This occurs because the meteoroid stream is long as it wraps around the sun, and different meteoroids receive a gravitational kick at different times, increasing the range of orbital motions within the stream, widening it. The research was published online April 13 in the journal Icarus.
Forbes
23-04-2025
- Science
- Forbes
These Are The Meteor Showers Not To Miss In 2025 — By An Expert
In 2025, stargazers can look forward to five noteworthy meteor showers, despite some challenges ... More posed by moonlight. With the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower last night, shooting star season has begun. For stargazers, it's a big deal. Sure, you can see shooting stars any night of the week that comes as a surprise, but that's blind luck. To see them on purpose requires planning. Major meteor showers tend to come on softly, build to a crescendo on one particular night, and then fade out again. However, many of the major meteor showers in 2025 will be non-events, with strong moonlight rendering all but exceptionally bright shooting stars invisible (for example, August's Perseids will be washed out by an 84%-lit moon). Here are the five major meteor showers of 2025 to plan for — taking into account the maximum expected rates on peak night and the moon phase — the first of which is about to commence. Peak night: Monday-Tuesday, May 4-5, 2025 Named after a star in the constellation Aquarius, from which its shooting stars appear to emanate, the Eta Aquarids are caused by Halley's Comet, peaking in the early hours of Monday, May 5. The Southern Hemisphere will have the best views, with up to 60 meteors per hour streaking across the sky, while the Northern Hemisphere will see about half as many. The event will peak at about midnight, but strong moonlight means the best window is about 3:30 a.m. through 5:00 a.m.— set your alarm! Peak night: Tuesday-Wednesday, July 29-30, 2025 Though less famous than August's Perseids, the Southern Delta Aquariids may offer 2025's best summer meteor display, thanks to a 27%-lit waxing crescent moon that sets shortly after sunset. That leaves midnight to dawn perfectly dark for viewing its expected 15-20 meteors per hour. As a bonus, the same night sees the peak of the Alpha Capricornids, which will add another 5-10 meteors per hour, but with an important twist: they're well known for fireballs — slow, brilliant meteors that can outshine Venus. 385552 01: Halley's Comet in 1986. (Photo by Liaison) Peak night: Wednesday-Thursday, October 22-23, 2025 The second meteor shower created by Halley's Comet, the Orionids are fast and often leave persistent glowing trails. In 2025, they peak with a waning crescent moon just 2% illuminated, rising well after dawn. This means dark skies all night long, ideal for catching up to 20 meteors per hour. Peak night: Saturday-Sunday, November 16-17, 2025 The Leonids are famous for occasional meteor storms, though none are predicted in 2025. Still, their meteors are the fastest of any annual shower, streaking in at 160,000 mph (257,000 km/h). A waning crescent moon just 9%-lit will rise during shortly before dawn, but not interfere with the Leonids. Peak viewing will be after midnight, when observers should expect 10–20 meteors per hour — with a few spectacular fireballs possible. Peak night: Friday-Saturday, December 12-13, 2025 If you only watch one meteor shower in 2025, make it the Geminids. With up to 150 meteors per hour, they're the most prolific of the year, and their bright, slow-moving and even multi-colored meteors make them easy to see — and even photograph. In 2025, a waning crescent moon rising around 2:00 a.m. means dark skies for most of the night, particularly the prime hours between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Expect bold fireballs. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
