My visit to Iceland on lookout for Northern Lights aka Aurora Borealis

I'm creating this blog post to share some of the reflections of my visit to Iceland last month (February 2013). In fact the main reason behind my visit to Iceland was to see the northern lights, aka aurora borealis. Ever since I'd heard of them and seen them in pictures and internet with breathtaking time lapses, I developed an utter desire to see them in reality. Beyond doubt Scandinavia is the place to be, but you have to make sure you're within a decent latitude to see this magical phenomenon. Far north in Norway or Sweden , Finnish Lapland or distant Iceland would be potential candidates for your location if you're close to Europe. As...

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Sri Lanka to Get Space Academy with Chinese Support

Seeing the stars from earth is one thing but it is the dream of every young astronomer to one day be able to travel into space and gaze at them from beyond the sky. There is now a possibility that this dream will become a reality for some lucky Sri Lankans, as the country’s first space academy is planned for launch next year. It will be aided by the Chinese as part of a joint venture between the Great Wall Industry Corporation of China and Supreme Satellite Private Ltd Colombo and aims to inspire young people and increase their interest in space. The academy is planned for construction in Kandy and promises to make the city synonymous with space-related knowledge and technology. ‘It will use Chinese world-class expertise in space science to further boost the size and quality of Sri Lanka’s...

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Live Streaming/ Webcast of Total Solar Eclipse from Cairns, November 2012

Yet one more solar eclipse! Well, this time it's gonna be a total solar eclipse. Maybe you're already in Cairns or almost there, or somewhere in the South Pacific, which are the places to be, to be able to witness this amazing celestial phenomena. As I blog this post from Sri Lanka, there are few more hours left until the start of this total solar eclipse. So we're just about there. As for me, and those who couldn't manage to be in the right places, there is this wonderful tool, Internet facilitating us to watch the eclipse online, as numerous groups bring out their own live streams of the eclipse, and updates. Believe it or not there's...

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Revival Event of ASSC ends a Success !

The evening of the Saturday 03rd November saw a great success for the revival event of ASSC held at Subodhi premises. There was an encouraging attendance of both school students, teachers as well as members themselves of ASSC outnumbering the expected. Founder-Director of Subodhi institute Rev. Father Mervyn Fernando, Rev. Father Anthony, Dr. G T F De Silva from University of Moratuwa, astrophysicist Professor Kavan Ratnatunga, Mr Nishantha Dilruk, one of the senior members of ASSC and Mr. Tharaka Gamage from Rivira Newspaper were among the guests. The event comprised of few informative talks and an out-door astronomy activity...

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Internship opportunity at IAU Office of Astronomy for Development

I've come across this internsting internship offered by IAU Office of Astronomy for Development and here is information regarding that in case you're interested. You can aslo find the same in PDF at ftp://ftp.saao.ac.za/outgoing/kg/astro4dev/OAD-InternshipOpportunity-13-03-2012.pdf IAU Office of Astronomy for Development: Internship OpportunityThe International Astronomical Union (IAU), in partnership with the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), has established the global Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town, South Africa. The OAD began its work on 1st...

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