Special Talk

Astrolabes as sources of records of eruptive stars

Speaker: Shyalaja B S (Jawaharlal Neharu Planetarium)

Date and time
Venue
RRI Auditorium

Abstract

An astrolabe is a handy device used by astronomers for more than 1000 years. It served as a very efficient navigational tool and was designed by astronomers well trained for observations. The functioning of the instrument will be described with the details of the components. The emphasis is on the positions of the stars marked on its rotatable dial. These dials serve as records of the positions of stars as seen at the time of designing the astrolabe. The procedure and associated difficulty to identify the stars on the dial will be described. One such record on an astrolabe includes the SN1604. A survey of these star dials hints at the recurrent nova T CrB in the 16th and 17th centuries. This gains importance since its eruption of T CrB is over-due and is expected to happen any time now.


 

 

Poster

Short Biography
B S Shylaja worked on the binary stars with Wolf-Rayet components for her doctoral thesis. She continued her research on comets, dwarf novae and magnetic and metallic (Am) stars. After joining the Planetarium, she engaged herself in the educational activities which included teaching over week ends other than the sky theatre show productions and outreach activities. She worked on various interactive demonstrations models and taught a range of age groups. Currently she is working on the history of astronomy in India, which encompasses study of medieval period manuscripts, stone inscriptions and temple architecture.