Siliguri, Dec. 8: An observatory in Sydney has sought the permission of the Sky Watchers’ Association of North Bengal to show on a giant screen the total lunar eclipse to be webcast live by the Siliguri-based organisation on Saturday.
The SWAN is the only astronomical organisation in eastern India to transmit the celestial event live on its websites.
People around the globe can visit www.skywatchersindia.com and www.livestream.com/swansiliguri to watch the feed.
The Sydney Observatory, one of the prominent and old centres in the world to watch sky and planets, will use projectors to show the live video on the giant screen on its premises.
“The Australian observatory has sought our consent to run our live feed on its premises. A large number of Australians will watch the event that will be screened through projectors. The request has surely boosted our confidence and morale. We understand that there is a forecast of bad weather in Sydney and the observatory officials don’t want to take any chance. They fear clouds will reduce the visibility of the lunar eclipse and that is why they have contacted us,” said SWAN secretary Debasis Sarkar.
The lunar eclipse that will be visible from across Asia and Australia will begin at 5.03pm.
The SWAN hopes that a large number of people will log on to the websites to watch the celestial event.
“The next total lunar eclipse will occur in 2014, but it will not be visible from India. Indians will get to watch the phenomenon on July 27, 2018, that is, after seven years,” said Sarkar.
A SWAN member said all arrangements were being made to transmit the event live without any glitch. “We will use four telescopes, HD cameras, webcams, laptops and an array of computer peripherals, supplemented with high bandwidth Internet connection, for the transmission, ” he said.
The webcast will be accompanied by commentaries. Experts will give basic information on the eclipse and explain the intricate structures of the magnified moon. “We will also carry out live chats through separate channels, where viewers can talk to us or put questions before us,” said Avik Chakraborty, a SWAN member.
AVIJIT SINHA
The Telegraph
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