‘Stonehenge’ 200 km from city a haven for astronomers
Dr B.G. Sidharth, director of the Birla Planetarium, said that the first observatory at Rangapur, 65 km from the city, has also been affected by light pollution.
“Unless one is very far away, on a hill or mountain, practising astronomy in today’s time is difficult, which is why the astronomy community here is growing weaker,” he said.
The Japal-Rangapur Observatory under Osmania University, open for research and practical work for postgraduate and PhD students, as well as for the public, has been affected by more lighting coming up in the nearby villages but still has clear night skies, said Dr Shanti Priya, head, department of astronomy, OU. She agreed that the dark sky experience of a few years ago is something that this generation will never be able to get.
“We have held observation classes in the past few weeks for the conjunction occurrences among other events, for our 40-50 PG and research students. The LED lights around have had an effect on the observatory, but if the government takes some measures to increase the scientific temper while keeping in view the convenience of people around, like installing LED light covers, it will solve the issue to a great extent,” said Dr Shanti Priya.
According to the world light pollution map, the location of the Rangapur Observatory falls in a rural/suburban transition sky, where the galaxy M33 in Triangulum, a key indicator of sky conditions visible to the naked eye, is difficult to see. In the city, the location of the Birla Science Center Observatory is one of the worst light-polluted areas anywhere in the world, making it impossible to locate the M33 galaxy.
Astronomers in the city now demand that government take steps to protect the few spots left in and around the city from where the night sky appears truly dark, like the Kotpally reservoir area near Ananthagiri hills, the Pocharam dam in Medak, the Pakhal lake near Warangal, the Laknavaram lake area, among others, by making strict policies to restrict urbanisation and declare these spots as Natural Dark Sky Sites.
Amateur astronomers have also brought to light an archeoastronomy megalithic site, similar to the Stonehenge, 200 km from Hyderabad, which falls under the village of Mudumal in Mahbubnagar district, where light pollution is not felt.
They demand that these sites should be preserved and protected for astronomy enthusiasts.