¬Û¤ù

TECHNICAL NOTE

On 30th of January 2010 by the Lunar Calendar, it was a Full Moon in India. However, it was a Full Moon with a difference. On this full moon, the “Moon was more Full”.

Reason – The moon rotates around the Earth in an elliptical orbit. In the orbit there are pairs of Aphelion and Perihelion. Aphelion is the Maximum orbital radius from Earth to Moon and Perihelion is the Minimum orbital radius. This means, when the Moon is at Aphelion, it is farthest from Earth and when it is at Perihelion, it is closest from earth.

This is a photo of the Full Moon - ‘Moon at its Full’ when it was at Perihelion. As a result, it was 15% bigger than normal Full Moon and 30 % Brighter.

I do not know whether it is a very rare occurrence or not but I am sure this is something that is not very frequent. Towards the evening, when Delhi winters are densely fogged this Moon was sharper, clearer, brighter and bigger.

MOON AND INDIANS

Moon is an integral part of the in the Indian society, the society of Faith & Belief that it is and the Moon plays a significant role in every walk of life at all ages.

It begins with becoming your Maternal Uncle the moment you are born. ‘Chanda Mama’ (Chaand equals Moon) meaning Uncle Moon comes every now and then to a new born’s house to bless it, love it and also to sing a soothing lullaby to put the child to sleep.

As the child keeps growing, he / she become the ‘Chaand Ka Tukra’ – meaning ‘A Slice (Crescent) of the Moon’.

In Adolescent life, the ‘Chaand’ is symbolic of the most prized possession and makes parents proud. Its feminine version is the epitome of beauty and without a mention of “Chaand” no ballad of love can ever complete. Several of Bollywood’s (Indian Film & World’s Largest Film Industry) legendary songs are around ‘Chaand”.

‘Chandra’ – a derivative of Chaand, is a more than popular Indian masculine name with ‘Chaandni’ being its elegant and graceful feminine version.

Come Midlife and turn to astrology. If in your planetary positions. The “Chaand” is ill-placed; you have to wear a Moon Stone – whitish Milky stone.

Come Old Age and you blame all your body aches and pains to be severe on Full Moon Days.

However, Chaand- the Moon continues to be ever-charming, ever-beautiful, ever-pure and nothing seems to fade its legend.

“Chaand Pe Bhi Daag Hai” is a popular folklore proverb which goes as a consolation saying – “Come on buddy, even the moon has spots.”

(Chandrayaan - India is now ready with its first spacecraft mission to the moon.

Chandrayaan-1 is India's first unmanned spacecraft mission to the moon. It aims to further expand our knowledge about Earth's only natural satellite, the moon. With well define objectives, Chandrayaan-1 mission intends to put an unmanned spacecraft into an orbit around the moon and to perform remote sensing of our nearest celestial neighbour for about two years. For all your questions about Chandraayan, read frequently asked questions about Chandrayaan at ISRO website http://www.isro.gov.in/chandrayaan/htmls/faqs.htm) This portion of text courtesy ISRO.

CREDITS FOR THE SHOT

Raisaheli, my 8 year old daughter who accompanied me to the terrace and constantly helped me with her little fingers doing the odd jobs, during the shot.