Place :  Lonar , District Buldana
Dates: 16,17,18^th Nov 2012
Pune to Lonar – Distance 380 KM
Route : Pune-Ahmednagar- Aurangabad – Jalna – Lonar
Saad team website - http://saad.in

by - Ameya A. Deshpande

1^st knowledge which we acquired in this Informational trip was “What is GPS?” – It is ‘Gadbad Positioning System’.

From Jalna to Lonar at night 10.00 pm we relied on GPS and google maps and for last 25KM it lead us through a so called State highway which was no better than a small patchy pathway(paulwaat) through jungle and rivlets.

But none the less it got us directly to the edge of the Lonar Crater J

At MTDC Lonar , it was pitch dark and the group was already on the field gazing stars. We joined them and then the real journey to knowledge began.



Orein constellation and Nebula

 On the moonless night , the brightest one in the sky was Jupiter.

Watching Jupiter and its 4 moons through the telescopes was just the beginning of an exciting time.

Next to be seen was Taurus and Orion constellations.


Jatin sir showing Jupiter


Mr. Jatin Rathod sir( professor from Nehru center) was explaining all the details to each of us in very detail.
Galaxies and Nebulas which were just words and probably only seen on Discovery channel were now available for us to watch with our own eyes through the telescope.
My joy knew no bound on watching the Orion Nebula (Nebula is a part in galaxy where stars are born) .


Cassiopeia (on left) and Andromeda galaxy (As seen in the right picture a bit below the center)

Knowing direction using Pole star which is always at North, and finding Pole star using Cassiopeia (The M) was all so much exciting. Watching a distant galaxy Andromeda was thrilling experience. The Gate of Heavens (a set of 6 stars) through which all solar system planets and Sun and Moon passes through was an addition to our knowledge.
Watched the twin stars (Riegel or Rajanya) and the set of 7 star cluster  The Krutika nakshatra.
The main aim was to catch a glimpse of the Leonid meteor shower. A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. Most meteors are smaller than a grain of sand, so almost all of them disintegrate and never hit the Earth's surface.
Lying down in a patch of open field in the chilly night gazing the stars n meteors was a heavenly experience. We did managed to catch a view of few meteors and each time anyone saw one it was a loud round of cheer J


The beautiful Lonar Crater


Sleeping at almost 3.00am and getting back ready at 7.00am was a challenge in itself, but the whole group of enthusiast did manage the feat.
Armed with cameras, lenses, binoculars, glares n caps the SAAD group marched towards the Crater.
Info about the crater:
Lonar crater is one of the youngest crater, formed naturally due to hypervelocity meteorite impact some 55000 years back. It is a salt water lake saltier 7 times more than sea water with diameter of 1.8KM.
A unique ecosystem has evolved in the crater which is nearly 132 meters deep from top edge. We can see aquatic birds like Flamingos, Indian moorhen, Coot , Dabchick , peacocks etc.
There are couple of temples built in and around crater.
With expert ornithologist in our group we started our decent into the crater.


Saad group

Signature Web

Walking in pin drop silence, listening to various cries of birds was an enthralling experience.
We came across 3 big bee hives nestling thousands of worker bees. A signature spider with its unique designer web , various kinds of fruits n flowers.

Each object, each bird was a super model for this group of photographers. Some birds were camera conscious while the monkeys were all time ready for giving their best pose.
We saw various birds including,
Black-Winged Stilt ,

Drongo , Dove , green bea eater ,
taylor bird, ring plover , Ashy Prinia , Indian roller , Oriental white eye , Pond Heron ,  Purple sunbird , Red vented bulbul , Red-Wattled Lapwing , Rose-Ringed Parakeet , Ruddy Shelduck , Grey-Necked Bunting , Indian Robin ,
 Large Grey Babbler , Paddyfield Pipit , Plain Prinia , Red-Rumped Swallow , Red-Throated Flycatcher , White Wagtail , Wood Sandpiper etc.

Kamalja Temple


Watching all these birds and dung beetles and butterflies we reached the base of crater and to the Kamalja temple there. Here we had breakfast and some photo-shoots J

Climbing the same way back was a bit tiring than thought . After lunch back at MTDC resort was catching on some much required sleep as we had one more night of celestial gazing to come by.

 

Army of photographers



  




Bettle





Gomukh Temple at the rim of crater

 In the Evening we visited the Gomukh temple located on the rim of the crater. A perennial stream emerges from here and pilgrims visiting the temple bathe in the stream.


A very interesting evening with the lively group of SAAD members included a very informational quiz, dumb charades and so much funny Chinese whisper. It was fun with information all mixed together.

Again at night ,like dedicated soldiers , we wrapped ourselves with jackets n whatever we could lay our hands on and lied in the open field in the chilling night to catch any glimpse of the meteor shower.
And this time we were blessed to see multiple. The wait in between awakened singers , poets and gave them a good platform to showcase their singing talents .Each shooting star was greeted with a loud cheer and then notes about the direction, intensity and color. It was this fantastic combination of twinkling stars and wonderful people which kept us awake till twilight.

Sunday morning was the hardest part of all , to say adieu to the group. Wonder sometimes that less than 2 days and a group can get so bonded together, maybe it’s the magic of nature J

Right from Senior professor at Nehru Science Center to financial advisor , fashion designer , students , Radio jockey , physic professor , environmentalist , conservationist    , sales tax experts , astronomy and space physics student , insurance expert , physicist to enthusiastic parents with their smart children , this group a heterogeneous one homogeneously mixed with an intention to gain knowledge and enjoy the nature and skies.

On the way back to Pune at small town Sindakhedraja there is a nice monument of Jijabai Raje , mother of Shri Chatrapati Shivaji Raje. A hugh statue and various informative pictures are displayed at this place.

This trip was like finding a treasure of knowledge, about astronomy, about birds, about nature and ofcourse getting in touch with a bunch of very enthusiastic and passionate team of SAAD.


SAAD Group (http://saad.in)