Khagola Darshana

 (ಖಗೋಳ ದರ್ಶನ)

Advent of a Kannada Compendium on Astronomy

and allied disciplines

 

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of star stuff.”

 - Carl Sagan (Cosmos)

 

The Publication

For a variety of reasons, the availability of good reference books in Kannada (and most other Indian languages) on science subjects such as Astronomy, and related disciplines like Astrophysics and Cosmology, is rare.  This is one reason why the popularity of such subjects is not comparable to their importance in mainstream scientific studies and research.  With a view to bridging this gap, Navakarnataka Publishers, Bangalore, have come out with an impressive compendium titled Khagola Darshana, edited by Dr B S Shylaja and Dr T R Anantha Ramu, both scientists and renowned popular science writers in Kannada, with contributions from about thirty other scientists, science educators and teachers.  The profusely illustrated 472-page volume printed on A4 size double-column large font high quality art paper was formally released in a superbly organized and well-attended function on 29 July 23 at Bangalore, chaired by Dr A S Kiran Kumar, former chairman of ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organization. Most of the contributors, including this writer, were also present. Here is a group photo of the participants taken after the function:

Presented in 35 chapters, large and small, the larger ones divided into subsections, together with a few appendices, this work covers a wide-ranging number of topics, including the basics of astronomy and astrophysics, elements of cosmology, earth and planetary studies, observational astronomy, historical aspects, exploration in different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, space travel, etc., with adequate emphasis on Indian contributions to ancient astronomy, key Indian contributions and active institutions.  Dr Shylaja, apart from her key editorial responsibility, has also authored or co-authored quite a number of chapters. Some of the articles have been translated from their original English sources, including chapter 33 contributed by me.

The Content

The following is a chapter-wise list of the major topics and appendices presented in the compendium:

1. Earth science and astronomy, with their historical and sociological connections, motions of planets and other celestial objects, observational astronomy, ancient Indian astronomy, and the application of Newtonian mechanics.
2. A review of the basics of physics, gravitation, electromagnetic radiation and stellar spectra, application of Doppler principle, principles of relativity.
3. Naked eye wonders of the night sky, the night sky with binoculars, the use of telescopes and the formation of images through them.
4. The Earth, its chemical composition, magnetism, interaction with solar radiation.
5. Basic Geophysics, age of the earth, oceans, plate tectonics, continental drift, evolution of life, etc.
6. The Moon – the first step to the stars, phases, lunar eclipses, tides, exploration of the moon, Chandrayaan.
7. The Sun – a natural laboratory, solar energy, nuclear fusion, solar eclipses, the internal structure of the sun, sunspots, solar activity, solar telescopes and space probes.
8. Planet Mercury, properties, its magnetosphere, precession of perihelion, detailed exploration, precession of perihelion, general relativity.
9. Venus, orbital characteristics, transit, atmosphere, exploration.
10. The Red planet Mars, motion, surface features, properties, exploration, water.
11. The Giant Jupiter, Galileo’s observations, Galilean satellites, composition, radio emissions, exploration.
12. The Ringed Saturn, structure of the ring system, satellites, exploration.
13. Uranus, rings, axis of rotation, exploration, JWST image, satellites.
14. The Blue planet Neptune, structure, composition, structure, satellites, rings.
15. Minor planets, nomenclature, types of orbits, origin, properties, exploration, Kuiper belt objects.
16. Comets – guests from outer space, tails and their types, orbits, nomenclature, composition, the cometary zoo, exploration, famous comets.
17. The Solar system, our family, origin, structure.
18. Planetariums, bringing the stars down to earth, projection systems, different types, mobile planetariums, LED domes.
19. Stars, brightness scale, distances, colors, temperatures, spectra, sizes, magnetospheres, birth of stars, white dwarfs, eclipsing binaries, spectral classes, life cycle of stars, neutron stars, black holes, supernovae and their types.
20. Are we alone in the Universe? Astrobiology, Dyson sphere, origin of life, extraterrestrial life, Drake equation, search for extraterrestrial intelligence, different techniques.
21. X-ray astronomy, some milestones, pulsars.
22. High energy astrophysics, gamma ray astronomy, Cherenkov radiation astronomy, neutrino astronomy, solar neutrinos.
23. Infrared astronomy, James Webb Telescope.
24. Radio Astronomy, Radio telescopes, arrays, Very Large Array.
25. Our Milky Way, galactic properties, rotation, dark matter, nebulae.
26. Interstellar matter, composition, hydrogen and helium, emission nebulae.
27. Island universes, red shifts, galactic structure, Hubble constant, types of galaxies, galactic clusters.
28. Black holes, properties, blackholes at the galactic center, evidence for blackholes, direct imaging, gamma ray bursts.
29. Universe, super clusters of galaxies, Sloan digital survey.
30. Mathematics and Universe, famous astrophysicists.
31. Gravitational Collapse, curvature of space, space-time singularity, Swarzschild sphere.
32. Gravitational waves, LIGO detectors, Gravitational astronomy.
33. Dark Energy, Einstein’s blunder, CMB Radiation, big bang expansion, role of supernovae, normal and dark matter, dark energy, Hubble constant anomaly, accelerated expansion and ultimate fate of the universe.
34. Reflections on cosmology, Einstein’s world, curvature of spacetime, end of the universe, murmurs of the past.
35. Well, being of astronauts, safety and healthy, launch and reentry, microgravity, degenerative diseases, food and sleep, isolation, medical issues, etc.

References, internet resources, further reading.
A1: Names of constellations, night sky charts.
A2: The brightest stars.
A3: Visual binaries.
A4: Fault lines on the globe.
A5: Historical Supernovas.
A5: Nearest stars.
A6: Flowchart of knowledge.
A7: Observatories in India.
A8: Locations of observatories in India.
Glossary of terms in Kannada with English equivalents.
Introductions to the contributors.

At the release ceremony, it was very thoughtful of the publishers to call and introduce each of the contributors/co-authors to the dais to receive her/his complimentary copy of the publication from the chief guest. The picture below captures this honor being done to me:

Some highlights

Reflecting the indigenous as well as novel nature of the publication, some of its distinctive features are:

• Flowery, often poetic, Kannada words/terms used throughout the text, especially as chapter headings, to enhance its appeal to lay readers. E.g.: ಅಂತರಿಕ್ಷಕ್ಕೆ ಹಂತ ಹಂತದ ಮೆಟ್ಟಿಲು (as subtitle of the book), ನಕ್ಷತ್ರಗಳಿಗೊಂದು ವಿಳಾಸ, ಒಂದಿಷ್ಟು ಇತಿಹಾಸ - ನಮ್ಮದೂ ಸೇರಿ, ಬರಿಗಣ್ಣು ಬಿಚ್ಚಿಡುವ ಬೆರಗು ನೊಟಗಳು, ಬುಧ ಚಿಕ್ಕದು ನೋಟಕ್ಕೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕದು, ಕೆಂದೂಳಿನ ಅಂಗಳ – ಮಂಗಳ, ಸಣ್ಣ ಸದಸ್ಯರ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಸಮೂಹ, ನಕ್ಷತ್ರಗಳು ಭೂಮಿಗೆ ಬಂದಿಳಿದಾಗ, ಹೋಗೋಣ ಬನ್ನಿರೋ ಹೊಸನಾಡಿಗೆ, ವಿಶ್ವವನ್ನೇ ಅಳಿಸಬಲ್ಲ ಅಗೋಚರ ಶಕ್ತಿ.
• Popular and folklore related astronomical phenomena, like the names of stars and their associated proverbs, both refined and rustic, in Kannada:
  
  
  
• A sub-section (chapter 1.3) on the fascinating history of ancient Indian astronomy.
• A long chapter (2) by way of a revision of the basic principles of physics required for the rest of the book.
• A long chapter (5) devoted to geophysics whose relevance to astronomy and astrophysics is not always fully appreciated.                                                                                          
• A glossary of technical terms in Kannada with their English equivalents.
• Many superb pictures, especially from NASA sources, such as the ones relating to the James Webb Space Telescope on pp 334-55 and elsewhere.
• Most of the contributing writers are also practicing scientists or experts in the concerned discipline.
• List of astronomical observatories, cantered around different electromagnetic wavelengths, in India, in Appendix 7, and the map in Appendix 8.
• List of historic supernovas in Appendix 5
• A chapter (30) on some great astrophysicists and cosmologists, including three Indians*, and their major contributions.

[* one of these, Prof C V Vishweshwara, from Karnataka, was also a popular science writer in both Kannada and English. His delightful article appears on p417 (as chapter 34), immediately following mine. Incidentally, he and I were both students of Central College, Bangalore in the late fifties. Course wise, he was just one year ahead of me. In all other respects, he was light years ahead of me!]

The Challenges 

Despite all their rich experience of over six decades, the publishers have surely faced many challenges in bringing out such a product, something distinctive, considering the magnitude of the task in an environment where the local language is rarely chosen as the medium to carry information on frontier developments in science and technology.  The challenges would have included the publishers’ commitment to such an undertaking after assessing its pros and the cons, the need to identify a large number of contributors, and editors, of well established reputation who would accept the task, and get the editors to work with the contributors on their individual assignments within a reasonable time frame. They would have also had to work with the technical staff on the illustrations and graphics which are such key aspects of the publication, and on various other aspects of the production process itself.

On their part, the editors would have faced the challenge of interacting with the contributors, deciding on their specific tasks, getting these tasks completed within a reasonable time frame, and complete the onerous task of integrating the contributions from diverse sources into a finished product after guiding the technical staff on the extensive illustrations and graphics employed in the publication.  In parallel, the editors would also have faced the challenge of agreeing on the precise technical terms in Kannada, equivalent to those commonly employed in English, as well as the extent to which they would retain the terms used in English unaltered.

The Translations

While much of the publication has evolved from texts written directly in Kannada, the editors have also opted for translated versions of several chapters written originally in English.  These chapters are: 20.1, 20.2, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28.2, 32, 33 and 34.  They have been translated by a few people who also appear to have a strong background in the disciplines concerned.  If, and to what extent, the original English text has been ‘lost in translation’, either in content or intent or both (often an inherent disadvantage in translations), is something for the discerning reader to judge if he/she is proficient in both languages and can view both versions together.  Towards this end, and purely as an academic exercise, I reproduce below the two versions of my own contribution (Chapter 33*), the full extent of eight pages of each of them shown side by side, page wise. The fact that they are out of sync is something to be expected, often because of different page layouts and choice of illustrations.

[* I have selected this particular chapter only because I have access to both versions]

Incidentally, the English version of the article appearing here is itself a modified and updated version of the article that first appeared in my blog (see here) on 27Oct11. Also, the co-editor, Dr Shylaja, opted to get the article translated from another person only after I had expressed my own inability to do so because of unfamiliarity with most technical terms in Kannada as also on account of my demonstrated inexperience in writing in Kannada*.

[* Someone had jocularly suggested that I could have assigned the job to google translate online. After trying out a few largely technical paragraphs recently, I don’t treat the suggestion anymore as jocular. I wonder how much easier the job will prove to be if it is fully powered by the latest in AI!]

(Note: If necessary, the images below can be blown up to their full size by clicking on any and opening it in a separate window.) 

Some Observations

From personal experience, I know how difficult it is to coordinate and edit the work of diverse writers into a single coherent entity.  Inevitably, and rightly or wrongly, critics and enlightened readers point out errors, mistakes and their own personal dissatisfaction (as well as praise) on certain aspects of the publication. These will have to be faced, addressed in due course and remedied to the extent possible when a new print or edition is brought out.  For my part, I would dearly like to examine the whole publication as an enlightened reader and offer my comments.  But, considering the sheer size of the volume, it is too early for me to be in a position to do so. However, something obvious, and hard to cut down, is the extent of overlapping content across different chapters in the book.  Perhaps this is best left untouched in a heterogeneously sourced work of this nature!

Epilogue

The listed price of the book (₹1,950) may discourage some individual buyers, but should be perfectly alright for institutional buyers as also others with the means who may wish to use it as a lasting reference work.  Hopefully, the publishers will soon bring out a paperback version at a more affordable price, especially for students.  Thereafter, one hopes it will not be too long before electronic versions are also made available, including an e-book, ಹಂತ ಹಂತದಲ್ಲಿ!