Planetary Society, India

14/11/2025

**17 Years to India's First Step to Moon - Chandrayaan1 (MIP)* : The Moon Impact Probe (MIP), carried onboard Chandrayaan-1, was released after the spacecraft entered a 100-km lunar orbit. It separated at *8:06pm** and impacted near the south pole at *8:31pm** on 14 Nov 2008. *During** MIP's journey to Moon Surface, CHACE instrument of MIP detected water in the Moon’s extremely thin exosphere showing the Moon is not completely dry. *Chandrayaan-1** was originally planned only as an *orbiter**, but on the advice of the then Honourable President Of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, ISRO added the MIP, giving India its first touchdown on the lunar surface. fb.com/planetarysocietyindia

06/11/2025

5th November - 10th Launch Anniversary of ISRO's Mission to Mars ... MARS ORBITER MISSION (MOM) .. Yes 10yrs ago on 5 Nov 2013.. ISRO launched this mission and MOM reached Mars by Sept 2024. Above is one of the images taken by MoM while Orbiting Mars. That place on Mars is called Schiaparelli Crater ..
Interestingly, in the popular Hollywood movie The Martian (2015), the Schiaparelli Crater on Mars becomes the only hope for the stranded astronaut (played by Matt Damon) to return to Earth. 🌍
This poster was created to mark the 2nd Launch Anniversary of ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) in 2014.
Schiaparelli crater is an impact crater on Mars having a diameter of ~460 km and located at ~30 S, 170 E. This crater is situated near the Martian
equator in western Arabia Terra region on Mars. This image of Schiaparelli crater was taken by Mars Colour Camera (MCC) on 15-01-2015 at a
spatial resolution of ~470 m from an altitude of 9000 km.

02/11/2025

*LVM3/CMS – 03 MISSION LAUNCH – 5.26PM : Today at 5:26 PM, the mighty LVM3-M5 rocket — a 640,000 kg giant, fondly nicknamed “Bahubali” for its sheer power — will lift off from Sriharikota, carrying the advanced CMS (GSAT-7R) satellite weighing 4,410 kg.
Today the goal of the scientist to place the satellite into an initial sub-GTO orbit of 170 km × 29,970 km. The journey to achieve this target will unfold as the rocket burns its fuel through three powerful stages, completing the entire flight in just 16 minutes and 6 seconds.
GSAT-7R is a multiband communication satellite (UHF, S, C, and Ku bands) designed to provide secure communication links for the Indian Navy, connecting ships, submarines, and aircraft across the vast Indian Ocean. Once it reaches its final orbit, it will cover nearly 2,000 nautical miles (about 3,700 km)* from India’s coastline.
After the launch today in next few days this satellite using onboard fuel will reach Geostationary Orbit (approx.. 36000km) from Earth. Its expected to serve the country for next 10-12 year. This satellite replaces the earlier GSAT-7 “Rukmini”*, launched several years ago, bringing upgraded technology, wider coverage, and enhanced communication capabilities to strengthen India’s maritime network.
While wishing ISRO ALL THE BEST . Let’s all tune in and celebrate another proud chapter in India’s space journey!
🎥 Watch live at 5:26 PM:

Watch the live launch of ISRO’s LVM3-M5 carrying the CMS-03 communicationsatellite from SDSC/ISRO Sriharikota. Tune in for real-time coverage, commentaryand ...

07/09/2025

Third Eclipse of the Year 2025 a “Total Lunar Eclipse” will occur on 7th/ 8th September, 2025. In 2025 there are four eclipses in which two are Lunar Eclipses (14 March & 7th Sept 2025) and two are Solar Eclipses (29 March & 21 Sept 2025). However, only one eclipse is visible in India.

The Eclipse on 7th/8th Sept 2025 is a Total Lunar Eclipse and is visible in India. Across the world, visible in the region covering parts of Antarctica, western Pacific Ocean, Australasia, Asia, Indian Ocean, Europe, eastern Atlantic Ocean.

Timings of Eclipse in Indian standard Time (IST) - 7th /8th Total Lunar Eclipse: Eclipse in various phases (see explanation above) begins at 8.57 p.m. on 7th Sept 2025 and Ends at 2.26 a.m. on 8th Sept 2025.

The noticeable Umbral phase begins at 9.57 p.m. IST to 1.27 a.m. IST. This is the time people across India would see darkening of Moon’s disk as the Earth’s shadow engulfs Moon. That people would see Moon disk slowly entering Earth’s Darker Shadow at 9.57pm and start leaving at 1.27 a.m.

Importantly the Totality phase begins at 11.00 p.m. IST to 00.23 a.m. This is time people would see entire disk of the Moon is darkened with reddish or orangish hue or mix of both depending on atmospheric conditions in the location of observer. Lunar Eclipse can be seen with bare eyes without any telescopes as promoted by some event organizers.

3.5 hrs after Sunset– 7/8 Sept Moon position/movement (East-South East – Southwest) – Bare Eyes : On 7th September, people can spot the Moon rising in the eastern sky. By around about 3½ hours after sunset, it will already be well above the horizon between the east and east-southeast.

After a brief, hardly noticeable penumbral phase, the umbral phase begins at 9:57 pm. This is when the upper part of the Moon’s disk will start to darken, making the eclipse clearly visible. As the night progresses, the Moon will drift across the sky: it will be in the southeast during totality (11:00 pm to 12:23 am), then gradually shift toward the south. By the time the visible part of eclipse ends at 1:27 am, the Moon will be seen heading toward the southwest.

During this journey, the Moon will glow with a copper-red or orangish-red hue at the peak of totality, before slowly brightening again as Earth’s shadow recedes at end of Eclipse

When Earth Block all the Sunlight. During Lunar Eclipse. How is Moon appears in Red/Orangish Color?

“Its fact that Moon is not self-luminous. It is visible to us because Moon reflects the light of Sun. So During a Lunar Eclipse i.e at Totality Phase when Disk of Moon is fully immersed in Earth’s Dark Shadow. Its assumed that Earth completely block the Sunlight from falling on Moon make it invisible. However, instead of moon completely disappearing surprisingly till appears in red or orange color” Dr.Phanesh Babu Arechoastronomy Expert

Reason: In reality, a lunar eclipse happens because of the alignment of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. The Earth blocks most of the sunlight from reaching the Moon, but the atmosphere around Earth plays a crucial role. Some sunlight still passes through Earth’s atmosphere, where it bends into Earth’s shadow. In this process, the atmosphere scatters away much of the blue light and allows the red and orange light to pass through. It is this filtered light that softly illuminates the Moon, giving it a reddish or orangish glow instead of making it disappear completely.

Is it always Red? Social Media Views, Ticket Sales for Observation events? “The exact color is not always the same — it depends on conditions such as dust, smoke, pollution, clouds, or local atmospheric conditions of observer. Therefore, not every total lunar eclipse appears “blood red.” Dr. G.Ramdas, Geophysics,O.U.,

To increase views for the posts/videos on social media and ticket sales for Sky Observation events. Few people organizations are using unscientific terms like “Blood Moon” whereas no such term exists in astronomy. Moreover, all this can be seen as attempt to sensationalize or create fear and sense of danger in minds of Students & public.
Here few articles published in prominent newspapers

05/06/2025

*Japan’s Private Mission – To land on Moon Tonight ( at 00.47 a.m. 6 June 2025) - iSpace Company’s - HAKUTO-R MISSION 2** : Tonight, the Japanese private company ispace is set to attempt a soft landing near the Moon’s North Pole — a mission that could redefine the future of commercial space exploration.
This ambitious mission is designed to serve multiple clients by delivering payloads, conducting surface operations, and pioneering legal and commercial experiments beyond Earth.
If successful, it will mark a historic milestone: the first-ever commercial lunar landing carried out entirely by a non-governmental entity. From launch to landing, and including all post-landing activities, the entire mission is being executed without the involvement of any government space agency — a giant leap for the private space sector.
“A small step for soil, a giant leap for space law”
One of the most groundbreaking aspects of this mission is a symbolic yet powerful transaction: the sale of lunar regolith to NASA.
ispace will collect a small amount of lunar soil — not to bring it back, but to photograph and document it on the Moon. NASA will then pay around $5,000 for legal ownership of this soil in place. This isn’t a scientific exchange; it’s a legal experiment to establish commercial ownership of extraterrestrial resources.
*Why does this matter**?
Under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, nations are prohibited from claiming ownership of celestial bodies. But what about companies? This mission could challenge and reshape international understanding of space law by opening the door to private ownership of lunar resources, without violating the treaty’s core principles.
If successful, ispace's mission could set a precedent that redefines how humanity accesses, uses, and governs off-Earth resources — and who gets to benefit from them.

17/05/2025

*PSLV-C61/EOS-09 Mission - 18 May 2025 - Watch Live - 5.30am Onwards - Best Wishes* : Click Live Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y63x4kjvAc0 or type bit.ly/18may2025 .

On 18 May 2025 at 5:59 AM, ISRO will launch the Earth observation satellite called EOS-09 using PSLV-C61 launch vehicle. The PSLV-C61 is an XL variant of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and weighs around 320,000 kg. It will carry the 1,696 kg EOS-09 satellite into Earth’s orbit. *In simple terms*, on 18 May 2025 the goal is to place EOS-09 into a stable orbit *529 km* above the Earth, and this is planned to be completed in *17 minutes and 39 seconds*. To achieve this, the launch vehicle will burn its fuel in four carefully timed stages, finally reaching the precise speed needed for the satellite to remain in orbit.

The EOS-09 satellite, often called a "spy satellite" by the media, is set to become one of India’s eyes in space. It is well known fact that Earth observation satellites like the *Cartosat series of satellites* played a major role in the *Surgical Strikes* on Pakistan. However, these satellites cannot capture images at night and their imaging is affected by weather conditions, which is why satellites like EOS-09 are needed.

**EOS-09 Satellite* is designed to take detailed images of the Earth 24x7 x 365 days all weather i.e. every day of the year, at any time—day or night—and even through clouds, rain, or fog. This is possible because of Synthetic Aperture Radar in it. Once placed in orbit this satellite is going to serve the country for 5 years and support a wide range of Civilian Earth observation applications (example agriculture, forestry, hydrology, Disaster management etc.).

Though, government usually does not highlight the military or strategic uses of the high-resolution data and imagery generated. *Satellites like EOS-09*, and other synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites in India’s fleet, can support border monitoring, detect changes in terrain, and assist national security operations—day or night, in any weather conditions.

*All the best to ISRO*! The country cannot thank you enough for your dedicated efforts in the service of the nation*. Facebook.com/planetarysocietyindia N.Sri Raghunandan Kumar, Director, Planetary Society of India

ISRO’s 101st launch mission with PSLV-C61 on 18 May 2025 at 5:59 AM IST carries EOS-09, a 1696 kg Earth observation satellite, into a Sun-Synchronous Polar O...

09/05/2025

*Today 9 May 2025 - Zero Shadow Day in Hyderabad on at 12:12 PM**

Today Hyderabad will experience Zero Shadow Day at 12:12 PM, an annual celestial event where vertical objects will cast *no shadow** as the Sun will be exactly overhead.

*Why Does Zero Shadow Day Happen**?
Zero Shadow Day occurs because of the Earth’s tilt and the Sun’s movement in the sky. The Earth is tilted at 23.5 degrees, causing the Sun to follow different paths across the sky throughout the year.

*What happens to Shadows on normal days of the year** ?
On normal days, the Sun moves across the sky at an angle, which causes shadows to form at different angles depending on the time of day.
However, on Zero Shadow Day, the Sun is directly overhead. This means that its rays come straight down, so there are no shadows cast from vertical objects for a brief moment.

*Can Zero Shadow Day be experienced by all people in India or all hemispheres of Earth? What about people in Delhi or Ladakh ? Or Does it happen only few places but in different Dates?**
If we observe Earth Globe. Zero Shadow Day can bexperienced by People who are living in the Between the regions of **Tropic of Cancer (23.5°N) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5°S)*, there are two days each year when the Sun is directly overhead. For cities like Hyderabad (17.4°N), this happens twice a year—once while the Sun is moving northward and again when it moves southward. No Zero Shadow cannot be observed in areas like Delhi which located too north of Tropic of Cancer (the imaginary line of Latitude). On Earth

This year, the first Zero Shadow Day in Hyderabad will occur on May 9, 2025, at 12:12 PM. The second Zero Shadow Day will take place in August 2025.

*What to Do and Observe?**
If the sky is clear and the Sun is not obstructed by clouds, place a vertical object (like a tube, stick, or bottle) on level ground. *Starting** at 11:45 AM, observe the shadow of the object *every 5 minutes until 12:45 PM**. Take note of how the shadow behaves and specifically observe what happens to the shadow at exactly 12:12 PM. At that moment, you’ll see the shadow disappear completely as the Sun reaches its zenith.

*Other Districts – Cloudy Skies**
The exact date of Zero Shadow Day depends on the location of the observer. If you miss the observation in Hyderabad on May 9, 2025, or experience cloudy skies, don’t worry. *You can** try again tomorrow or later in the week. However, note that you may not see the shadow completely vanish under or near the vertical object. Despite this, it's still an excellent opportunity to learn about the movement of the Sun and the science of shadows.

24/04/2025

*Triple Conjunction of Planets with Moon 25-26 April 2025 - Rare Celestial event of Venus and Saturn Conjunction - Moon, Planets are separated by enormous distance though they appear near each other in the sky - *Issue of Unverified Misleading Viral News Of Smiley Face in the sky involving Moon, Venus and Saturn* :

On April 25, 2025, a conjunction will occur between the Moon, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury in the sky due to an astronomical phenomenon called a conjunction. In simple terms, a conjunction occurs when two or more celestial bodies appear near each other in Earth's sky despite the enormous distances separating them. For example, the Moon is 384,000 km from Earth, while Saturn and Mercury are millions to billions of km away from Earth or the Moon. Yet, due to the conjunction, they appear near the Moon on April 25, 2025. However from now many weeks people can spot Venus and Saturn in the East Direction before Sunrise. Whereas Saturn as now is too dim to be visible with bare eyes due to distance from earth.

*Venus - Saturn Celestial Meeting* : Interestingly, there’s also a rare celestial event of Conjunction of Venus With Saturn at 5:32 AM IST on 25 April 2025. What’s interesting to note is that Venus orbits the Sun on one side of Earth, while Saturn’s orbit is much farther away, beyond Mars and Jupiter. Despite orbiting the Sun in different paths, sometime like on 25-26 April during "Conjunction" these celestial bodies appear near each other.

*VIRAL REPORTS OF SMILEY FACE ON 25 April 2025* : However, there’s unverified news circulating about a "smiley face" formation involving Venus, Saturn, and the crescent Moon visible from India. In reality, Saturn is too dim to be visible during this event, and city pollution further worsens the visibility. Members of the Planetary Society of India, who have been observing the sky for the past three days, attempted to capture images and videos of Venus and Saturn (visit www.ournewplanets.info for images/Videos).. While Venus is visible, Saturn remains invisible to bare eyes. This is because as of now, Saturn is too dim because it far from Earth compared to its position on September 21, 2025. But as the days pass, the distance between Earth and Saturn will decrease, making Saturn brighter and more visible. Therefore, the news of a "smiley face" involving the Moon, Venus, and Saturn is exaggerated and unverified, likely spread for views on social media.

31/12/2024

*Happy New Year 2025* to all of visitors of the page.. People in Kiritimati in Kiribati Country at 3.30pm IST 31Dec2024 have *welcomed* the New Year 2025. *We Wish* all our well wishers, students, teachers and friends all more good health, wealth, happiness and Success in Year *2025*. Let's make our country and this world *more better place* to live for every creature 🌍.
*N.Sri Raghunandan Kumar*
Director
Planetary Society of India

27/12/2024

My Tributes to Former Prime Minister of India Dr.Manmohan Singh. It may be note that's under his tenure as Prime Minister Chandrayaan 1 Mission was launched on 22 Oct 2008. Also this was also first time or first operational flight of PSLV Launch Vehicle in XL Variant. On the day of launch Prime Minister who was in Japan sent a congratulations note to ISRO.

15/08/2024

*SSLV-D3/EOS-08** Mission - *9.17a.m** 16Aug2024 - *Watch** on DD or Link👇 - *ALL THE BEST ISRO** : An hour ago (at 02.47am) the *Six-and-a-half-hour** countdown leading to the launch of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) third&final developmental flight commenced. **16Aug 8.50* a.m. onwards Click 👉www.youtube.com/live/DRmxoAb6vlo watch. *Though* official ISRO website didn't mention exact time of launch.It was published@social media. *Earlier** this vehicle was flown/tested *twice** in SSLV-D1(7Aug2022) and SSLV-D2(10Feb 2023). If the SSLV-D3 launch on *16Aug* is successful. Then SSLV will join the group of *Space Launch Vehicles* like *PSLV, GSLV* to serve the nation& launch customer satellites.

*N.Sri Raghunandan Kumar*
Director
Planetary Society of India &
Planetary Group