To,

Mr. Prasad Modak

We are group of students from Physics Department,

University of Mumbai. We are going to observe and conduct
some experiments during Annular Solar Eclipse on
15 Januray, 2010. These experiments are aimed at studying
radiation coming from the sun. This will provide useful
information about solar radiation effect on atmosphere of
the earth and weather changes during the solar eclipse. We
have already been to China to study Total Solar Eclipse on
22nd July, 2009 for which we had been recommended by
Dr. Jaydeep Mukherjee ( Director, NASA Florida Space Grant
Consortium, Kennedy Space Center, USA) , Dr. Mayank Vahia (
Dept. of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research, Mumbai) and Dr. A. D. Yadav ( Head,
Physics Dept., University of Mumbai).
This time we are planning to do comparative study of
previous eclipse with addition of some other experiments.
Since, we are students we have financial constraints. Our
department has been very supportive to us but they have
their own limitations. This year is also announced as
International Year of Astronomy by UNESCO. This is a part
of worldwide celebration of 400th anniversary of the first
recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by
Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler's
Astronomia nova in the 17th century. We would be sincerely
obliged if you financially support our expedition.
The activities we are planning for this expedition and
other details are listed herewith. Hoping to receive an
encouraging response from your side.

Thanking you in anticipation. Yours sincerely,

Chintamani Pai Ankush Bhaskar

P.R. Project
Leader
+91-9773597589 +91-9869670258

Our group members have been doing following activities in

astronomy

1) Meteor shower observation since last 5 years. Data has

been sent to IMO
( International Meteor Organiz\ation ), Germany.
2) Observing eclipses of the sun
3) Observing eclipses of the moon
4) Occultation: Saturn, Venus, Mars, star Antares.
5) Transits: Venus (2004), Mercury (2003)
6) Meteorite research:
I. Jagannath Meteorite Impact at Orissa in
collaboration with AGCA. II.Lonar crater
study of impactite glasses.
7) Workshops given:
I. How to teach astronomy to school children organized
by Comet Media Foundation,
India in 2005.
II.Astronomy workshops for general public every year
for popularization of
astronomy.
8) Workshops and conferences attended:
I. International conference on Planetary Science,
2009.
II. International conference on Solar Cycle organized
by PRL (Physical Research
Laboratory), Ahmedabad in 2007.
III. Young Astronomers Meet at IIT Kharagpur in 2009.
IV. International Astronautical Congress, Hyderabad
organized by ISRO in 2008.
V. Workshop on Solar Eclipse organized by SPACE, New
Delhi in 2009.
VI. Summer school at ARIES, Nainital in 2004.
VII. Summer school at IUCAA, Pune in 2008.
9) Research papers presented:
 I. About Lunar surface intensity and temperature
variation during lunar eclipse
presented at IPA (Indian Physics Association),
Mumbai chapter in 2008.
II.About solar flares and magnetic clouds at
International Conference on Solar Cycle
organized by PRL, Ahmedabad in 2007.
III.About impactite glasses and fulgurite at
International Conference on Planetary
Science organized by IPS (Indian Planetary
Society), Mumbai in 2009.

We hope that you understand our necessity and request

you to help us in this expedetion. We expect partial or
full sponsorship. I am sure by doing this you will be
contributing to the science in India and putting good
example for promoting science in India.

Brief introduction about our sun

In our daily life which is well occupied with many things

associated with our survival in today’s competitive world,
we hardly get any time to think about our sun. The word
“Sun” comes to your mind only when it is scorching on top
of your head and making you to sweat. Beyond that we never
think of the sun and its relation with billions of our
lives here on the earth. Our sun which is around 3,32,900
times massive than the earth is at 146.9 million kilometers
from the earth was formed around 4.57 billion years ago
and will still live for coming 5 billion years. Does that
mean coming billion generations has nothing to worry about
their survival? No, not at all.
In fact, very small amount of mass when ejected from the
sun can become a major reason for our extinction. This is
exaggerated in science fiction movies, but it is a reality.
Though it is the closest star providing us opportunity to
understand the root cause of life on the earth and
mysteries of cosmos, we hardly know anything. There are
space missions, ground based observations all over the
world to reveal these scientific mysteries. Eclipse is one
such opportunity to understand the sun and itself a
celestial phenomenon for astronomers all over the world.
When stone-age man must have looked at eclipsed sun many
myths must have risen in his curious mind. From that time
to today’s modern scientific era we have been evolving and
updating our knowledge about the sun. But still today,
apart from scientific mysteries there are myths about such
phenomenon existing in our society which question us how
backward we are. Our scientific expedition is not just an
expedition but we are also pledged to popularize astronomy
and clearing undue myths about eclipse which are still
existing in our society. It is a social issue and we expect
your cooperation for this expedition.

About Annular Solar Eclipse on 15 January, 2010

On Friday, 2010 January 15, an annular eclipse of the Sun

is visible from within a 300-km-wide track that traverses
half of Earth. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow begins
in Africa and passes through Chad, Central African
Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya,
and Somalia. After leaving Africa, the path crosses the
Indian Ocean where the maximum duration of annularity
reaches 11 min 08 s. The central path then continues into
Asia through Bangladesh, India, Burma (Myanmar), and China.
A partial eclipse will be seen within the much broader path
of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes Eastern
Europe, most of Africa, Asia, and Indonesia.

The eclipse starts at Uganda passes through Nairobi,

enters Indian Ocean where the greatest eclipse is taking
place in mid of Ocean. After that enters Maldives, where it
will be second longest with 10.8 Min of viewing. After that
enters and exits India at Rameswaram. Only place of land
under the eclipse on India. After Rameswaram, enters Sri
Lanka at Delft Island, exits at Jaffna in Sri Lanka, cross
Bay of Bengal and ends in Burma - China border.

Our team
 1) Ankush Bhaskar (Solar
Physics)

2) Chintamani Pai (Solar

Physics , Scientific computation)

3) Avdhhot Purohit (Nuclear

Physics )

4) Sumeet Deshmukh (Data Analysis,

Observational Astronomy )

5) Aniruddha Patankar (Nuclear Physics)

6) Anand Pothapragada (Scientific

database developer)

7) Virendra Yadav (Space

Physics)

8) Samrat Patel (Image

processing, Scientific computation)

9) Abhishek Chitnis
(Electronics )

Our team consists of young fellows who are from various

academic backgrounds like Physics, Mathematics, and
Computer Science who are having Astronomy as a common
interest. Team members are divided along experiments
performed during the eclipse as per their respective
skills.
Our team will be conducting following experiments during
Annular Solar Eclipse

1) Weather change during eclipse

As the sun gets covered by moon during eclipse, there
are sudden changes in the atmosphere of the earth.
These changes will be monitored through our
experimental set-up.

2) Spectroscopy
Through this experiment combined with image processing
techniques, we will be able to understand elemental
abundance near the surface of the sun visible during
totality.

3) Magnetic field activity measurement

Radiation coming from the sun changes as the moon
covers during the eclipse. This in turn affects feeble
magnetic field of the earth. Using an instrument
called ‘Magnetometer’ we will study these minute
changes in the earth’s atmosphere.

4) Radiation activity measurement

Our sun emits energetic particles and radiation like
alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays and cosmic
rays. Earth is always exposed to such harmful
radiation from other sources present in the space. We
will be studying the contribution to this radiation by
the sun and real time activity.

Above experiments mentioned will concentrate on different

aspects of the sun related to the Earth’s atmosphere and
elemental abundance of the sun.
 Budget Details

A. Technical Requirements:

Instrument Company Quantity Cost

s
Solar Meade 1 30000/-
Telescope
DSLR Canon 1 50000/-
Camera
Stellacam Watec 1 60000/-
Portable Gammascout 1 30000/-
GM Counter
UPS Local 2 20000/-
Inverter Company

Total Budget for instruments: Rs. 1,90,000/-

B. Lodging and Boarding:

 Travelling expenses per head 2000/-
Lodging expenses per head 3000/-
Total Cost per head 5000/-

Total cost for whole team: 5,000/- X 6

students = Rs. 30,000/-

C. Overall Budget for the expedition

Technical requirements: Rs. 1,90,000/-

Lodging & Boarding: Rs. 30,000/-

Total Budget: Rs. 2,20,000/-

REQUIREMENTS:
• CASH SPONSORSHIP

In return to your generous donations, we will

be obliged to offer you the
following,

• BANNER (5ft into 3ft) OF YOUR BRAND AT OUR SITE DURING

ECLIPSE.
• FLIERS OF YOUR BRAND TO BE DISTRIBUTED DURING THE
EVENT TO OBSERVERS AT RAMESHWARAM
• VERBAL MENTIONS OF THE BRAND MADE BEFORE, DURING AND
AT THE END OF THE EVENT*
• LOGO SPACE OF YOUR BRAND ON CAPS, T- SHIRTS*
• PUBLICITY THROUGH POST EVENT MAGAZINE

*(may vary according to the sponsorship amount.)

Hoping to receive a favourable response from your

side. Thanking you.