About Us

ABOUT SKY WATCHERS’ ASSOCIATION : KOLKATA.

The Sky Watchers’ Association (SWA), Kolkata, is a name familiar all over India.  Amateur astronomers and sky-watchers of all ages and backgrounds gather every Saturday evening at 47/1, Beni Banerjee Avenue, Dhakuria in south Kolkata to partake of the wonders of the night-sky. This humble venue offers a veritable treasure-chest of materials related to the sky. The SWA, Kolkata houses a wonderful collection of important books and photographs on astronomy, star charts, star atlases and international astronomical journals. Here one finds experienced sky-observers equipped with six good telescopes and various sky-charts, warmly introducing visitors and members to the night-sky and answering the entire gamut of questions related to astronomy, unmarked by the politics of conventional academia!

            Importantly, the SWA deals with astronomy, not astrology. Here members study genuine planets and satellites, stars & clusters, comets, nebulae and galaxies whose existence and functions are scientifically verifiable. SWA eschews the unfortunate, but popular practice of associating celestial bodies with superstitious portents of ‘evil’ and ‘good’. Where we delve into ancient practices, it is to celebrate the great scientific achievements of the astronomers - sages of yore. SWA opposes the hijacking of objective science by the fallacies of astrological whimsy.

This being the philosophy of SWA, it welcomes persons of all age- groups, professions, and abilities who are interested in the night-sky to become its members.  

Regardless of location, any individual interested in the observation of celestial bodies and events may collect ‘Equatorial Sky Charts’ complete with instructions from the office of SWA  and may also subscribe to the monthly publication ‘Sky Watching Guide’ which are invaluable tools for amateurs and professionals alike. Observers may gradually also expand their horizons with other easily available equipment such as binoculars and telescopes.


Publications: 

1. Sky Watching Guide (Monthly bulletin for sky watchers)
2. Aakash Dekha (Bengali)
3. Aksash Dekhar Hatekhorhi
4. Calender Katha
5. Moon Map
6. International Year of Astronomy 2009 - Special Issue (Bengali)

Since its formation in 1978, the SWA has been engaged in popularizing astronomy through lecture-demonstrations, slide-shows, seminars and workshops on astronomy, publishing articles in newspapers and periodicals, and arranging public observations of celestial objects and astronomical events. Some instances of such organized observational activities from the SWA archive are as follows  –

1980 ® Total Solar Eclipse from Puri, Orissa

1986 ® Halley’s Comet from Diamond Harbour& Transit of Mercury.

1988 ® Close opposition of the planet Mars & Comet Levy.

1989® Supernova in galaxy M-81 in Ursa Major( Big Bear) Constellation.

 1993® Comet Swift-Tuttle.This was the first sighting of the comet from India after its discovery.

1994 ® Week-long telescopic observations of the impact of 21 fragments of the broken comet  Shoemaker Levy - 9 on the planet Jupiter.

1995 ® Scientific observational studies of the Total Solar Eclipses of 24 August 1995 from Ayodhya Hills in Purulia District.

1996 ® Special Observation of the disappearance of the Rings of Saturn.

1996 ®  Bright Comet Hyakutake with its very long tail.

1997 ®Twin (2) tails of the  bright comet Hale- Bopp.

1998® The famous meteor showers of Leonids (16-17 Nov) & Geminids (13-14 December).

1999 ®The last Total Solar Eclipse of the 20^th Century from Kutch (Totality could not be observed due to cloud cover).

2000 ® Zodiacal light of spectacular height from West Bengal – Orissa border near Digha. 

2001 ®The 1^st Total Solar Eclipse of the 21^st Century from Lusaka, Zambia,Transit of Mercury and       Peak meteor shower of Leonids.

2002 - 2003 ® Mutual events of Jupiter’s moons

2003 ®      Transit of Mercury & Closest opposition of Mars on 27 August ’ 03.

2004 ®      Transit of Venus on 8 June 2004

2005 ®      The grand spectacle of Zodiacal light from Murgama, Purulia

2006 ®   Publishing the book “Calendar Katha”, a well researched work tracing the evolution of Calendric systems  in Bengali Language

2007 ®      Observation of eruption and sudden brightening of the comet Homes, peak meteor shower of Geminids and publishing the book “ Aakash Dekhar Hatekhari” a primer in Bengali language for observation with naked eye & through Binoculars.

2008  ®   Publishing the book “ Moon Map for exploring through Telescope” a Guide book for identifying the major features on Moon.

2008-2009 ® Observational study of the progress of  change of orientation of the Rings of Saturn

2009 ® Total Solar eclipse of 22.07.2009from observation camp at Bakhtiyarpur, Bihar.

2010 ® Annular solar eclipse of 15.01.2010 from Dhanushkoti–Rameswaram in Tamlnadu.

2011 ®  6^th Annual camp at Biharinath, Bakura from 29^th January to 02^nd February

2011 ®Total  Lunar Eclipse (10^th December ) from Sky Watchers’ Associations office

2012 ®  7^th Annual camp at Lakshmipur, Birbhum from 22nd January to 25^th January

2012 ®  A Seminar on 4^th May on the occasion of Venus Transit (06^th June, 2012) in collaboration with Jagadish Bose National Science Talent Search at Kolkata.
2012 ®  Observation of Transit of Venus on 6th June.

Research-Oriented Observations

            Apart from sky-watching for knowledge and joy, the experienced observers of SWA make special research-oriented serious observations on some specific fields of astronomy, viz.,

         (i) Radio monitoring of solar activity

         (ii) Recording of variations  of brightness of variable stars and

(iii) Recording accurate times of occultation of stars and planets by the Moon

 In addition, SWA observers make team-wise scientific studies on special astronomical events. This variety of research is the general practice of amateur astronomers all over the world and their observational data are used by International Astronomical Union (IAU) & other organizations for their research in astronomy.The contribution of observers from SWA are highly recognized and appreciated by many International organizations undertaking research in various fields of Astronomy.

           Alongside this, the SWA

Ø  Conducts Saturday evening ‘free observational sessions” of identification of stars, constellations, planets and deep sky objects etc. with the help of star charts & catalogues and through its own telescopes.  -

Ø  Arranges ‘Full moon Lectures’ on astronomy and astronomical events every month on the Saturday closest to the Full-Moon.

Ø  Publishes: (i) a news bulletin “Voyager” for its members (ii) Star-charts or sky maps d (iii) a monthly “Sky watching Guide” for members and other subscribers and iv) books and other reading materials on astronomy & related subjects.

Ø  Organizes (usually in November) each year a 4-days Sky watching & Astronomy camp at sites remote from the city and free of light & other sources of pollution. Any interested person can join these camps.

Ø  Organizes seminar-lectures at its Annual function and on special astronomical events, and conducts telescope-making workshops at interested schools/colleges.

Ø  Invited resource-persons of the association deliver lectures, conduct slideshows, seminars and workshops for different host organizations.

Ø  Above & beyond all of these, everyday and always, we collectively wish the Sky lovers everywhere, a clear dark Sky for all!