Passion and science

Watching, a person learns the greatness and harmony of the world

For several years now, the Club of Astronomy Lovers has been functioning in Dubna. We asked one of the active participants, an organizer of events, a researcher at VBLHEP Arkady TEREKHIN to tell about how the community's activities are built today.

Tell us, please, what the Club of Astronomy Lovers is engaged in?

- I joined the already functioning Dubna community of astronomy lovers four years ago. Today, the Club has six activists engaged in the popularization of science, the organization of lectures and observations. Four, including me, are JINR employees. And so, the Club includes Dubna rezidents of various professions. To join us is enough interest in astronomy and the availability of time. Personal transport and telescope expand capabilities. Our general activity has practical and theoretical parts. The theoretical part includes lectures, reports on topics that may be of interest to a wide range of people: children, adolescents, adults. For example, there was a lecture on the operation of a personal telescope, how to maximize its potential. There was a report on the observatories of the world. At present, lectures are held on the basis of the Museum of History of Science and Technology of JINR. The practical part is sidewalk observations through a telescope on Komsomolskaya Embankment. Several Club members have techniques they bring with them. We also go to the Ratminsky helipad to see deep space objects. Once there was a trip to the Kimrsky District. For observations, an open sky, with no clouds and nearby lanterns are required.

Do your scientific work at JINR and your passion for astronomy find an intersection point?

- I work in VBLHEP in the field of collisions of light nuclei. Yes, my work overlaps with astronomy. Accelerator physics studies the processes inside nuclei that occur both on our planet and far beyond, for example, in neutron stars.

How did you become interested in astronomy?

- I lived in the country and in school years on summer nights, I loved to look at the beautiful starry sky, lying in a cart with hay. From mosquitoes I had to bury myself entirely in this hay, leaving one head outside. I was interested in the mystery of the universe that lurked in space. Afterwards, I managed to assemble the first observation device from an old broken spyglass and a point lens found on the road. It gave an increase of about 20-30 times and was much better than children's binoculars. With this quasi-telescope, we sometimes gathered with local kids on a hill to look at the moon. I also read books on astronomy that I could find in the district library, including making a telescope at home. When I graduated from the university, I bought myself a real telescope but work and family life did not leave time for astronomical observations. I returned to astronomy when the children grew up.

Why do you love this science?

- The stars tell us about the extraordinary beauty of the world around us - the megaworld, the Universe in which the planet Earth is only a small particle. Watching, a person learns the greatness and harmony of the world. Astronomy is just a tool. The same can be said about biology, chemistry, physics and other sciences that reveal the extraordinary thoughtfulness of not only nature as a whole, but also its every component. All processes in atoms or galaxies are due to the strict implementation of their laws.

Also, knowledge of astronomy allows a person to understand the phenomena that he constantly encounters in everyday life: the change of seasons, day and night, the phases of the Moon, the high Sun in summer and low in winter and others.

Which of the space objects can an amateur astronomer see?

- Quite a lot. Moon and planets, open and globular star clusters, galaxies and nebulae. And also, to observe comets, asteroids, space station flights, short-term coverage of stars. And of course, the Sun but only with the help of a special filter or a telescope.

Craters, lunar seas, mountain ranges are visible in almost every phase of the moon. Sometimes, a small area of the back of the lunar surface can be observed. On the Moon, over five thousand craters and not all of them have a round shape, there are also triangular ones. In addition, the same crater looks different depending on the degree of illumination. All these outlines of the moon are very interesting for the amateur eye. Even when it happens to look through the telescope a couple of times, there will be an impression of what you saw. But if you prepare in advance for observations, choose the most suitable lunar phase, look for changes in the outlines of objects, then there will be much more impressions. And if you still keep a diary of observations...

Numerous star clusters can be seen outside our solar system. Some are so large that they are clearly visible through binoculars. These are simple objects unlike planets and here there are fewer requirements for a telescope. Some clusters are a masterpiece of divine art. Observing them, you can notice large and small stars, bright and not very, yellow, white and blue shades. It really hits the human eye with beauty.

Another aesthetic pleasure is the observation of double stars. With the naked eye, they are visible as one star and with a telescope - as two or more, closely spaced to each other. Very often, binary stars have different colors: one component can be yellow or orange, the other - green or blue.

What astronomical events attract the mass viewer?

- Phenomena that from a public point of view may seem grandiose are not always such for amateur observation. For example, a parade of planets sounds loud but in fact, we will see 3-4 asterisks that will not even be lined up.

Saturn rings are not of great interest now either, only sports. In 2025, they were tilted towards us with an edge and we practically did not see them. Starting in 2026, the rings unfold towards us with their plane. It remains to wait a few years and they will be visible in all their glory.

The wow effect is brought by the observation of comets. We see the combustion of a celestial object, the loss of particles in the form of a tail. This is an interesting dynamic process. Last year, in autumn, we successfully observed this phenomenon simply with binoculars. There were a lot of people, the observation lasted about four hours.

Jupiter is always interesting. But it so happens that if you do not tell a person what objects are on the planet's disk, then not even the brightest of them can see. Two strips, as a rule, are always seen but the Big Red Spot is either not all or not all at once.

Is it possible to somehow photograph whatever is seen through a telescope?

- I specialize more in observation. But there are Club members engaged in astrophotography. The process of photographing celestial objects requires special equipment, it requires a telescope with a guidance function. A camera is connected to it. All bodies, except the Polyana Star, move through the sky, for them an individual speed is set so that the mount moves the telescope synchronously with the object. When an object is constantly in the field of view of the telescope, it is not blurred in the frame. The pictures taken are "glued together" in special programmes and beautiful color photographs are obtained. If we just photograph a galaxy or a nebula, then we will see it as a spot. But when we "copy" the signal, more and more details appear. As a result, we can see objects in the most complete form. The moon can be shot in a couple of minutes but it takes hours and even nights to shoot galaxies and nebulae. The longer the shutter speed, the better the quality of the final image.

What training does observation require?

- As in any science, the quality of the result depends on the degree of training. It also applies to observations of space objects. In most cases, before taking out, adjusting the telescope and directing it to the sky, it is necessary to prepare a thorough observation plan. It requires studying the map of the starry sky, seasonal objects, the visibility of which depends on the time of year and so on. For example, some clusters of stars are quite bright and immediately striking and some need to be found against the background of others. It means that you need to have an idea of the shape and size of the object, its brightness and so on. In addition, you need to evaluate the capabilities of your telescope and the quality of the sky. Sometimes, it takes longer to prepare for observations than the observations themselves. But it's worth it.

What are your plans for the coming season?

- It's not easy to make observations in winter - frost and humidity, equipment can fog up and you won't last long. In summer, other difficulties are very short and bright nights. Apart from the main bright stars, you will not see anything. The most favorable astronomical seasons are spring and autumn. We tune in during these periods to the maximum of observations. By the end of May, we plan to see the moon and deep space objects. Spring is also best suited for observing galaxies. They are scattered throughout the sky but those visible through a simple amateur telescope are located in the area of the sky that is available in spring. We definitely have plans to travel to the helipad in Ratmino. In addition, it is planned to observe Jupiter. We publish information about our events in the VK AstroDubna group.

Maria KARPOVA, photos by Konstantin TUZIKOV,
Olesya CHEPURCHENKO