Sky Observation at the Arthur C. Clarke Institute

After the first semester examination in our University, We were supposed to study 3 non technical modules-two of  which were compulsory and one of our own choice. The module I chose was Astronomy. The reasons for my choice were the interest I had in Astronomy, The interesting course contents and most importantly, The observation sessions.

We had two observation sessions at the Arthur C. Clarke Institute. One in the night for the observation of the Moon and the Planets and one session in the morning for observation of the Sun.
The telescope at the Arthur C. Clarke Institute, is the largest telescope in Sri Lanka. It is a Cassegrain Reflector type telescope and has a primary mirror of diameter 45cm. It uses an Equatorial Mount and is moved using computer controlled servo motors. It uses CCD cameras as the main imaging device.

It was unfortunate that the on the night we had our moon observation, the sky was very cloudy and not a single star could be seen. Also it was lightning. Because of this we couldn't use the Cassegrain reflector that night. Instead we used a much smaller reflector to look at the moon. The image of the moon was not clear due to the obstructing clouds.

The following day was better. We viewed the sun through the filtered Cassegrain telescope and saw two Sunspots. We also saw the Chromosphere of the Sun through an H-alpha filter.

The two sessions at the institute were very interesting and educational. It was a truly memorable experience.