TRAVEL DIARY #OBSERVATION #EXPERIENCE #CHASING THE MILKY WAY #SPITI VALLEY
When it comes to space, stars and heavenly bodies every one of us is a kid . To see, To spot and To explore the space I am no different from anyone ; For me,going after the celestial bodies had become a habit over time .
My yearning to see The Milky way Galaxy is not an overnight affair or a momentary craving ! . For me it grew up day by day from my childhood days and my interest level has aggravated to desperateness after failing with all my desperate attempts to see it in naked eye on a dark sky.
I have watched various cosmic shows in planetariums in many locations and occasionally slept also while watching; This search has forced me to try to spot The Milky way in the open areas , farm fields and mountains , in the middle of the sea and , in the middle of the dessert. ... . It was my bad luck in the dessert of UAE, that I happened to be there on an off season for spotting The Glaxy, added to that the light pollution was too much and the lights in Dubai were so powerful that it gets refracted in the whole desert and thus distracting whatever was meagrely possible . I tried it in the seas of Andaman aboard a moving ship, I spotted it , but it was not fulfilling , because of the thick cloud migration and the intensity of moon light .
And this everlasting 'chase and miss' continued for a long time . But where ever and whenever I go , I created a chance to see it ..........and the day came when I did see, as the saying goes ....”.Pursuance pays”, and so it did .
On day four , on that cold night at around 8 P.M we were having the dinner time conversation with our host – a villager, surprisingly a good english speaking lady for that location. She was making phulka for us in a tantoor or what they call it as bhukhari or ECO rocket stove and we were sitting around her around the stove. While she was telling about her village stories and high altitude happenings , she was mentioning about ‘The Milky way Galaxy and said we can see it after the mid night. . Well! That struck my curiosity chord , and I decided to take a chance . After the dinner I checked up with my mates ,and they also promised me to join me to spot this cosmic wonder .
It was about 9 P.M everyone went to bed and the plan was we will wake up by say midnight 12 and go out . Mind it ,it was – 12 degree C only ! and it was expected to drop further as the night grows , the manual heater(bhukari) was burning to keep us warm in our bed room , I was in my bed fully covered and packed in layers . From my bed I could see the sky , I could see a clear sky with more of stars than gaps . It was like seeing a big city far away from an aeroplane . I was tracking the prominent bright stars and keeping a periodic check on the displacement and movement of the stars , which was quiet an experience to watch the happenings in that dark sky .
I spent two hours in the bed without sleeping, idling and watching the sky thru the window .... then I saw something strange in the pattern of the stars ....a sudden change in the fabric of the sky ....came a tip of a river like cloud with a bright background , I cant call it a cloud , but its a thick dark layer of something in different background colours , ...... very strange thing on a clear sky , I woke up my fellow mates in deep sleep who promised me to accompany outside , nobody responded .
Making up my mind to do it alone ..I jumped out of my bed wearing layers of thick jackets, came out to the low walled terrace . I was all alone at 1 a.m in the morning on that cold place, fully covered with snow .... with that clear sky, and with stars that closer , I felt as I was in space , among the stars. I could see the stars 13400 ft closer than the sea level , a kind of Zoomed in view .
So close and unobstructed ,the background of a Moonless clear dark sky offered a unique picture of a grandpa’s umbrella with infinite pin holes on it ...... the stars were brighter than usual , it had an extra shining and glitter . Then there was a band of cloud like scatterings with strong silvery white luminance flashed from the rear ;
The Milky way is a river shaped distracted lengthy cloud along with other constellations of stars, and celestial bodies . The cloud gave an effect of a light passing thru a goat skin . The cloud of stars was on a trip in the clear sky like a king’s procession with its phalanx of armed forces moving slowly .The spilled over star dusts around the galaxy, emitted a different spectrum of colours , mauve, fluorescent yellow , silvery grey.......those colours are possible only on surreal deflection ,the impression was of a moving screen saver .,
As a bonus , a meteorite fall for me at a distant sky into the ocean of stars , an experience equivalent to a scifi movie on an iMax screen. Surprisingly I haven’t spotted any of those distantly flickering aeroplane which normally come to our direct contact .
I could sense the cosmic light on the snow covered mountains giving a feeling as if I am on an ocean floor and I am seeing thru the water . I stood there basking in the cosmic radiance for a good half an hour, enjoying that expansive silence broken occasionally by the distant barking of a dog or a red fox; Unable to stand for a long time in the cold , and when the parade of luminescence was crossing over my head I scampered inside my room .
In a futile effort , I tried clicking some pictures , it was not clear. But the image , the moment ,- ‘this day, this time- at this odd hours of that cold morning on that high altitude in that remote village ,and “my date with The Milky way galaxy “ all alone’ is registered indelibly in my mind and will be there forever .
Wonderful Cool pictures! Great Description! 👍👍😍
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