Limitations imposed by current state of knowledge and instrumentation

 

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This picture has been contributed by Dr. Dattaraj Sawarkar, Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

From times immemorial, humans have sought to unravel the mysteries of the universe. They always been limited by the extent of the knowledge they had in that era and the most innovative instrumentation they could invent to probe the deepest corners of the universe to fathom its mysteries. Jantar Mantar is the observatory located in the New Delhi, built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur in 1724. Consisting of 13 architectural astronomy instruments, its main purpose was to compile astronomical tables, and to predict the times and movements of the sun, moon and planets. The Misra Yantra, which actually means a 'mixed instrument', is a composition of 5 instruments designed as a tool to determine the shortest and longest days of the year. It could also be used to indicate the exact moment of noon in various cities in India and all over the world regardless of their distance from Delhi. This photograph has been taken by Canon EOS 1300D on aperture priority mode, f/7.1, with an exposure time 1/250 sec, ISO 100, FL 23