Tech special: Reach for the stars with these gadgets

Life in space has always intrigued us Whether it is traditional sciences of astrology and astronomy which involve the study of celestial objects the astronomer Galileo James T Kirk or the present day International Space Research Organisation ISRO the quest for discovering whatrsquos unknown will never wither away From the comfort of your bedroom or out in the open we tell you about a few devices that will bring you closer to the starsYour Own Mission Control Ever wondered what it really feels like to be at the centre of all the action mdash listening to astronauts out in space looking at their duty rosters and the Flight Director Console Display Log on to httpspacestationlive nasagovtimeline and you have live access to the video and audio feed from International Space Station You can watch the Crew Timeline Overviews and also watch live videos of the crew performing the tasks assigned to them If you have an Apple TV or a Chromecast setup with your television you can relay this web page on it and it will feel like running Mission Control at NASA with only one exception mdash you can watch but not control You can even set up an alert by signing on with your email id at httpspotthestation nasagov and it will send you an email every time the International Space Station is visible in the skyStar Walk 2 iOS Rs 190If you are the kind who would want to go out in the open and figure out the stars the old method required you to sit with a telescope and a sky chart figure out the directions and see where the stars or the galaxies are However an application called Star Walk changed the scenario years ago At that time it was called one of the best sky gazing apps till Star Walk 2 came along Star Walk 2 runs only on iOS so with your iPhone or better yet an iPad head to the roof or the beach side fire up the application and point your device to the sky It will tell you the objectstargalaxy you are looking at and for more information you could always go to the inapp purchase section It will give you information starting from what your camera sees to a time machine function that lets you explore the map of the night sky from the years gone by So if you are wondering if a planet you see is Venus or Pluto donrsquot worry Just point your phone in the direction and seeCelestron Next Star 130 SLT Telescope Rs 43899Though the aforementioned devices give you an insight into the world of stars at the end of the day itrsquos virtual What better than watching the stars planets and other objects up close For this purpose a telescope does the trick Celestron has a range of a few telescopes starting at as little as R3000 and the Next Star 130 SLT is a great scope to possess Yes it is expensive but it comes with an inbuilt computer and a motorised stand wherein you can punch in one of the 4000 odd objects it stores in its memory and the telescope will point to that It has a 130 mm reflector that gathers 30 per cent more light than its previous version and if you please you can buy a SkyQ Link 2 WiFi module that helps you connect your telescope with your tablet letting you control all of this wirelessly and enabling you to see the real celestial object The Sky Portal app that comes as a bundle also lets you know what is the best object to view depending on the date and your location So get out there to enjoy an evening under the starsGoPro Black Hero 4 Black Edition Rs 31000 approxStar gazing is a tedious practice but if you love it then what better way to capture those stars flying across the sky than by making a video Yes you can do all this with your favourite DSLR a timer remote and some patience but the easiest way is to get yourself a GoPro Hero 4 Black edition Many outdoor enthusiasts use it to record their adventures and now you can use it to record movement in the sky The Hero 4 Black edition comes with a inbuilt Night Lapse Photo Interval wherein it shoots the sky using wide angle lens at specific intervals and exposure time of anywhere between 15 seconds to 60 minutes If you want a pan in your video mount it on a kitchen timer and leave this outside for a while You will have a brilliant movie of how the sky changed through the night You can even download it to your PC and upload it on YouTube and share it with the world Remember December 21 is the Winter Solstice the longest night and the shortest day mdash what better night to be out there than this one to gaze at what lies above and beyond