This is the story of the first Indian Chinthamani Ragoonatha Chary to be recognized as a Fellow of the @Royal Astronomical Society in 1872, a scientist who never received any formal training in astronomy.
Ragoonatha Chary, also known as Raghunatha Chari, came from a family that made calendars. He loved studying the stars and the sky. He probably learned Sanskrit when he was young, which helped him understand complicated astronomy books.
He was self-taught, and knew a lot about math and astronomy. He became so good at it that he could predict when things like a solar eclipse would happen. In 1868, he even predicted when stars would disappear behind the Sun during an eclipse.
He worked closely with NR Pogson, who was an important astronomer in Madras. He lived near the observatory in Chennai and started working there in 1864.
His job at the observatory was to watch stars and figure out where they were in the sky. In 1867, he discovered a special star called R Reticuli. This was a big deal because it was the first time an Indian had found something like this in space.
Even though the sky was cloudy during a big solar eclipse in 1868, Ragoonatha Chary tried his best to describe what happened.
But he didn’t just watch the sky; he wanted everyone to understand what he knew. So, he wrote small books about space stuff. What’s cool is that he wrote these books not only in English but also in Indian languages like Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Malayalam, and Marathi.
One of his books talked about the Transit of Venus in 1874. He wanted people who didn’t have much science knowledge to learn about it. He explained things in simple language to help them understand. He wrote this book in different languages, so more people could learn about space.
Ragoonatha Chary was really passionate about space and sharing what he knew. He made lots of observations and helped put together a big list of stars.
Unfortunately, as time passed, we kind of forgot about Ragoonatha Chary and all the cool things he did in astronomy.
But it’s a shame because he was a real pioneer who did some amazing stuff. He loved space and tried to make it easy for everyone to understand. We should remember and talk about him more so that his love for space can still inspire people today.
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