glimpses of astronomy in indian stamps

YV Jeppu

The myriad stars of the sky, the regular movements of the sun and the moon have always fascinated man. This fascination has evolved itself into a branch of science called astronomy. At the global level astronomy is a vast subject dealing with the creation of universe, movements of planets, stars and galaxies, gravitation, time space and space exploration. It also deals with instruments used for quantifying the various phenomena. Clocks and Calendars have their base in astronomy. No less fascinating, to a discerning eye, however, is the world of Astronomy depicted on small bits of gummed paper called the postage stamps.