WHILE most people fall asleep, some earlier than usual after another weary day of living under the various movement control orders, a father encourages his son here in Penang to peer into the night skies with the hope of seeing shooting stars and how the moon looks from afar.
Budding astronomy enthusiast Annamalai Muthu has designed a special telescopic device – using an iPad to power an ultraviolet/infrared space observation telescope – to aid him and his son Arrav.
His dedication to the world of space exploration has rubbed off on the eight-year-old, who is equally, if not more eager to explore the final frontier known to civilisation.
Collecting moon rocks
After almost two-years of scanning the galaxies, in they have amassed a collection of insightful images through their telescopic device, Annamalai and Arrav are now in the midst of trying to collect precious moon rocks and meteorites which have fallen into Earth's astrosphere during meteor showers.
As Malaysia has no official agency involved in mining and documenting meteorites, Annamalai has gone international through the world wide web, connecting with any space authority he can think of, from Asia to Europe to South America and North America to gain insights.
To date, he has located a few such pieces, some donated by foreign space agencies, and a smaller number sourced locally from amateur meteorite scavengers. Even the national Cuban space agency has liaised with him.
Annamalai also continues to scour online for more deals on moon rocks, in the hopes of framing up a collection.
Inspired to look above
Annamalai and Arrav are believed to be the first family in Penang to actively gather meteorites privately, in a state renowned more for its gastronomic achievements rather than space findings.
"We hope to change this. I noticed on social media, many people are now interested in the unknown, especially with the private sector's investments."
He was of course referring to the recent ventures by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX.
"It has given us more clout to dream that one day Malaysians can replicate such efforts. Being a father, I am hoping that my son can be part of the process to travel the stars."
Annamalai also hopes to have an exhibition for schoolchildren, seeing how keen his son has become in exploring the unknown, especially in light of the negativity surrounding Mother Earth's present and future.
"I think we are mentally disturbed tuning into climate change, the pandemic, deaths, war, terrorism, illnesses, poverty, and of course now, the state of our politics," said Annamalai in an interview.
The respite is when he and Arrav would join up after their work and homework, respectively, to scan the skies, hoping to find a glimmer of hope that something exciting was happening in the galaxies of bright stars.
Earthly frustrations
Back on Earth, Annamalai also lamented the lack of support from the local and federal authorities in helping him introduce the science of astronomy to the young, noting that there is hardly any academic degree devoted to such studies.
Arrav has garnered awards and commendations from international organisations, including from Nasa in the US.
But Annamalai expressed his frustration that the authorities here are allegedly slow to respond to his requests for help, with some also apparently discouraging him to probe the universe.
Arrav, who studies at Tenby International School here, hopes that the public will support his father's quest to make space exploration more enjoyable among his peers.
In one of the letters the father-son pair shared, Nasa had urged Arrav to not give up his dreams to study space science or engineering.
Recently, it was reported that one of the world’s largest lunar meteorites went on private sale at the famed auctioneer Christie’s, with a whopping value of £2 million (RM11.7 million) in London.
The moon rock, weighing over 13.5kg, was probably struck off the surface of the moon by a collision with an asteroid or comet and then shot down into the Sahara desert.
Like many meteorites that are discovered, the items were mostly found by anonymous persons, although the value seems to be appreciating now in view of mankind's renewed interest on travelling to the moon and Mars.
Meteorites are apparently incredibly rare and only about one in a thousand comes from the moon, which has become a symbol for many things throughout history. For Annamalai, it is also a place he wouldn't mind living, considering all the sorrows which have erupted on Earth.
"It is looking late for me though, but perhaps my son has hope," he says. – The Vibes, August 17, 2021
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