WORLD SPACE WEEK - Celebration on 4th Oct

WORLD SPACE WEEK
Oct. 4th to Oct 10th

SPACE and Russian Center invites you to join us 
for a movie and presentation 
at
Seminar Room, Russian Center for Science and Culture,
24 Feroze Shah Road, New Delhi
on
Oct 4th, 2010, 11:00AM - 1:00PM
to commemorate the start of World Space Week
(Oct 4th - celebrates the Launch of 1st Sputnik in 1957) 

Itinerary:
11:00am     Welcome
11:10am     Presentation on Sputnik by C.B. Devgun, President, SPACE
11:30am     Movie (in 2 Parts):
Part I. In the future with confidence. 
This film is about the history and modern development of space technology. From launching of first Sputnik in 1957 to contemporary technology of space exploration, monitoring of environment, Global Navigation System etc. The film demonstrates phases of development of ISS and international cooperation in space.
Part II. Russia the space power. 
This documentary is about the key role of Russia in development of modern space technologies, Russian Space Agency (Roskosmos). It shows the stages of creation of launch vehicle, artificial satellites, and sophisticated equipment to explore space.
11:50am     Vote of Thanks by Russian Center
12:15         High Tea

Please note, as most Delhi and NCR schools will be closed, please show up and encourage family, friends, neighbours etc. to attend. Please call or register at the following contact as soon as possible if you plan to attend. Contact: Shikha Chanana atworldspaceweek@space-india.org, 9953419502

Lets' make this WSW another grand one like 2009!

Message from Delhi Chief Minister Mrs. Sheila Dikshit for SPACE

letter of appreciation from Himachal CM for asteroid discovery by SPACE

Talk by Vishnu Reddy

More Images from the Talk by Prof. Vishnu Reddy at American Centre can be seen at

http://picasaweb.google.com/organisationspace/TalkByVishnuReddy#

"Discovery in Astronomy: A lifetime of cosmic adventures"

Discovery in Astronomy: A lifetime of cosmic adventures” 

- Talk and interaction by Dr. Vishnu Reddy

SPACE cordially invites you for a talk and interaction with well known Asteroid Hunter and research professor Dr Vishnu Reddy, currently working on NASA’s DAWN mission to asteroids. 

Event: “Discovery in Astronomy: A lifetime of cosmic adventures” -

 A Talk by Dr. Vishnu Reddy, North Dakota University, Asteroid Expert and part of NASA mission to asteroid Vesta

Dr Vishnu Reddy is a research professor at the Department of Space Studies, University of North Dakota, USA. He is currently working on NASA’s Dawn mission to asteroid Vesta. As an amateur astronomer, Dr Reddy has discovered 23 main belt asteroids, discovered 6 binary asteroids, and one supernova.

Itinerary:

10:00 AM Talk by Dr. Vishnu Reddy

11:00 AM Interaction

11:15 AM Vote of Thanks

11:30 AM High Tea              

Venue: Auditorium, American Center, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi

Date: Monday, 27th September 2010 , 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Please call Shikha at 9953419502 for details or to register for the event.

COMPETITION CANCELLED DUE TO BAD WEATHER

SPACE celebrates Autumn Equinox at Jantar Mantar, 23rd Sept.

CELEBRATE AUTUMN EQUINOX
with SPACE and Nehru Planetarium
at Jantar Mantar on 23rd Sept., 2010

 

Learn about the ancient instruments! Be a part of measurements! Observe the sun through telescopes!
Exciting Competition with prizes for students - 'Scientist of the Day' by Measuring the Circumference of the Earth

Public Outreach and Solar Observations from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
'Scientist of the Day' contest from 11:00am - 1:30 pm

For details, visit SPACE website at www.space-india.org

Join us for some fun and bring your families and friends along!

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SCIENTIST OF THE DAY COMPETITION

Participate in a competition on MEASURING THE EARTH

and win prizes!!!

11:00am - 1:30pm

To see a video with instructions on this experiment - Click Here

 Complete handout and instructions here:
MEASURING THE EARTH  - EXPERIMENT NOTES  

Report of International Observe the moon night at Sneh' Place

On Saturday, the world celebrated "International Observe the Moon Night" as LRO completed one year in the Moon's orbit. Me as part of SPACE group wished to celebrate this international event and the location I picked was My residential society compound. I had informed all the members of the society a day before and requested to gather at the venue at 8:00 pm. I had issued a "76mm Reflector" for this cause along with plossel eyepiece.
It was all cloudy in the evening but I decided to continue with the program and set up the telescope by 8:00 pm. Initially only the small children came to see but were disappointed due to the presence of clouds. So I started explaining them the importance of the event and reason for celebrations. Then I showed them the telescope and by the time moon started peeping out of the clouds. This was the time to point the telescope towards the Moon and I asked them to form a line. the kids were so enthusiastic that they immediately formed a queue and started waiting for their turn.
I centered the moon in the eyepiece and then the observer started shouting WOW!!! as if they have seen something unusual. Many kids in society are also part of SPACE CLUBS at various schools so they were more excited to see. This way around 30 school kids and their parents had participated in this event.

Almost all of them had seen the moon for 4-5 times and every time they were surprised or amazed as this was for the first time they were looking through the telescope and also this was the first time they were looking at their nearest celestial neighbor so closely. They were thrilled to see the craters, maria and also the terminator. I explained them about craters, rotation and revolution and some facts about Moon.

By 9:00 pm, the sky was covered by clouds again and this was the call to pack up the instruments as there was no point waiting for the cloud to move. Still all the kids were pushing me to wait for 5 minutes, each time I pick the telescope bag. I also had plans to show them Jupiter and its Moons but due to clouds, it was not possible.

Sneh Kesari
Educator
SPACE

International Observe the Moon NIght - SPACE observation points

Astronomica SPACE at SPACE office -Astronomica
C B Devgun at Dhruv Apartments, Patparganj - SPACE
Sneh Kesari at Ghaziabad - SPACE
Babita Kundalia at Mansarovar park - SPACE club
Deepak Sharma (SNC) at Meerut - SNC
Ashutosh Tripathi (SNC) at Indore - SNC
Srijan devgun at Patparganj - astronomica
Rishabh Jain at Noida - astronomica
Jaishree Soin at Ajay Enclave - SPACE
Shikha Chanana at Mahavir Nagar - astronomica

MOON AND VENUS CARNIVAL - A Celebration of Astronomy

MOON AND VENUS CARNIVAL - A celebration of Astronomy

by SPACE in Collaboration with Nehru Planetarium 
at the
Jantar Mantar, New Delhi
on 

Saturday, 11th of September

from 2:00 PM to 8 PM.

Schedule:

2:00 - 5:00

Public Outreach - Find out about the Ancient Instruments at Jantar Mantar! also,
A daytime viewing of Moon and Venus using the Ram Yantra

6:30 - 8:00

Observe the Moon and the planets through Telescopes.
The moon and Venus will appear very close and present a beautiful view
For more details about Moon and Venus Conjunction, visit this article.


Please join us at Jantar Mantar.
Bring your friends and neighbours for a chance to observe the skies from within this ancient monument.

For details or queries, write to info@space-india.org or call 9250901042

IN CASE OF INCLEMENT WEATHER, PLEASE CHECK WWW.SPACE-INDIA.ORG FOR EVENT STATUS

Venus and Moon Conjunction

On 11^th September evening, Moon will be seen very close to the planet Venus, at least as seen from earth!! These heavenly bodies will be around 1/2 degrees apart that means as seen from the earth the apparent distance between them in the sky would be 7 times the size of the full moon. This phenomenon is called conjunction. Conjunction is a term used in positional astronomy which means that, as seen from some place (usually the Earth), two celestial bodies appear near one another in the sky. The event is also sometimes known as an appulse.

Moon – Venus conjunction is not very rare as each month the Moon will pass close to the Venus in the skies and when it’s very close then it’s a sight to watch and admire. You cannot miss both the objects as moon would be a waxing crescent and Venus, the brightest object apart from moon in the skies these days. This event can be enjoyed by seeing with the most wonderful optical instrument given to humans by the nature – the eyes. As both objects would be quite close, they can be seen with naked eyes and with a telescope as well. This will provide a good opportunity for astrophotographers as these two objects against the foreground of city dwellings would make a stunning visual presentation.

SPACE celebrated A Felicitation for All India Asteroid Search Campaign at American Center, Delhi

SPACE celebrated A Felicitation for All India Asteroid Search Campaign

at American Center, Delhi

on August 27th, 2010

SPACE concluded the program 'All India Asteroid Search Campaign' (AIASC), a prestigious program run in collaboration with 'International Astronomical Search Collaboration' (IASC) with a special feliciation event.

IASC, run by Dr Patrick Miller, Professor, Hardins Simmons University, Texas, is an educational outreach program which is a collaboration between . Using images taken the night before with the 24" and 32" telescopes at the Astronomical Research Institute (ARI) Observatory, students make original discoveries of Main Belt asteroids and important observations that contribute to the NASA Near-Earth Object (NEO) Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA).

The program run by SPACE in India involved 42 schools and groups. These groups were all coordinated by SPACE. A record 4 asteroids were discovered as part of this campaign! 2 asteroids were discovered by school children from Ryan International School, Rohini, the first time such a discovery was made by school children in India! To felicitate the discoverers and all the participants, SPACE held a function at American Center, Delhi on August 27th from 10:30am - 12:00pm. Ms. Indu Wadhwa and Director Anne Sheshadri kindly allowed us usage of the auditorium at American Center for this purpose.

About 75 people including teachers and students from various schools attended the event. Madam Grace Pinto, Director, Ryan Board, Ryan Pinto and Ms. Seema Wadhwa, Principal, Ryan International School, Rohini were also present. Director Anne Sheshadri started the morning with a welcome to the American Center. Mr. Anuj SInha, Honorary Director, Vigyan Prasar presided as chief guest and gave a speech encouraging hands on science and the love of basic sciences. Mr. Sachin Bahmba, CMD, SPACE talked about SPACE, how it brings such opportunities to be at the forefront of hands-on science to students and fosters the training and curiosity needed to achive such discoveries! Mr. C.B. Devgun, President SPACE showed a presentation about the International Asteroid Search Campaign Project. Prof. Patrick Miller, Director of the program joined the whole auditorium in a Skype session and talked about how pleased he was with such a strong Indian contribution to the program this time. The connections to the Skype session went very smoothly, thanks to the technical support at American Center.

SPACE presented trophies and momentoes to the discoverers Amanjot Singh and Sahil Wadhwa from Ryan, Rohini, and V. Narang and team from SPACE and participation certificates to all schools. Media were also present at this occasion and they interacted with the discoverers and with SPACE officers. This was followed by a high tea where all the attendees could partake of tea and snacks.