Sky tonight for this month

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

NATIONAL SCIENCE DAY on Feb 28th

SPACE AND NEHRU PLANETARIUM INVITE YOU  
TO AN
ASTRONOMY FAIR
 for NATIONAL SCIENCE DAY
on
Feb 28th, 2011 from 10:00AM to 4:00pm
(Entry Free)


 Exciting Astronomy and Space Science Hands on Activities:
  • Catch the meteors and save the Earth (Meteor demos)
  • Make you own Comet - Comet Kitchen!
  • Solar Observations – Observe the sun through different methods
  • Pop the Rockets
  • A walk through 3D Mars
  • A gyroscope in action
  • Weigh yourself on different planets
Demonstrations: A Telescope in action!
Arcade: Face Painting, Ring the Planets, Balloon Racing, Jigsaw Puzzles
Participate in a Competition: Launch your own hydro rockets!
Hydrorocketry at 12:30 and 2:30

 A talk on the Life and Work of Prof. Chandrashekhar will be presented by Prof. Dipankar Banerjee, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, 11:00 am – 11:50 am

Please note that this event is free of cost, however the competition and a few activities will charge nominally. Please contact us at 25522193 for further information.



Join us for Messier Marathon at Sariska, 4th and 5th March, 2011

Invitation to join SPACE for Messier Marathon
at Sariska on March 4th and 5th

SPACE invites you to join in a ‘Messier Marathon’ observation weekend on March 4th and 5th at Sariska Tiger Den in Sariska. Observe all Messier deep sky objects in one night! Learn how to point and guide a telescope hands on from experts, and see celestial objects in detail! The observations will be complemented by the location Sariska, one of the darkest sites away from city lights and close to a wildlife sanctuary thus offering other recreation such as safaris.

M-51 captured by SPACE during Messier Marathon, 2010
The French Astronomer Charles Messier discovered and catalogued the Messier objects while he was looking for comets! The Catalog consists of 110 bright deep sky objects - galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters scattered across the sky. Amateur astronomers across the world try to find the maximum of such objects in one night annually, thus called ‘Messier Marathon’. 

The 2 day program will incorporate workshops and training to learn about these Messier objects as well as in the observing techniques and astrophotography. A Registration fee in the amount of Rs.1000 includes workshops and training. The registration fee will not include any equipment cost, boarding and lodging and transport. Rooms of different levels are available at this workshop venue, Sariska Tiger Den. The participants will have to reach their own travel arrangements to Sariska, to and fro. The equipment such as camera, telescopes, filters, eyepieces shall be available for purchase for the interested participants who do not own any equipment. We can arrange/coordinate with groups for arranging to and fro transport from Delhi and negotiate with the hotel on your behalf on request basis, which will not be binding on us.

This program is suitable for all from novice to experts, no prior knowledge of astronomy is necessary. Please join us in this wonderful opportunity to observe and learn about the Messier objects and observe them first hand in a Marathon session to find all 110! Please register by Feb 25th as this is on a first cum first served basis. Write to info@space-india.org or call Ravinder Rawat, SPACE at 9212669913 for more information on this program.