The Hindu : New Delhi News : Get ready for star-gazing tonight

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Saturday, Apr 12, 2008
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Get ready for star-gazing tonight

Madhur Tankha

‘International Sidewalk Astronomy Night’ brings a chance to explore the joy of sky-watching
Amateur astronomers to set up telescopes by the roadside to help passers-by

NEW DELHI: Come Saturday and celestial watchers across the country will finally get a chance to view planets through telescopes of different aperture.

April 12 is celebrated worldwide by amateur astronomers as “International Sidewalk Astronomy Night”. Amateur astronomers set up telescopes by the roadside and help passers-by enjoy a view of celestial objects.

This joy of sharing sky-watching activities with passers-by is being planned by amateur astronomers in many parts of the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Vadodara.

In Delhi, members of the Amateur Astronomers Association and the Nehru Planetarium will be present at Nehru Park, India Gate, Paschim Vihar and South Avenue on Saturday. Members of Astro Education Services, a voluntary group involved in conducting astronomy-related activities for school children, will be present outside Jantar Mantar with their telescopes.

The National Science Centre will conduct a sky watch in front of its premises near Pragati Maidan. The National Bal Bhavan will also set up telescopes outside its premises.

According to Nehru Planetarium Director N. Rathnasree, great men like Kalidas, William Shakespeare, E. M. Forster and Harivansh Rai Bachchan have been inspired by stars. “Unfortunately that inspiration is disappearing from our lives. So it is not just astronomers who look for far away locations where observatories can be set up, even amateur astronomers look for locations outside the city. All of us need to be concerned about this vanishing inspiration from our lives,” she adds.

Pointing out that outdoor lighting causes excessive light pollution, Dr. Rathnasree says lighting gets scattered back from the atmosphere, creating an artificially bright night time sky. “Many of the fainter stars are not visible from such night skies.”

To create awareness about light pollution, the Nehru Planetarium has initiated a new programme, “Taare Sadak Par”, at its premises here. Participants will quantify light pollution through the simple process of counting the number of visible stars in some specific regions of the sky. The objective behind is to highlight the fact that light pollution could have harmful effects on human health.

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