Workshop on Astrosat at Nehru Planetarium

10 students and our Physics teacher Ms. P. Yogeshwari visited the Nehru Planetarium on 30th October, 2017 for a session to commemorate the inauguration of a prototype of ASTROSAT- India's satellite in space, to discover the hidden secrets of the vast and deep space. The prototype telescope built by TIFR for soft X-Ray observation was donated to the Nehru Planetarium.

The students were shown a sky theatre show on Telescopes in Mauna Kea, (Hawaii) and the various astronomical discoveries made there. Mauna Kea is considered one of the most picturesque spots in Hawaii. In fact, it is a dormant volcano standing 4,207 metres above sea level. The climate is moderate, and the skies are mostly clear. Thus, Mauna Kea is one of the most suitable sites for astronomical exploration. Countries including Japan, U.S.A., Australia, Chile, South Korea, South Africa and others, have their observatories situated here. The clear skies, low humidity, isolation in the Pacific Ocean and other factors make it one of the best sites particularly for sub-millimetre, optical and infrared telescopes.

Astrologers have been able to discover several deep secrets of the universe in the observatories located at Mauna Kea. When we look at galaxies millions of light years away, we actually travel back in time. Many solar systems, including planets somewhat favourable to humans have been spotted. Many secrets, those unknown in the 90s, are now being known. The documentary left the children wondering about the marvels of space.

Next, the students were shown the real-time star position above New Delhi, Mumbai and other nearby places. The students observed constellations like the Orion, and noticed many spiral and elliptical galaxies, that resembled small stars. The curious in our group raised questions which were enthusiastically answered by representatives of the Planetarium who accompanied us.

The students were told about the Indian satellite ASTROSAT, which was launched on 28th September, 2015. ASTROSAT is India's First Dedicated Multi-Wavelength Space Observatory. It was launched with the help of PSLV, India's most trusted satellite launcher. Our students were very enthused and promptly proposed to go back and attempt models of the satellite! The students cut and pasted the templates to form a model of the space observatory at the venue.

This was a seemingly magical experience and the students appealed to go again.

Aryan Singh, IX - D.