A pictorial show of charts and fashions on the district central library introduces college students to the fundamentals of astronomy, galaxies, stars and the milky approach
A pictorial show of charts and fashions on the district central library introduces college students to the fundamentals of astronomy, galaxies, stars and the milky approach
What is the connection between Aryabhatta and astronomy? A pictorial chart throws mild on the contributions of the famend Indian mathematician to the sphere. Over 30 such charts displayed at a corridor connected to the District Central Library function a newbie’s information to astronomy, particularly for college college students. One can study not nearly famend astrophysicists like Megnad Saha and Subhramanyan Chandrasekhar but additionally about planets, stars and galaxies (how they’re shaped), astro images, and various kinds of photo voltaic and lunar eclipses, to call just a few.
“We have covered topics including history, how astronomers found out that the universe was expanding, contributions from India, evolution of stars, and amateur astronomy,” says A Sakthivel, a retired professor of Physics and founding father of Coimbatore Astronomy Club. Currently, he’s an advisor for Kovai Astronomy Club that popularises astronomy amongst college students at Government faculties within the metropolis. “One has to first study the night sky with the naked eye, then they can upgrade to binoculars and telescopes and look for deep sky objects like the butterfly cluster, Orion nebula and Andromeda galaxy, and craters of moon or the spectacular rings of Saturn,” he provides.
Amateur astronomer H Theivaprakasam who labored with Sakthivel on the venture remembers his first expertise of viewing planet Saturn by way of the telescope. “It’s unbelievable. You can count the nine rings. Jupiter, the brightest planet can easily be spotted using binoculars. Now, I use a four-inch reflector telescope to watch the night sky. It’s fascinating.”
Charts and fashions on astronomy
| Photo Credit: PERIASAMY M
‘Catch them young’ is the target of the outreach programme initiated by the Regional Science and Technology Centre, situated at Avanashi Road, managed by the National Council of Science Museum and Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre. “Students are looking at career options in Astrophysics and research. A basic interest in science and knowledge of Physics and Math is all it takes. It hones their skills, starting with observation, logical thinking and interpretation,” says Sakthivel. Theivaprakasam provides that in contrast to Chennai or Bengaluru, there isn’t a planetarium within the metropolis and such initiatives assist college students perceive astronomy and could also be pursue a profession in astrophysics at ISRO or NASA.
“As schools have now opened to physical classes, we hope students make use of this facility,” says P Rajendran, district central librarian.
The stipulations for a superb sky-watching session are clear skies with none mild air pollution, says Theivaprakasam and remembers Messier Marathon, organised by newbie astronomers to seek out as many Messier objects as attainable throughout one evening. “We were a 20-member team of Coimbatore Astronomy Club training our telescopes on a clear sky somewhere near Siruvani (from 6pm to 6am). We counted 90 Messier objects, star clusters, galaxies, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn… it was unforgettable.”
Visit District Central Library situated at Cowley Brown Road, RS Puram. Open from 8am to 8pm. name 04222543842.
Source: www.thehindu.com
