Astronomy outreach event for School Vivekananda.

All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in our own mind. swamy vivekananda.

When volunteers donate their time, equipment and resources and share it with others. ABAA volunteers know that the only thing better than a night under the stars with a telescope is sharing the observing experience with others. One of our main missions is to share the wonders of the night sky and support science education. To accomplish this goal we volunteer our time, telescopes and other resources to groups that are interested in learning more about astronomy.

Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers conducted an Astronomy outreach program on 6th February for School Vivekananda in Sahakaranagar Bangalore North. There was a huge turnout for the event which was estimated around 700 school kids and their parents. This outreach program was one of the series of outreach programs which will be conducted in and around Bangalore by Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers for IYA 2009
The event started by an introductory talk given by Jayanth and his son Rahul who is also one of the active young members of our association. Rahul’s topic was stellar evolution which kindled much interest.

Jayanth and Rahul talking about Introduction to astronomy and Setllar evolution.

Next talk and slide show was delivered by Nagaraj. His talk was about solar system and man made probes to the planets in our solar system. School Vivekananda had made all arrangements for the LCD projector and the screen. Colorful slides for Mars, Jupiter, Saturn etc., captured the interest and imagination of the school children who thoroughly enjoyed each and every slide with a WOW!!. There were around 300 students present in the huge auditorium and this was the first time that we had conducted the events with such large numbers.

Late evening after dark our activity shifted to the school ground, all the school kids were grouped and made to sit according to their classWe had set up 4 telescopes of different aperture

Naveen’s 6 inch open dob with 25 mm eye and Arun’s 4 inch were focused to moon as dobsonian has a low profile this was mainly dedicated to kindergarden children. Jayanth’s 8 inch and Anil’s telescopes were focused to Venus .

Naveen showing Moon through 6" Dob.

School kids were very happy to see through the telescopes and seeing the details of moon astonished each one of them. Many were found coming back again and again in the Queue to see the moon.

As the evening passed by the onlookers and bystanders got curious and came in to see what’s going? A separate queue was created and Arun’s telescope was dedicated for parents and for the general public who wanted to see through a telescope. So the event turned out to be sidewalk astronomy event along with Astronomy outreach for school.

Parents and onlookers queuing up to have a peep through the telescope
A couple of local Sahakaranagar residence who live near the field dropped in to check out what’s was the event about and we ended up showing the local residence as well.
Lot of curiosity was instilled in the minds of young and old, as usual there were lots of Q & A sessions and discussions happened throughout the telescope-viewing event.

We packed up around 9:30 PM in the night as some of the members had to go to other part of the city in Bangalore South. This event that ABAA had conducted for IYA 2009 got a good response and was hugely successful, for which ABAA members are proud of.

We thank the school principle Ms Amitha Shireesh for making all the arrangements for the event and for giving us the opportunity to conduct this event.

ABAA members who made the event successful.
Geeta, Jayanth, Rahul, Naveen, Nagaraj, Arun, Anil & Akshay.

Astronomy Outreach Bangalore International School

As a part of Astronomy Outreach program ABAA had organized Astronomy sky show and a lecture for Bangalore International School children on 12 December 2008. Geeta who happens to be a teacher in BIS had scheduled the dates for the event. Nagraj, Ravi, Anand & Me (Naveen) had attended the outreach program. This was the first outreach program of the series of Astronomy outreach programs which has been scheduled for International year of Astronomy 2009 event.


We had around 30 children and their teachers who were present for the event, We were told that BIS is a school with different curricula and format of teaching would be different. Well this was very evident from the interaction with the children. The amount of knolowdeg about things is very huge for that age group.

Evening started with a slide show and talk by Nagaraj on the topic "SOLAR SYSTEM". School had organized a LCD projector and a screen in schools computer lab. School children enjoyed the talk and the slide show. The level of understanding of the subject of Astronomoy was very high which reflected it the type of question which the kids asked in the Q & A session. Later we came to know that Astronomy is one of the subject that study in depth.

Next we shifted to the school field beside the school basket ball court where we had assembled 8" Telescope. Students were asked to form a queue to see through the telescope. As there were lights around the school the only desired objects were Moon, Venus and Jupiter. First we focussed the telescope to Jupiter as that was the first object which was due to set, Students were able to see 4 satellites of Jupiter.

Next Telescope was set to venus which was beautiful and we were able to see the crescent shape distinctly. School children were amazed to see the crescent shape of planet Venus.


Our Telescope viewing sessions ended with Moon, Students were able to see the breath taking view of Moon and its craters.



Thanks to COD- Shibani and science teacher Smita for giving us the time slot for Astronomy event in there program and making all the arrangements for the slide show. Special thanks to Geeta Jayanth for scheduling the event.