Sun, moon & Saturn keep all glued

KANPUR: Eyes on the Skies, a four-day astronomical event of the IIT-Kanpur, saw a tremendous response from the astronomical lovers on its last day on Sunday.
The event 'Eyes on the Skies', organised by Astronomy Club, IIT Kanpur, in collaboration with UNESCO, had been kicked off with the inauguration of hi-tech Skywatcher 6 inch, Go-To Telescope, procured by the club.This programme had drawn a huge response from the campus residents and students had turned up in large numbers for the various events.
Nilesh Vayada, noted amateur astronomer and national coordinator for ISAN, delivered the opening lecture. He spoke about observing solar eclipses, especially the total solar eclipse that would occur on July 22 this year. It was followed by a short observation session. Students marvelled at the high-resolution views of the moon and Saturn's rings. Next, a documentary on the evolution of the telescope through the ages was screened at a packed auditorium. The first two days included lectures on solar eclipses and stellar evolution, observation sessions and screening of documentaries.
The third day started with a solar observation session, where the students saw the sun through a solar filter and were amazed to see the beautiful sunspots. Dr HC Verma of the physics department delivered a lecture on the generation of elements inside stars. He, as usual, mesmerised the students with his beautiful description of the process. There was a special observation session for the faculty and their families and later for the students. All were awe-struck when they saw the high resolution views of the moon and Saturn. The moon showed up in great detail, complete with all craters and surface features. So did Saturn, with its rings and the moon Titan. Other objects such as Orion Nebula and Beehive Cluster were also seen through the telescopes.
An Astronomy Quiz was also conducted for the students. There were five rounds, all full of astronomy trivia, facts and fun. There was also a Portable Mini Planetarium for the campus residents.
In the end, Shantanu Agarwal delivered a talk on Jugnu, the nanosatellite project of IIT Kanpur. Shantanu Agarwal is the student head of the project. It is a flagship project of IIT Kanpur, which is being done entirely by the students, in collaboration with ISRO.
Buoyed by the success of the event, co-ordinators Karthik Vijayakumar and Ronak Shah said the club had big plans. It plans to organise trips to national observatories, especially for the total solar eclipse on July 22. It also plans to have telescope making workshops in summers and night observation sessions in the future for campus residents.