IYA 2009

Last Lunar Eclipse of 2011 on 10th December, 2011

2012-01-07T07:45:00.003+05:30

Enjoyed by children too...

Eclipsed Moon visible in the Taurus Zodiac Sign.

Totality finally...

Half way...

It visibly began

As it rose...

Dear All,

The Eclipse was seen from hospital building as my beloved mom was not well!

Darkest Lunar Eclipse 15-06-2011

2011-06-16T12:13:00.001+05:30

WSW celebration at K J Public Library, Bharuch

2010-10-19T13:24:00.008+05:30

WSW coverage in local newspapers!

Group photo after enjoying WSW exhibition, film, books & Games!

WSW 2010 at Bharuch

Full report can be found at UN's World Space Week site :

http://www.worldspaceweek.org/eventdetails.php?eventid=2215

Tanmaye Vyas.

Teachers' introductory program on Solar System

2010-10-19T13:11:00.004+05:30

Media coverage of the workshop!

Photo session with teachers after the workshop!

Explaining the Planet nature game!

Informing about some celestial bodies!

Interactive session on Lunar exploration!

Introducing solar system!

Hello,

It was a successful workshop for Teachers at K J Choksi Public Library, Bharuch. Specifically conducted for World Space Week celebration during 4th - 10th October 2010.

Tanmaye Vyas.

Hello Again!

2010-10-19T11:57:00.002+05:30

Dear friends,
After the WSW 2009 celebration at A.G.High School, Ahmedabad; many programs in astronomy conducted but couldn't update my blog for long long time. I am once again updating WSW 2010 - 10th year of World Space Week celebrated mainly at Bharuch and also at Udgam School, Ahmedabad.

The pictures are self speaking.

Tanmaye Vyas

Celebrating World Space Week 10-10-2009, Exhibits visited by Trainee Teachers & other school students at A.G. High School, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad

2009-10-24T19:18:00.008+05:30

Students made their own Galilean Telescope

Participants with WSW banner

Students who made Hanging Solar System

Participants with different Astronomical Models & Posters

School Principal & enthu Teacher with student group

Students who made ISS model room & space products in daily use - with WSW banner

Trainee teachers discussing Space science career option at "Space - Career Corner"!

Trainee teachers at a film show!

Proud parents visited school to encouraged students

Student unveiling secrets of Solar system!

Parents understanding Types of Galaxies in the Universe!

Trainee teachers at Moon posters

Students, Teachers with their models!

Celebrating World Space Week 9-10-2009, Inauguration of Exhibits made by students of A.G. High School, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad

2009-10-12T19:58:00.005+05:30

Opening ceremony of Exhibits prepared by students

More photos will be soon found at http://picasaweb.google.co.in/tanmayvyas/WorldSpaceWeek2009Celebration#

Celebrating World Space Week 8-10-2009, students prepareing for exhibition on 9th-10th at A.G.High School, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad

2009-10-12T19:55:00.003+05:30

Celebrating World Space Week 7-10-2009, Elocution & film on astronomy at A.G. High School, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad

2009-10-07T17:34:00.004+05:30

Guiding students for upcoming astronomy theme based exhibition

Congratulating all participants for Elocution

Avadhi from standard 11B science

Vyom from standard 9A

Clarifying rules for Elocution

Celebrating World Space Week 6-10-2009, Teachers' traing program at A.G.Teachers' College, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad

2009-10-06T23:17:00.003+05:30

Celebrating World Space Week 6-10-2009, Drawing Competition at A.G.High School, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad

2009-10-06T23:05:00.003+05:30

Examining drawing during competition

Celebrating World Space Week 5-10-2009, at A.G.High School, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad

2009-10-06T22:48:00.007+05:30

30 feet tall banner at A.G.High School

Tanmaye's Amazing Space & World Space Week banners at school entrance

Explaining projects to students

Usha Nath assisting students for Astronomy projects

Dr Bavishi & Dr Nirav Thakkar during exhibition visit

Dr Bavishi, igniting Rocket as symbolic beginning of the WSW.

WSW inaugural function

Dr Nirav- Principal of A.G.High School

Rtn Dr Mukesh Bavishi - Asst.Governor Zone 1

Shri Natubhai Panchal - Secr. Ahmedabad Education Society

Opening ceremony

Prayer by students

Opening ceremony function at A.G.High school

Prog: 67, 25-08-2009, Girls' Polytechnic College, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad

2009-09-04T18:48:00.004+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 67th TAS Program.

Today we visited Girls Polytechnic, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The banner display of 4’ x 3’ was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system & monthly star charts at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The session started with Solar system slide show. During the interactive session that followed, nearly the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Many different questions created interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity.

All the girls were thrilled to know about some secrets of the subject and came forward with an idea to start astronomy club in their college. It was great. I assured them from support from our side.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Ravindra Ambala, Prakash, Mayur. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Girls’ Polytechnic, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 25-08-2009
3. Time : 1:00 to 5:30 pm
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 60 (1st & 5th semester students)
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravi
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : -
10 Shows : 1

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog: 66, 20-08-2009, JCI Group, Balasinor, Gujarat

2009-08-28T17:23:00.009+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 66th TAS School Program.

Today we visited JCI Group, Balasinor, east of Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program. They welcomed all with live folk music and prayers.

The banner display of 4’ x 3’ was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system & monthly star charts at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The session started with ‘Journey to Space’ show. During the interactive session that followed, nearly the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Many different questions created interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation.

The hall was huge with projector & screen to show the ‘Journey to Space’ program for the students of 4th standard to 10th standards. In every show they were roughly 250 of them. To cover every student, we screened 5 shows and interactive sessions to cover nearly 1232 participants.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Ravindra Ambala, Neel Shah, Dharmendra & Nikul Rav. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : JCI group, Balasinor, Dist : Ahmedabad
2. Date : 20-08-2009
3. Time : 9:00 am onwards (at two different schools)
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 1232
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravi, Neel
8. Resource Persons : 4
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Chintan Shah, Bipin Patel, Kiran Prajapati
10 Shows : 5

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

22-07-2009, Longest Solar Eclipse from Wuhan city, China.

2009-08-23T10:12:00.009+05:30

Equipment setup & other related photos are placed at following link, please click link below :
http://picasaweb.google.com/tanmayvyas/TotalSolarEclipseOf22072009WuhanChina#

Hello friends!

I have some really exciting experiences to share with you.
The Total Solar Eclipse [TSE] of July 2009 was the longest eclipse of 21st century.

Though the path of TSE was scheduled to pass through my home state, Gujarat, as well as traversing the country through central as well as the north-east, the geographical situation of the Indian sub-continent did not favour the visibility of the eclipse as July end is middle of ‘Monsoon’ in India.

So, when the opportunity to enjoy the longest eclipse from China came our way, we decided to grab it! Of course, a major threat when deciding China as our venue, was also cloud cover. After a rigorous and detailed study of the climate & weather data, we decided on Wuhan, a city located in the east-central region of China’s Hubei State.

Our team was made up of 12 members from India including my wife and me. Except for the two of us, all the rest of the team was from Mumbai. The team was eager to view and document the eclipse in a variety of scientific ways – using equipment and methods like the coronagraph, flash spectrum, spectroscopy, etc. We were going to carry 5 still cameras of various lens calibers as well as 2 movie cameras. These would be mounted on our telescopes to record this unique celestial phenomenon which would not be as long, again for decades.

In order not to be foiled by the vagaries of the unpredictable monsoon, my wife Urvi and I reached Mumbai on 16th July, a day before the departure. We spent one day at Mumbai and 8 members of the group left for Wuhan at midnight on the 17th. The Singapore Airlines flight first took us to Singapore and after changing flights there, we reached Shanghai. It took nearly 12 hours from Mumbai to Shanghai. At Shanghai we tried to beg off the steep extra baggage charges, due to the heavy equipment we were carrying. But to no avail! We had to pay a huge sum. After luggage booking, we all went for a joy ride in one of the fastest trains called ‘Maglevs’. Its highest speed, which was during the rush hour, was an incredible 431 km/h while otherwise it cruised at 301 km/h. We bought round trip for 80 Yuan and enjoyed 16 minutes of to and fro ride. It was an incredible experience. Thereafter, we did not have much time left to board our flight to Wuhan. We reached Wuhan same night i.e. 18th July.

Our hotel, the ‘Howard Johnson’ was a 43 story five star riverfront property on the west bank of the Yangtze. After checking into our rooms, we went straight away to the 43rd floor to check out the terrace for observations. But we were in for a shock – though we had been assured that the terrace would be available for us, there was a revolving restaurant on the terrace with no access to the sky! I guess a lot got lost in translation because we had expressly requested use of the terrace at the time of booking even before we had left India. A ray of hope emerged when we found out that there was a terrace on the 8th floor of the hotel, facing east. So, we decided to rest and check it out the next morning.

19.07.2009
We started our morning with a survey of the 8th floor and liked what we saw: the place had a perfect viewing space and security too for our equipments. Just to be on the safe side we decided to scout out other possible viewing sites. Just across the road, on the riverfront was a board with TSE viewing details in the Chinese language. We tried to communicate with the authorities, but due to the language bar, we couldn’t. So we gave up and headed around the hotel to buy some groceries. Since the hotel was not located in the tourist district, there were no vegetarian restaurants or eating joints. At the supermarket too, we got by by playing ‘dumb charades’ with the staff to look for different products. It was really hilarious for both sides.

We spent the afternoon, assembling our equipment for the TSE.

In the evening, we once again went down to the riverfront and tried to find out if an electrical outlet would be available to run our equipment in the scorching 34 degree heat. Though the temperature was actually lesser than that in Ahmedabad, the sun there had a burning intensity that really fried the skin! Our futile attempts at conveying our needs prompted our team to think of attempting the impossible – learning Chinese overnight! After dinner back at the hotel, once more we went up to the terrace 43 stories up looking for possible ways to set up our equipment on top. One helpful attendant showed us a portion of the terrace that was accessible, but to our luck, the door was sealed as also, west-facing L. So we climbed back down to our room and started working on software calibration and other hardware.

20.07.2009
In the morning we all got up little early to recce the park again. Since the day before we had been hearing a piercing noise – like some insects make. At first we couldn’t find a single insect. Once one insect starts making a racket, more than 100 insects answer and this goes on for roughly half a minute. This din is followed by a long silence. After an exhaustive search, I could found the insect - It was like a cicada.

Thereafter, we searched Wikimapia for interesting places as an emergency alternate to observe the eclipse. But the team couldn’t find anything interesting as the place we were looking for was underwater now. So, we came back to the hotel and asked the authorities for the final permission for 8th floor balcony. Thankfully, they gave us the permission – for we discovered that in China, the Total Solar Eclipse was considered a bad omen by the general public and hence the park that we had been considering as our venue would be closed for the day! This was really difficult to digest for us, astro-enthusiasts, who had come some thousand miles to especially enjoy the celestial show!

After retiring to our rooms, we first tried to Google some local amateur astronomer groups, but couldn’t find any. Then we found that there was a Science & Technological Institute in the nearby University area. We thought of visiting the same in the evening.

With thousands of doubts and questions in mind, we started working on our TSE experiments. My hotel room faced the river & riverfront and it was on 17th floor. I was looking at the park thru the binoculars when suddenly, I spied an equatorial mount of a telescope in the middle of the park with some security around. And close by, I could see some activity of local people clearing the ground and barricading the amphitheatre. We all rushed down to the park and saw some representatives of Wuhan TV clearing up the place. Even without communications, we could tell that a big event was being planned for TSE day, this was completely contrary to what the hotel authorities had been telling us all throughout!! Even so, we were very happy to see that there would be people around to watch the TSE.

Later after our TSE pre preparations were complete, we went down to explore the market place. We found Wall mart at 10 minutes taxi distance. There we saw a gathering of different breeds of dog. It was kind of meeting place for pet dogs. People were dancing, playing and passing time with some martial art practicing too. When we came back to the hotel to see about the permission for setting up our viewing from the 8th floor, they simply nodded ‘NO’ – ‘No Permission’ can be granted to anyone to view eclipse!!? With no recourse possible, we decided to set up all our equipment in the park with back up battery power.

21.07.2009
The day before the TSE was exciting for all of us. We decided to set up our equipment in one corner of the park just opposite our hotel. We reached there early morning rehearsing the TSE viewing protocols and started taking pictures and other notings of the sun. By noon, we were happy with the place, atmosphere and surrounding. But things were not rosy for long, one of the team members working at the place rushed back to hotel and informed that some volunteers were asking for police permission letter to perform experiments. We rushed to the site and tried to contact some authority, volunteer or police. After one hour of search, we found a police station with only Chinese speaking policemen. We played ‘dumb charades’ with them for nearly half an hour, showing a few letters from NASA, they understood two main things – one, we wanted a secure place to keep our equipment overnight and two, we wanted electricity. And yes, finally, they gave us all the facilities that we were looking for! They gave us permission to put up our equipment on their own terrace and allowed us to use their electricity outlets too! They also permitted us to leave our equipment over night J. What a relief that was!!

Here we were taking permission and on other side of the park, people from S&T, TV channels and other foreign groups started gathering in the park. We were really excited and were feeling lucky to choose this city which was right in the middle of the TSE path, the hotel being just opposite to river front and riverfront park where we found all the major science institutes, TV channels and amateur astronomer groups taking part. The park was completely changed into a science park. We came back with high hopes and rechecked all our equipment for the next day – the D-day!!

22.07.2009
We got up really early today – and horror of horrors! - saw some clouds on the horizon! But thankfully, they were not very thick so we did not expect any problems. We got ready and went to the spot at 5:50 am, where few members of the team had slept on the terrace with the equipment. We started giving final touches to our cameras, laptops, video cameras, spectrometer, etc but on the other side, in the sky, we saw a big solar halo with sundogs. We were not happy with the signs; since it indicated more clouds on the way.

The first contact of the moon with the sun was recorded at 8:15 am local time. Though it was a bit cloudy, the sun was hot enough. We had to apply sun screen lotion! As the eclipse progressed, we saw few more clouds in the north and south too. Our hearts beat erratically! We so wanted to enjoy and record every bit of the longest eclipse of the century! Cameras, videos were recording the many moods of the sun, atmosphere, human behavior and surrounding. Totality was nearing but clouds were also thickening dangerously. Just 3 minutes before the totality, we had to start marathon photo schedule of nearly 130 photos in 9 minutes. We started the same with automatic programming, but the visibility of the sun was decreasing drastically. We started loud chanting of “Hanuman Chalisa”; Hanumanji being son of the wind in Hindu mythology, we prayed for the wind to blow the clouds away! Police and other media persons also started clapping with us even tough they did not really understand a word of what we were chanting.

The totality took place at exactly 9:24 am local time and it was all completely dark. The lights on the street were on, all the buildings were lit up, people were cheering as one, but we were still praying to see the totality. The sky color was pitch dark, some shine was visible on the far horizon. Though the camera was programmed to take pictures with specific shutter speeds and apertures, but looking to the cloudy situation, two cameras were kept on automatic software programming and in one camera, I started clicking manually. I felt as if was appearing for a final exam of photography. I was looking for one opening in the clouds to see the totality so as to capture the corona. The totality was reached but still, there was no opening. Suddenly, I saw a faint light from the cloud and with my past experience of photography, I took one picture with 5” exposure and it worked. I was able to capture the corona with total eclipse! The time was running out - Suddenly we noticed that 5 minutes and 39 seconds were over and a wave of light appeared through the clouds. All the cheering stopped and the sun was visible again. The TSE’s exciting phase was over and the nearly 1.50 lakh people present in and around the park started dispersing. The tempo was over, many of us were sorely disappointed because we could not perform any scientific experiments. It was really hard to believe that the sky that was clear till yesterday got crowded with clouds for this morning only. By the end of the TSE, clouds also disappeared from the path of the sun. Phones from India started ringing and we came to know that only Varanasi was lucky enough to see the TSE.

We started dismantling all the equipment. My camera was still capturing receding image of moon’s limb from the sun. By the last contact at 10:46 am we saw, that there were only a few of us in the park. We went back to the hotel with the satisfaction of having taken at least one picture of the totality!

In an uncertain world, that’s success indeed!!

Tanmaye Vyas

+91 99798 61071

Prog: 65, 20 to 22-07-2007, V.D.Desai Wadiwala School, Surat

2009-08-22T19:05:00.015+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 65th TAS School Program.

Today we visited V. D. Desai Wadiwala School, Surat, Gujarat.

This was a special 3 days program. The program was arranged to celebrate and enjoy two milestones in astronomy history. One was celebration of 40th anniversary of Moon Landing on 20th July and second was to observe the Longest Solar Eclipse of this century.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program. There was inauguration function too.

The banner display of 4’ x 3’ was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system & monthly star charts at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The session started with ‘Journey to Space’ show. During the interactive session that followed, nearly the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Many different questions created interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation.

The hall was huge with projector & screen to show the ‘Journey to Space’ program for the students of 4th standard to 10th standards. In every show they were roughly 170 of them. To cover every student, we screened 20 shows and interactive sessions to cover nearly 3494 participants.

This time, Pratham Ambala - one of the experts in model rocketry from our country (who participated in world rocketry competition, twice) was present in the program. He arranged to fly paper rockets every hour during 3 days long stay. He also screened about rocketry around the world along with Mr. Devmurari.

Due to heavy clouds in the city, the Solar eclipse was not possible to observe. But we arranged for poster making competition to sustain their interest and gave prizes to winners.

The program was covered by many media like : Paper media – Gujarat Samachar, Divya Bhaskar, Surat Samachar, Rajasthan Patrika, Gujarat Mitr & Sandesh. E TV gave good coverage over television too.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Pratham Ambala, Ravindra Ambala, Neel Shah, Devmuraribhai, Prakash Leuva, Mayur, Mittal. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : V.D.Desai (Wadiwala) School, Surat, Gujarat
2. Date : 20 to 22-07-2009
3. Time : Full days
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 3494
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravi, Neel, Nikul,
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Neel, Kuldeep, Kush, Love, Jeet, Neel, Surpriya
10 Shows : 20 + 2 rocketry

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog: 64, 16-07-2009, Image English School, Isanpur, Ahmedabad

2009-08-22T19:01:00.005+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 64th TAS School Program.

Today we visited Image English School, Isanpur, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The banner display of 4’ x 3’ was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system & monthly star charts at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The session started with ‘Journey to Space’ show. During the interactive session that followed, nearly the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Many different questions created interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation.

The hall was nice with projector & screen where, the ‘Journey to Space’ was screened for the students of 4th standard to 10th standards. In every show they were roughly 100 of them. To cover every student, we screened 3 shows and interactive sessions to cover nearly 320 participants.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Ravindra Ambala, Neel Shah & Nikul Rav. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Image English School, Isanpur, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 16-07-2009
3. Time : 7:45 am onwards
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 320
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravi, Neel, Nikul,
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Dharni, Parth, Raj, Kush
10 Shows : 3

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog:63, 15-07-2009, Sharda Mandir School, Nadiad

2009-08-22T18:50:00.008+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 63rd TAS School Program.

Today we visited Sharda Mandir School, City : Nadiad, District : Anand, Gujarat.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The banner display of 4’ x 3’ was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system & monthly star charts at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The session started with ‘Journey to Space’ show. During the interactive session that followed, nearly the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Many different questions created interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation.

The hall was nice with projector & screen to show the ‘Journey to Space’ program for the students of 4th standard to 10th standards.. In every show they were roughly 60 of them. To cover every student, we screened 20 shows (1 show for teachers) and interactive sessions to cover nearly 1220 participants.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Ravindra Ambala, Neel Shah, Nikul Rav & Hirabhai. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Sharda mandir, Nadiad, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 15-07-2009
3. Time : 7:45 am onwards
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 1220
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravi, Neel, Nikul, Hirabhai
8. Resource Persons : 4
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Devanshi, Punit, Darmishta, Drashti, Harsh, Rajes, Parth
10 Shows : 20 + 1 teacher’s show

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 62, 13-07-2009, Gyan Ganga Vidhya mandir, Village : Mogri, District : Anand

2009-08-22T18:25:00.011+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 62nd TAS School Program.

Today we visited Gyan Ganga Vidhya Mandir School, Village : Mogri, District : Anand, Gujarat.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The banner display of 4’ x 3’ was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system & monthly star charts at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The session started with ‘Journey to Space’ show. During the interactive session that followed, nearly the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Many different questions created interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation.

The hall was big with projector & screen to show the ‘Journey to Space’ program for the students of 4th standard to 10th standards.. In every show they were roughly 75 of them. To cover every student, we screened 20 shows (in two days) and interactive sessions to cover nearly 1527 participants.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Ravindra Ambala, Neel Shah, Nikul Rav & Hirabhai. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Gyan Ganga Vidhya Mandir School, Village : Mogri, Dist: Ananad, Gujarat
2. Date : 13&14-07-2009
3. Time : 7:45 am onwards
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 1527
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravi, Neel, Nikul, Hirabhai
8. Resource Persons : 4
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Ashutosh, Parth, Nikunj, Darshit, Nirav, Rushabh, Akshay, Hemang,

Manthan, Paresh, Brijesh, Mayur
10 Shows : 20

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 61, 11-07-2009, Vishwabharti School, Thaltej, Ahmedabad

2009-08-22T18:16:00.008+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 61st TAS School Program.

Today we visited Vishwabharti School, Thaltej, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The banner display of 4’ x 3’ was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system & monthly star charts at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The session started with ‘Journey to Space’ show. During the interactive session that followed, nearly the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Many different questions created interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation.

The hall was nice with projector & screen to show the ‘Journey to Space’ program for the students of 5th standard to 10th standards.. In every show they were roughly 50 of them. To cover every student, we screened 3 shows and interactive sessions to cover nearly 160 participants.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Ravindra Ambala, Neel Shah, Nikul. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Vishwabharti School, Thaltej, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 11-07-2009
3. Time : 7:45 am onwards
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 160
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravi, Neel, Nikul
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Nimesh, Jayraj, Ravi

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 60, 04-07-2009, Teachers' Training at ICECD, Bopal, Ahmedabad

2009-07-16T08:58:00.004+05:30

Here’s a report on the 60th TAS School Program.

Today we visited ICECD Campus, Bopal, Ahmedabad.

It was unique program today. We had to introduce the subject to primary & high school teachers. All the teachers were from nearby village schools. We specifically asked principals to send science and mathematics teachers so that, they can grasp topic readily.

Initially the program was to give basic information about different celestial bodies in our solar system, but looking to the interest and interaction on the sun, the workshop of nearly 4 hours concluded with full understanding of only the sun.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Smt. Hinaben Shah – Chairperson of ICECD who gave opportunity, the staff for nice arrangement & Jigar Darji for photography. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : ICECD campus, Bopal, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 04-07-2009
3. Time : 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 11
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Jigar Darji
8. Resource Persons : 1

Prog : 59, 04-07-2009 at Vishwabharti school, Shahpur, Ahmedabad

2009-07-16T08:22:00.008+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 59th TAS School Program.

Today we visited Vishwabharti School, Shahpur, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The banner display of 4’ x 3’ was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system & monthly star charts at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The session started with ‘Journey to Space’ show. During the interactive session that followed, nearly the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Many different questions created interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation.

Due to lack of big hall and projector, the ‘Journey to Space’ was shown on computer screen to the students of 4th standard to 10th standards in class room. In every show they were roughly 50 of them. To cover every student, we screened 18 shows and interactive sessions to cover nearly 850 students.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Ravindra Ambala, Neel Shah for presentations, Nikul. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Vishwabharti School, Shahpur, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 04-07-2009
3. Time : 7:45 am onwards
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 850
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravi, Neel, Nikul
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) :

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 58, 02-07-2009 at Seva Cafe, C.G.Road, Ahmedabad

2009-07-16T07:33:00.004+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 58th TAS Program.

Today we visited the Seva Café, C.G.Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad.
Seva Café is an experiment in the shared joy that comes from humble giving and selfless service. The wholesome meals are cooked and served with love by volunteers and offered to our guests as a genuine gift, paid for in full by previous guests. This the concept on which the same is serving and supports many who are from slum.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the authorities and guests excitedly awaiting the program.

Due to lack of space in the café, we couldn’t display any poster of banners. The session started with ‘Journey to Space’ show. During the interactive session that followed, nearly the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that not only the volunteers but guests too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Many different questions created interesting debates.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Sandip for arrangement, Jigar Darji for photo. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Seva Café, C.G.Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad.
2. Date : 02-07-2009
3. Time : 7:30 – 8:30 pm
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 22
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Jigar Darji
8. Resource Persons : 1
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) :

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Half Yearly Report

2009-07-16T07:33:00.001+05:30

Prog : 57, 27-06-2009 at Kathiawad Primary School, Himmatnagar, Dist: Sabarkantha

2009-07-16T07:11:00.002+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 57th TAS School Program.

Today we visited the Kathiawad Primary School at City : Himmatnagar, Dist : Sabarkantha.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The banner display of 4’ x 3’ size (Local language Gujarati & English both) was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system & monthly star charts at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The session started with ‘Journey to Space’ show. During the interactive session that followed, nearly the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Many different questions created interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation.

Due to lack of big hall and projector, the ‘Journey to Space’ was shown on computer screen to the students of 6th standard to 9th standards in class room. In every show they were roughly 50 of them. To cover every student, we screened 12 shows and interactive sessions to cover nearly 600 students.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Ravindra Ambala, Neel Shah, Nikul. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Kahiawad Primary School, Himmatnagar, Dist:Sabarkantha
2. Date : 27-03-2009
3. Time : 9:45 am to 5:00 pm
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 648
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravi, Neel, Nikul
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Ankit

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 56, 13-06-2009 at St.Joseph School, Vijapur, Gujarat

2009-06-25T18:46:00.004+05:30

Hello,

Here’s a report on the 56th TAS School Program.

Today we visited St. Joseph school at Vijapur, District : Mehsana, State : Gujarat.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program was organized for the first time with huge (4’ x 3’) banners of planets and star charts in Gujarati (local) language. The session started with ‘Journey to Space’ show. During the interactive session that followed, the Solar and Saturn’s slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Questions like – who was the first person to go to space, How hot the sun is, etc’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students like Anand answered my questions with amazing clarity and was awarded prizes at the end of the presentation.

The program ended with Saturn observation. They were particularly amazed to see ring-less Saturn in Leo. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

The capacity of auditorium was limited to 200 only, so we had to make 7 shows and interactive sessions to cover nearly 1400 students. The school has hostel facility too, where nearly 800 students were staying.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Pratham Ambala, Neel Shah, Ravindra Ambala, Nikul. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : St. Joseph School, at Vijapur, District : Mehsana, State : Gujarat.
2. Date : 13-06-2009
3. Time : 10:20 am to 1:30 am
4. Object observed : Saturn
5. Participants : 1437
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravindra Ambala ( through mobile)
8. Resource Persons : 4
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Anand (10th standard), Avesh, Vatsal & Kagraj (5th standard), Shreyas 6th standard

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Presentation on "Daily Astronomy" for Rotary Club, Ahmedabad

2009-06-18T10:20:00.004+05:30

Hello,

The Rotary Club of Ahmedabad called us to introduce the subject of astronomy for their members today. They wanted to explore “Daily Astronomy”. Though we see sunrise, moonrise or read about the change of zodiac sign (i.e. solar or lunar movement through zodiacal constellations) and alike many phenomena which happens very often but sometimes unexplained. We do not have exact reason to understand the same.

So, today we focused the presentation on “Daily Astronomy”; here we explained members following:

- Why sun doesn’t rise everyday from same place on horizon?
- Why we see Moonrise at different times every day?
- Why the sky is red at morning / evening and blue at all other times?
- How Lunar and Solar position changes with respect to zodiacal constellations?
- Why eclipse doesn’t occur every month?
- Why we see change of season?
- What is aphelion / perihelion & apogee / perigee?

They were really amazed to know open secrets behind all these. Since nearly all members of the club were senior citizens, they enjoyed old memory of their school time. Few came forward to understand other observational aspects. It was really great experience.

Summary:
1. Venue : Ellisbridge Gymkhana, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 09-06-2009
3. Time : 7:10 to 8:00 pm
4. Object observed : None
5. Participants : 40
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Jigar Darji
8. Resource Persons : 1

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Largest event of IYA 2009 in India during 22 May - 01 June 2009

2009-06-09T21:31:00.007+05:30

Felicitation at the end of the event.

Citizens enjoying show in local language

Late night shows were also 'House Full'!

People at the entrance of the dome!

Dignitaries enjoying during the event!

Mrinalini Sarabhai, Mayor of city, Erstwhile Home Minister of State!

Hello!

The Sun seems to have moved closer to Ahmedabad…the heat seems intent on roasting us all to a crisp! But the never-say-die spirit of Ahmedabadis is still alive and kicking!!

Each year, the Gandhi Corporation organizes a theme fair at the Ahmedabad Education Society grounds for 11 days that attracts average footfalls of 50,000 on weekdays and crosses 100,000 footfalls on weekends. And each year they create a new theme based ambience for the fair. This year’s Vacation 2009 theme was ‘Space’.

With a quarter century of amateur astronomy under my belt, yours truly, Tanmaye Vyas, became the Subject Consultant of choice to this fair. This was a happy coincidence as 2009 is being celebrated worldwide as the International Year of Astronomy - IYA2009. As a matter of fact, I was tremendously happy to seize the opportunity to introduce the more than 700,000 visitors to the wonders of astronomy - a massive outreach opportunity on an unprecedented scale that would allow “Tanmaye’s Amazing Space” to realize the purpose and goal of IYA ‘Universe Yours to Discover’ in the truest sense.

The Space theme began right from the entry ticket windows whose interiors were created to mimic the flight deck of the space shuttle – preparing visitors for the trip to space!

The 100 ft passage leading to the main gate was lined with huge posters depicting how the various parts of the Space Shuttle are transported and assembled.

The main gate was an enormous 3D, 50 ft tall model of the launch ready Space Shuttle itself – fuel tanks, et al! At the entrance, fair representatives dressed as spacemen welcomed visitors – the children were especially thrilled to shake hands and be photographed with the ‘astronauts’!

As you entered thru the Space-Shuttle Gate, you saw a 50 ft, 3D model of the domed surface of Mars. Alongside were panels showing the Mars mountain range named in memory of Kalpana Chawla and her colleagues.

Thereafter another 300ft passage displayed huge posters of astronomical bodies, events, and astronauts. On both sides, on the ground, were 3D displays charting the evolutionary history of the planet Earth. The roof of the dome was light up with hundreds of stars. And a central passage on the roof also displayed the Zodiac Signs & Constellations. Most importantly, all information was displayed in both English as well as the local vernacular – Gujarati. This was instrumental in encouraging the vast numbers of visitors to immerse themselves in the wonders of space for a few hours!

The 300 ft passage culminated in a 50 ft, 3D display of the Lunar surface complete with rovers, robots and spacemen!

Besides the exhibit domes for the various vendors, a theme pavilion 91 feet x 78 feet was set up for serious lovers of astronomy who may wish to further explore the subject. Since it was impossible to control the vast crowds and at the same time deliver one-on-one value, we restricted entry to this pavilion by putting a monetary value on it. Even so, we were inundated by a sea of humanity!

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had only 2 days to plan and set up the active ties within this huge Pavilion! But we were up to the challenge! Finally, we offered visitors to our pavilion called ‘Avkaash Yatra’ i.e. ‘Journey into Space’ the following interactive activities:

a. An interesting booklet in Gujarati was custom designed to present some amazing facts of Astronomy in an attractive manner. More than 8000 such booklets were distributed to the visitors of our pavilion.
b. Screening of a custom designed, 15 minute, multimedia presentation titled ‘Journey thru the Solar System’ in Gujarati language with English subtitling and a seating capacity of nearly100 people. More than 200 screenings were conducted.
c. At the end of the screening, an impromptu quiz of 5 questions based on the presentation was conducted an prizes given away to those who answered correctly - a custom designed chart of the solar system with information on all the planets. More than a 100 prizes were given away. Participants were also encouraged to ask any questions they wished in the field of astronomy.
d. Static home planetarium where visitors were introduced to the local night sky and a display of the local night sky thru every month of the year was put up and explained by a volunteer.
e. An interactive game that brought home to the younger visitors the fact that not all planets in our solar system were solid on which a probe can land and explore. That four of them were gaseous which meant that there is no hard surface at all!
The game required the young visitors to throw the various planet size balls thru the four gaseous planet sized holes in the poster. All successful candidates received a prize – a custom designed chart of the solar system with information on all the planets.
f. Another interactive game, this time aimed at holding the attention of entire families – (so that the youngsters could spend more time in our pavilion!) was the 16’ x 8’foot Solar System jigsaw puzzle with 60 pieces. We invited the public to recreate the Solar system in 20 minutes while it actually took more than 50 million years to form! Family groups were encouraged to work together! Winners were given prizes - a custom designed chart of the solar system with information on all the planets.
g. A Rocketry section was created to teach and explain single, double and triple stage rockets used in space exploration. A volunteer explained based on 3D models as well as display charts.
h. A life-size cutout of Yuri Gagarin was put up honouring the first man in space. Another buddy astronaut with a face cutout was placed alongside to allow visitors to be astronauts for a minute and take home some golden memories of their encounter with Tanmaye’s Amazing Space [TAS].
i. Information desk that recorded visitors’ queries and wishes to further participate in our programs as well as future workshops and Career Guidance was put up. More than 1000 students requested guidance about degree courses & career possibilities in Astronomy. Mothers of even Cass 1 students wanted to enroll their children in small introductory courses for themselves and their young ones. Many came forward to buy our multi-media program in the local language – there is such a dearth of information in Gujarati! We plan to bring out a series of CDs to address this anomaly – as soon as we are able to find some funds for the effort!! Many rural/urban schools and institutes booked us for similar vernacular language presentations at their premises.

j. Internal displays in the Pavilion were made up of banner explaining the concept of IYA, Sun, Planets and Comet in the English language for those visitors those who couldn’t follow the Gujarati language.

The fair was open to the public from 22nd May to 1st June, 2009.

Today, when I am writing this blog, TAS is very, very happy to announce that our IYA outreach effort has reached more than 700,000 people. This should be a record event for the year! The pictures attached here are documented proof of the same.

Some distinguished visitors to our pavilion: Erstwhile Home Minister of State, Mr. Ashok Bhatt, present Mayor of Ahmedabad City, Mr. Kanaji Thakore, Mrs. Mrinalini Sarabhai, wife of Late Vikram Sarabhai who founded many world renowned institutes like PRL (Physical Research Laboratory), ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), SAC (Space Application Center); Many educators, principals & teachers of the urban as well as rural schools appreciated our effort that delivered such deep science in layman terms.

Our heartfelt gratitude to Hemubhai Gandhi & his son, Amal Gandhi, who allowed us to share the Vacation 2009 platform for this unprecedented opportunity to take Astronomy to the citizens of Ahmedabad.

For this grand success more than 20 volunteers and resource persons stood shoulder to shoulder in support throughout the 11 days of the fair. We would like to extend our gratitude for their kind support physical as well as moral. Personal thanks to : Urvi Vyas, Usha Nath, Rajesh Nath, Stephen Samuel, Jigar Darji, Ravi Gamit, Ketan Pathak, Jigish Vyas, Janki Vyas, Meet Vyas, Neel, Pratham Ambala, Ravi Ambala, Heta Pathak and other resource persons.

The sponsorship by the Udgam School for Children under the aegis of the KJ Charitable Trust has been the backbone of our sustained efforts for IYA 2009 and we gratefully acknowledge the same.

For more photos of the event, please follow the link mentioned below.

Preparation & Set up :

Participation :

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 93270 19254
+91 99798 61071

Prog : 55, 12-05-2009,

2009-05-12T20:34:00.004+05:30

Questions at the exit time!

Prayer time.

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 55th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school no. 2 at Naranpura, Ahmedabad. This school is adopted by “Samvedna NGO” for better education of under privileged students.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program. All the students prayed before they entered the class.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with interactive session. Nearly all the slides fascinated them all. Questions like – How can a flag remain horizontal without air, what are sun spots, etc’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity. Due to lack of time, we couldn’t conduct question-answer session. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding. Students gathered at the end asked many questions.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Jigar Darji for photo documentation & set up and Ravi Gamit for assistance. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Gandhinagar Municipal School-2, Naranpura, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 12-05-2009
3. Time : 8:30 to 9:30 am
4. Object observed : None
5. Participants : 52
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Jigar Darji
8. Resource Persons : 2

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 54, 11-05-2009 at Girls Polytechnic, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad

2009-05-12T20:06:00.003+05:30

Enjoying poster detail.

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 54th TAS Program.

Today we visited Girls Polytechnic, Ahmedabad. We were special called to deliver lecture for students studying in EC (Electronics & Communication). They wanted to understand secrets of our solar system and also they wanted some guidance for making career in Astronomy.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The poster display was set up on the floor for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. This time we also displayed posters used during 100 HA. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends. All of them, wrote nearly every bit of information mentioned in the posters.

The program started with interactive session. The session started with Milkyway information and ended up with Earth. Since they were all Diploma Engineering students, they interacted at nearly every slides with their study point of view. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the session! Questions like – temperature of sun’s core, different types of radiations from sun, beautiful aurora’s formation, etc’ created some interesting debates.

At the end we displayed all the planetary posters on the table. Few of them noted some information from posters. They also offered cold drink at the end, in the piercing heat of 42 degree centigrade.

Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to start their own astronomy club with our help. It was really good news. We guided them in depth and promised to visit again with more facts and fun.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Mrs. Monali – a faculty at college, Jigar Darji for set up and photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Girls Polytechnic, Opp. Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 11-05-2009
3. Time : 3:30 to 5:00 pm
4. Object observed : None
5. Participants : 37
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Jigar Darji
8. Resource Persons : 1
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) :

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 53, 02-05-2009 "Astronomy Day" celebration at Vikram Sarabhai Community Science Center, University area

2009-05-08T07:44:00.005+05:30

Hello,

Here's a report on 53rd TAS program.

Wish you all a Happy Astronomy Day. Today we celebrated Astronomy Day with students of 10-15 years of age group along with their parents at Vikram Sarabhai Community Science Center (CSC), Opp. University building, Ahmedabad.

CSC arranged a week long session for astronomy enthusiast students. They were given hands on experience by different practicals & theories during the week. We were called to throw light on title "Exploring Solar System". The session was very interesting due to presence of parents. They also participated in interaction with joy with their kids.

The journey couldn't complete from Sun to Plutoid, instead all insisted to explain more about Sun-Earth-Moon system. We made them understand from Geography to Astronomy.

Summary :

1.Venue : Community Science Center, University, Ahmedabad

2.Date : 02-05-2009

3.Time : 4:00 - 5:40 pm

4.Session : Exploring solar system

5.Participants : 40

6.Volunteers : Jigar Darji

7.Photos : Jigar Darji

8.Resource : 0

9.Winners : All were given Saturn bookmark.

Tanmaye Vyas

+919327019254

+919979861071

Prog : 52, 20-04-2009 at Manav Sadhana, Old Vadaj, Ahmedabad

2009-04-22T15:40:00.004+05:30

Satisfying heavenly curiosity!

Yes, the Saturn is up there.

Proud winners!

Some lighter moments during interactive session!

All wanted to write every bit of information!

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 52nd TAS Program.

Today we visited NGO called Manav Sadhna & St. Mary Mercy Community center at Old Vadaj, Ahmedabad.

The center is very beautifully architecture in a middle of very poor community area. The center has many facilities like computer room, playground, toddler room, small prayer room, gym, study & reading room, kitchen, etc.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The poster display was set up on the floor for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. This time we also displayed posters used during 100 HA. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends. All of them, wrote nearly every bit of information mentioned in the posters.

The program started with interactive session without projector (the projector has some fault). The session started with Milky way information and ended up with Pluto. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the session! Questions like – biggest & smallest planets, comparison of earth with sun or Jupiter, etc’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation.

Now it was time for observation. Today they enjoyed mysterious and beautiful Saturn through 8” SCT. They were really amazed to see the edge on position of the rings. Many of them saw Saturn twice and thrice to quench their knowledge thirst.

Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Jagatbhai of Manav Sadhana NGO, Jigar Darji & Ravi Gamit for set up and photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Manav Sadhana, Old Vadaj, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 20-04-2009
3. Time : 7:00 to 9:30 pm
4. Object observed : Saturn
5. Participants : 43
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Jigar Darji & Ravi Gamit
8. Resource Persons : 2
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Reshma Vaghela, Kinjal Paraghi, Rekha Makawana

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 51, 18-04-2009, Municipal school, Sarkari Vasahat, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad

2009-04-18T13:30:00.003+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 51st TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school at Sarkari Vasahat, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad. This school is adopted by Lions Club of Ahmedabad Greater as Permanent Service Center. Under this banner, they have invited NGO called “Samvedana” to take up the educational challenge of the students.

Today we were called in the morning hours for multi-media presentation of the Solar system. As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with interactive session. The Solar flare, phases of Venus, Aurora Borealis, etc. slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers as well as organizers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding. During the session we distributed Moon cards to all those bright students who spontaneously answered some questions correctly.

One student from UK and two from Germany – studying history were present too. Even though the session was in local language (Gurarati), they praised the presentation. As a memento, students gave us nice ornamental plant in decorative pot.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Jankiben Vasant - Founder of Samvedana NGO, Committee of Lions Club of Ahmedabad Greater, Jigar Darji & Ravi Gamit for nice setup. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Municipal School, Sarkari Vasahat, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 18-04-2009
3. Time : 9:10 to 10:30 am
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 58
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Jigar Darji
8. Resource Persons : 2
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : None

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 50, 11-04-2009, Gotri, Baroda

2009-04-14T21:51:00.004+05:30

Interactive with kids.

Practicing before turn.

Dear all,

The 50th show of "Tanmaye's Amazing Space" was conducted at Baroda. Nearly 70 children gathered at one bunglow at Gotri area, outskirt of city Baroda. All eagerly awaited for the session since many days.

Though they were between 10-13 years old, they answered many questions with much clarity. All amazed to see Saturn with edge on rings and the Moon with many many craters. Few of them declared that they would be visiting moon in future and all applauded for their determination. During naked eye observation, all were keen to see their zodiac sign. Parents also joined star party.

Summary:
1. Venue : Gotri, Baroda.
2. Date : 11-04-2009
3. Time : 7:40 to 9:40 pm
4. Object observed : Saturn & Moon
5. Participants : 85
6. Volunteers : 1
7. Photo : Urvi Vyas
8. Resource Persons : 0
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : All were given Moon card and 100 HA lapels.

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 49, 09-04-2009, Radio Mirchi, Vejalpur, Ahmedabad

2009-04-14T20:37:00.003+05:30

'Radio Mirchi' group who enjoyed the night sky for the first time.

Dear All,

In response to the unmatchable support during "100 HA" from 2-5 April 2009, we wanted to share secrets of the Solar system to all interested, working at Radio Mirchi.

We approached the program coordinator with an idea of announcing Astronomy Facts nearly ten times a day during 2-5 April. Along with this, we also asked to promote astronomy by asking astronomy related quiz and for winners, we offered special astronomy kits. The idea clicked and astronomy was on air for all 100 Hours of Astronomy!!!

During the multi-media session, all interacted in depth and had nice debates over few issues like ' How deep Sunspots are, how can a flag wave on lunar surface without atmosphere, etc'. The naked eye observation started with Sirius, Taurus, Orion, Leo and then Saturn through 8" telescope. They were all amazed to see bar like rings and then lastly all enjoyed crates and maria on the moon.

We distributed 100HA lapels to all along with Saturn bookmark.

We sincerely thanks Jigneshbhai and all radio jockeys for kind support, Ravi Gamit for single handed arrangement with photo documentation.

Summary:
1. Venue : Radio Mirchi, Vejalpur, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 09-04-2009
3. Time : 7:20 to 9:10 pm
4. Object observed : Saturn, Moon and other constellation
5. Participants : 21
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravi Gamit
8. Resource Persons : 1
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : No competition at station, but Radio quiz winners are mentioned in previous blogs.

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

100 Hours of Astronomy '2-5 April, 2009 - Final Report'

2009-04-10T11:50:00.003+05:30

Leading newspaper "Times of India"

One of the leading Gujarati language newspaper "Divya Bhaskar"

Local Gujarati Weekly magazine "Aarpar"

Leading newspaper "Times of India"

Local newspaper "Sandesh"

Very popular for local affairs "Ahmedabad Mirror"

Guest book

Dear All,

“100 Hours of Astronomy”

Our 100 Hours actually started in March!
That’s when we started chalking out the program for an ambitious 4 day extravaganza.
We planned to party every day of the 100 hours!

In keeping with the spirit of the IYA2009 mission of taking astronomy to those people who would not ordinarily be touched by what is perceived as a niche and elitist pastime, we consciously decided to base the venues for most of the programs within the old city walls of Ahmedabad and in the newly restored traditional houses called ‘Havelis’

Getting the various permissions from owners, the respective heritage boards and the other concerned authorities was a humongous task.

In order to arouse the attention and interest of the lay public, we created 100 posters for display at the venues. The posters were unique not only in the content which used one-liner facts presented in a unique graphic adorned way but more importantly, were also presented in the local language! They were such a great success that the young and old visitors alike were fascinated by them and sometimes to such an extent that people used notebooks to copy down the text!! Indeed, so many requests to turn the text of the posters into a handbook were received that we are seriously considering creating a series of such handbooks!! Just need some good Samaritans to pledge some funds!

In our attempt to add a fun element to the project, we decided to celebrate Yuri’s space anniversary on all the four days of our 100 Hour program. We created a life size cutout of Yuri in a space suit alongside an empty astronomer’s suit that allowed all participants to become astronomer buddies with Yuri for a few moments when they placed their faces in the suit and got their pictures clicked! On the 4th, we sang happy birthday to Yuri and distributed chocolates to all the 100 hour participants

We also gave away 500 lapel buttons with the 100Hours of astronomy logo to all the participants!

Our attempt to encourage a huge turnout at the 100 hours venues was colossal and well planned. We created 5000 event posters that were put up at all local clubs, popular stores as well as distributed in bulk around the venues themselves.

Another major campaign to drum up awareness as well as attendance for the 100 hours was our Radio Campaign which was aired for 5 days beginning April 1, 2009. The campaign announced the various programs for each day of the 100 hour celebrations while also running a quiz on astronomy! Prizes of astronomy kits and books were given away to the winners every day! There were ten radio spots everyday! And a total of 20 prizes given away!

We also managed to give the programs wide news coverage in the leading dailies of the town.

Our theme was: Global Star Party at a local hot spot!

Tanmaye Vyas

+91 9327019254

+91 9979861071

100 Hours of Astronomy - Day 4, 05-04-2009 from Agashiye Restaurant & Sidi Saiyad Mosque, Ahmedabad

2009-04-09T17:44:00.004+05:30

Arrangement to enjoy Starry Dinner.

Restaurant entrance with cloudy sky...

Notice of cancellation.

Main entrance of Agashiye Restaurant

World famous Sidi Saiyad Mosque.

Clouds over mosque.

Notice of cancellation in local language at the entrance.

Dear all,
The evening program scheduled at Agashiye Restaurant and Sidi Saiyad Mosque had to be cancelled due to the impossible weather conditions that rained out the party!

We went to both places and put up notices canceling the program and apologizing for the inconvenience caused to participants.

Tanmaye Vyas.
+91 9327019254

+91 9979861071

100 Hours of Astronomy - Day 4, Sun Day 05-04-2009, Modhera Sun Temple, Mehsana

2009-04-09T11:13:00.009+05:30

The famous Sun Temple at Modhera.

Different moods of the temple.

Eplaining Solar moods.

Lets set up fast before the sun disappear in clouds again.

Yes, this filter will save your eyes from harmful rays from the sun.

Visitors amazed to see the solar discovery timeline since 9th century...

Solar specific posters are displayed for visitors.

Dear all,

Today, being SUN DAY, a solar celebration was planned at the famous Sun Temple at Modhera situated on Tropic of Cancer.

The group of TAS volunteers started for the Modhera Sun Temple, nearly 100 kms north of Ahmedabad well before sunrise. We were apprehensive as we started out because the sky was dull and full of clouds. But we were hopeful that conditions would improve as we moved away from Ahmedabad. We reached Modhera around 8:15 am. The sky conditions were worsening and wind was extremely gusty. The atmosphere was full of dust and we were so buffeted by the increasing winds, we were afraid to unload our equipment! We waited till 9:30 am and as the wind speed lowered, the Sun also started playing hide and seek in the sky.

We waited with bated breath and prayers on our lips, hoping that the sky would clear up enough for our program. Sure enough, a window opened up and we quickly set up the entire special Sun related posters as well as the other posters in the temple vicinity. Our banners and the telescopes were prepared with Badder filter ready for viewing. Already, visitors were crowding around impatient to have a peek thru the telescope and asking innumerable questions about our purpose. When we explained the IYA2009 celebrations and our voluntary efforts to include the common man in the celebrations, they were very happy and showered their good wishes and blessings on our endeavors!

Seeing the Sun through the telescope for the first time was a thrilling experience for one and all! Few visitors touring the temple were foreigners and they too appreciated our efforts and the opportunity to discover the centuries old traditions and astronomical phenomena associated with the Sun in the Indian tradition.

Our luck with the weather ran out and the weather deteroited quickly covering the Sun with thick roiling clouds and the wind too picked up speed reaching almost hurricane conditions! By 12 noon, we packed up with alacrity and headed towards Ahmedabad.

All visitors were gifted the “100 Hours of Astronomy” lapel buttons.

For today’s program we would like to thank following : Urvi Vyas, Rajesh Nath, Usha Nath, Stephen Samuel, Jigar Darji, Ravi Gamit and Nikhita Nath.

Summary :

1. Venue : Modhera Sun Temple, Modhera, Mehsana.
2. Time : 9:15 am to 12:00 pm
3. Participants : 50

Tanmaye Vyas

100 Hours of Astronomy Day - 3, 04-04-2009 from Jagdip Mehta's Haveli, Ahmedabad

2009-04-09T08:41:00.010+05:30

Happy winner of quiz by "Radio Mirchi"

Glad to be with Yuri!

Yes, Moon's surface shows lava beds.

Astronomy without Borders!

Age no bar.

Explaining in detail!

More understanding...

Jagdip Mehta is ready to go to space!

Posters, posters everywhere...

Indian tradition stronger in walled city!

Hello all,

Today the program was once again at a prestigious Haveli; ‘Jagdip Mehta’s Haveli’. Here there was enough space to accommodate the entire program on the terrace – 100 Posters, the Yuri photo-op station, the telescope, the visitor log station, etc. were set up.

Jagdip Mehta, the owner of the Haveli, remained present for the whole program. His personal efforts along with ours, ensured a huge turnout of enthusiastic participants in the heart of the city. More than 125 people participated and enjoyed today’s star party! We had to set the telescope to view the Moon as the sky was partially covered with clouds and Saturn was not visible. A naked eye presentation with a laser guide was also conducted in both English as well as the local lingua – Gujarati, which was received with great enthusiasm and considerable awe. They enjoyed naked eye observation as well.

Amazingly, today’s visitors wanted a very interactive experience. There were a number of questions and all the volunteers were busy explaining the science behind the facts displayed on the posters.
We celebrated Yuri’s birthday by announcing the occasion and distributing chocolates to one and all on the occasion of Yuri’s anniversary.

Press corps from local dallies as well as national press also covered the event.

Lapel buttons with logo of ‘100 hours of Astronomy’ were distributed to all visitors who sported them proudly and even asked for spare ones to share with friends and family who could not make it to the venue themselves!

Winners from Radio Astronomy quiz contest also came to participate as well as to collect their prizes!

For today’s program we would like to thank following : Urvi Vyas, Rajesh Nath, Usha Nath, Stephen Samuel, Jigar Darji, Ravi Gamit, Jagdip Mehta & family members, and other silent helpers.

Summary :

1. Venue : Jagdip Mehta’s Haveli, 1871 Moto Suthar vado, Khadia,

Ahmedabad.
2. Time : 7:00 pm to 11:45 pm
3. Participants : 125
4. Prize winners : Chirag, Himanshu & Kishan

Tanmaye Vyas

100 Hours of Astronomy - Day 2, 03-04-2009 from Ellisbridge Gymkhana Club, Ahmedabad

2009-04-08T18:03:00.011+05:30

Around the world in 80 Telescopes!

Winner of quiz on "Radio Mirchi"

Winner of quiz on "Radio Mirchi"

Winner of quiz on "Radio Mirchi"

Winner of quiz on "Radio Mirchi"

Video conferencing with amateurs at Jantar Mantar, Delhi

Video conferencing with Massimo from Canada!

The group of amateur astronomer eager for Video conference.

Explaing about the Gravitational wave observatory.

Live webcasting...

Explaining different types of telescopes.

Beautiful Orion Nebula.

Double screen for double excitement.

Poster reading by young ladies.

Urvi Vyas with Yuri!

Stephen with Yuri!

Ravi with Yuri!

Jigar with Yuri!

Rajesh with Yuri!

Usha with Yuri!

Club entrance.

Galileo at entry.

Yuri Gagarin set up.

Poster exhibit.

Double screen set up for 80 telescope & video conference.

Hello all,

We were excited and looking forward today to screening ‘Around the world in 80 Telescopes’ at the Ellisbridge Gymkhana Club. The club had kindly allowed us the use of the conference hall from 2.30 to 11pm.

As a precautionary measure, we arranged for two laptops, two internet connections, two projectors and screens.

We decorated the conference hall with all the 100 posters on astronomy facts. Yuri’s cutout exactly in front of entrance and screened one slide show on deep sky objects while waiting for the 100hour official telecast to begin. And in the event that the 100Hours telecast faced any down times!

Eager participants were already seated by 2:30 had to wait till 2:50pm to see the first telecast of the observatory ‘Gemini’. Since the site was already experiencing telecast troubles! Live steaming of different observatories started for half an hour or so and suddenly we lost the connection. From the constant messages visible on the site we understood that the site was experiencing down time due to the unprecedented number of simultaneous viewers across the globe!

Unfortunately, many participants at our venue were disappointed with the long waits and the intermittent streaming and opted to leave. Hoping to stop the participants from leaving, we started screening a video on the birth of the universe. Again from 5:15 till 6:15 we received good streaming and were able to join the world in watching the live telecast but the screen went blank again thereafter due to technical problems at the telecast site.

In order to drum up some alternative interest, after nearly an hour or so, we were able to establish another net line and connected to Canadian Astronomers’ group for video conference - we had a good session with them exchanging our plans and achievements for celebrating IYA2009. We shared our blog: tanmayevyas.blogspot.com where we have documented our IYA efforts starting 1st Jan, 2009 and were happy to receive compliments for our efforts.

We also connected to a group of astronomers from New Delhi who took us through a live presentation at the site of our astronomical heritage – the Jan tar Mantar observatory. It was such an enthusiastic and well researched presentation delivered with great passion that all of us were impressed.

Once again, today, many winners from Radio Quiz on Astronomy came in to collect their prizes.

For today’s program we would like to thank following : Urvi Vyas, Rajesh Nath, Usha Nath, Stephen Samuel, Jigar Darji, Ravi Gamit, Shubhangbhai & Shamikbhai of Ellisbridge Gymkhana Club and other silent helpers.

Summary:

1. Venue : Ellisbridge Gymkhana Club, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad.
2. Time : 2:00 pm to 11:45 pm
3. Participants : 65
4. Prize winners : Vipul, Kunal, Diksha, Ravija & Pranali

Tanmaye Vyas.

100 Hours of Astronomy - Day 1, 02-04-2009 from Mangaldas Ni Haveli, Ahmedabad

2009-04-08T17:22:00.009+05:30

Discussing novel concept at Heritage Haveli

Winner of quiz from 'Radio Mirchi'

Winner of quiz from 'Radio Mirchi'

Age no bar to understand Astronomy!

Reading Astronomy trivia from posters.

Yes, the 'Saturn' was awesome...

Family enjoying secrets of Saturn!

Curious citizens.

Explaining phases of Saturn's rings as seen from the earth.

Hey, I'm an Astronaut too!

Its proud to be with Yuri!

Tanmaye's Amazing Face?!

Young astronomers analysing astronomical trivia...

Lets Go...

Arranging everything from heritage place with care.

Traditional entrance of heritage property...

Hello all,

The program venue was ‘Mangaldas Haveli’ situated in the old city. Our team arrived well in advance to set up the posters, telescope, projector and other paraphernalia. The session was scheduled for at least 100 minutes of Saturn observation through the telescope.

Since the Haveli was laid out typically, our plan for the activities had to be devised accordingly – The telescope as well as the display of posters was set up on the terrace, while the cut out of Yuri Gagarin was set up at the ground floor entry along with the projector.

The multi media presentation on ‘Beyond the Solar System’ was set up in a loop on ground floor to introduce the beauty of universe to visitors.

Enthusiastic participants started turning up before time the official commencement time at and were bowled over by novel idea of astronomy trivia in the posters. They also enjoyed viewing Saturn through the telescope – a repeated chorus of ‘Wows’ that resulted were very encouraging! We explained the uniqueness of the ‘Saturnine cycle of rings’ visible from the earth through a Saturn phase chart.

From 5 years to 50 years, all happily placed their faces and enjoyed space suit photo with Yuri.

The Radio astronomy quiz winners were asked to collect their prizes from the venue. By calling them at venue, we wanted them to enjoy not only astronomy but also the glorious heritage of the city.

We also distributed lapel buttons with logo of ‘100 hours of Astronomy’ to all visitors.

We would like to sincerely thanks to following people for the successful event: Urvi Vyas, Rajesh Nath, Usha Nath, Jigar Darji, Stephen Samuel, Ravi Gamit, Abhay Mangaldas and the staff at Mangaldas Haveli.

Summary:

1. Venue : Mangaldas Haveli, Lakha Patel Pole, Khadia,

Ahmedabad.
2. Time : 7:30 pm to 9:45 pm
3. Participants : 76
4. Prize winners : Rakshit, Jimmy, Shaili, Payal & Rahul

Tanmaye Vyas

Few words about '100 Hours of Astronomy'

2009-04-05T21:17:00.006+05:30

Letter from "Radio Mirchi"

Permission letter for program at "Modher Sun Temple"

Permission letter from "WAKF board" for Sidi Saiyad Mosque.

Poster design for "Around the world in 80 Telescopes"!

Poster and Flyer design for "Heritage Havelis of city"!

Dear all,

One of the most awaited corner stone project "100 Hours of Astronomy" is coming to an end with grand success. All the programs as per schedule, were joyously participated by curious citizens. Due to bad weather condition we had to cancel today's last two programs at Agashiye Restaurant and Sidi Saiyad's Mosque.

Full report with photo documentation will be uploaded soon.

For the success of these events, I would like to thank following people for their unmatchable support : my wife Urvi Vyas, friends Rajesh Nath & Usha Nath, Stephen Samuel, Jigar Darji & Ravi Ganvit; Abhay Mangaldas, Jagdip Mehta & Dr Iqubal Chhipa for permitting astronomical shows from their havelis, Shubhangbhai & Shamikbhai from Ellisbridge Gymkhana Club for providing venue for 'Around the world in 80 Telescope', Radio Mirchi, Times of India, Ahmedabad Mirror, Sandesh local language newspaper, Aarpar megazine for publicity support and many other associates who silently helped.

For ready reference, some scanned images of newspapers and advertisement material is reproduced here as images.

Regards,

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Astronomy Trivia

2009-04-02T12:36:00.002+05:30

Hello,

Following link will take you to 'Astronomy Trivia'. Here you will know amazing facts of the universe.

Click : http://tanmayespace.blogspot.com

Tanmaye Vyas

Around the World in 80 Telescopes

2009-03-27T10:52:00.004+05:30

"Around the World in 80 Telescopes" is a unique live 24-hour webcast, following night and day around the globe to some of the most advanced observatories both on and off the planet.

We have arranged live viewing of this webcast at 'Ellisbridge Gymkhana Club', Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad. The session will begin at 2:30 pm and will be screened at conference hall.

We would like to thank 'Ellisbridge Gymkhana Club' for providing conference hall and Reliance World for the broadcast Live via Internet, powered by wireless 'RelianceBroad BandPlusDATA CARD'!

It would take you to observatories situated at Hawaii, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, USA, India, etc on planet earth and even to Hubble Space Telescope above earth!

For most of us, it would be lifetime experience. Don't Miss, it is open to all!!

Tanmaye Vyas.

+91 9327019254

+91 9979861071

Prog : 48,26-03-2009, Tees Ka Dam, Sadar Bazar, Cantonment, Ahmedabad

2009-03-26T23:50:00.007+05:30

She is an Astronomer!

Eagerly awaiting for turn.

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 48th TAS Program.

Today we visited the group called “Tees Ka Dam” at Sadar Bazar, Shahibaug, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program. Street children are taught free by Aproch NGO run by Kiran Sethi, one of the leading philanthropists. Ninaben who takes care of this group along with other teachers were present.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with the interactive session, as now a day Venus is not visible and approaching new moon day, moon was also not visible. So we had to wait to locate Saturn in the dark. They were particularly fascinated to see slides of Sun & aurora. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Questions like – who was the first to go to moon or how hot the sun’s surface is?’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding. After the interactive session, the Saturn really amazed them all. During the observation even residents from nearby joined with curiosity.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Ninaben of Aproch NGO and their teachers’ team, Stephen Samuel to take over later session as I had some coughing, Ravi Gamit for set up and Rajesh Nath for fantastic photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Tees Ka Dam – NGO, Sadar bazaar, Shahibaug cantonment, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 26-03-2009
3. Time : 6:20 to 8:00 pm
4. Object observed : Saturn
5. Participants : 76
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Rajesh Nath
8. Resource Persons : 3

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

100 Hours of Astronomy

2009-03-24T08:08:00.005+05:30

Dear All,

We would like to anounce that we are going to celebrate, one of the most awaited corner stone project of IYA2009 "100 Hours of Astronomy". This event will take place from 2nd to 5th April, 2009. We have arranged Saturn observation through telescope from different Heritage properties of the city. This event is open to all!

Highlights and Directions:
100 posters in English and Gujarati language will be displayed for 24 hours
100 minutes of observation (minimum)
100 visitors at least will enjoy Saturn observation
100 lapels with logo of "100 Hours of Astronomy" will be distributed to first 100 visitors
Chance to get photographed with Yuri Gagarin (surprise)!!!

You can paste following link in your address bar to get direction to venues
http://in.maps.yahoo.com/#?lat=23.0236382&lon=72.5863481&z=2

2nd April - Mangaldas ni Haveli, Lakha Patel ni chal, Khadia &
4th April - Jagdeep Mehta ni haveli, 1871 Moto Suthar Wado, Khadia are located near Desai road which you can find at just above right lower corner in the map.
5th April - Agashiye Restaurant, House of MG, Opp Sidi Saiyad Mosque is located, on upper left corner as House of Mangaldas Girdhardas in the map.

All are invited to join this global celebration!

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 47, 20-03-2009, Gandhi Ashram, Sabarmati, Ahmedabad

2009-03-20T23:09:00.004+05:30

Gandhiji with Charkha.

With Jayeshbhai for further programs

A sweet Thank You card from sweet girl!

And the winner is...

Deeper understanding of Solar system!

With Jagatbhai during traditional welcome.

Hridaykunj Ashram!

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 47th TAS Program.

Today we visited one of the most important historic places of India “The Gandhi Ashram” at Sabarmati, Ahmedabad .

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program. The program today was to show only slides of solar system through multi media. There were two types of participants today, one from the Ashram school, where up to 7th standard students from nearby slum area studies and other were all those who earn from boot- polishing on the streets. But along with these, many old ladies joined the program since, today was the day for them to get Free Grocery from Ashram.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with the interactive session of the solar system slides. Nearly all the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Questions like – who was the first to go to the moon, how many planets are there in our solar system, now?’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Mr. Jagat for coordinating, Rajesh Nath for photo documentation, Jigar Darji & Ravi Gamit for set up. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Gandhi Ashram, Sabarmati, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 20-03-2009
3. Time : 4:15 to 5:30 pm
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 152
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Rajesh Nath
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Manthan, Girish, Reshma

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 46, 17-03-2009, Observation Home, Khanpur, Ahmedabad

2009-03-17T22:37:00.006+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 46th TAS Program.

Today we visited the Observation Home at Khanpur, Ahmedabad.

We thought of explaining the subject to those children who have either committed some crime or were bagging at cross roads and no one to take care of them. This is run by Ahmedabad District Juvenile Protection Center Authority.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the children and superintendent.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with Venus observation. They were particularly amazed to see vanishing crescent phase. During the interactive session that followed, all the slides of solar system fascinated them all. Since very few of them were literate, we had to explain with very common terms. Questions were asked with fear in mind that no one will answer, but they remembered good amount of data. And we happily awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. We tried to motivate them to leave all bad habits and instead divert their energy in study.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Atul Karwal - DCP Traffic who helped me contacting authority, Mr Tiwari (Superintendent – Observation Room for kind support, Jigar Darji & Stephen Samuel for nice set up & Rajesh Nath joined on my request for photo documentation by stealing time from busy schedule. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Observation Room, Khanpur, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 17-03-2009
3. Time : 7:00 to 8:00 pm
4. Object observed : Venus
5. Participants : 57
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Jigar Darji & Rajesh Nath
8. Resource Persons : 3

Prog : 45, 13-03-2009, Municipal School -2, SRP Krishnanagar, Ahmedabad

2009-03-14T16:01:00.007+05:30

The Class Corner Project!

Parents waiting for winner's announcement

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 45th TAS Municipal School Program. Our last program at Municipal Schools in this academic year due to final exams which begin in the month of April.

Today we visited the Municipal School no. 2 at SRP (State Reserve Police) ground, Krishnanagar, Ahmedabad. Though school is in the SRP campus, the students attending are from the nearby slum areas. This program was actually scheduled on 6th Feb but, due to sports day at school it was rescheduled for today.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with a multi-media session instead of observation, as the sky was full of clouds. During the interactive session, nearly all the solar system slides fascinated them as they had never before seen such beautiful pictures of our neighboring planets. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Especially Bharatbhai, the only male teacher in the school. Questions like – what are sunspots, who was the first to go to moon, etc’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding. After the presentation, we once again tried to look for an interesting celestial body to show the children thru the telescope, but were unsuccessful due to thick clouds.

At the end of the program, our entire team was thanked with poignant gifts. A first and very unique experience for us. Then Bharatbhai, the teacher shared with us an amazing initiative at the school – the “Shri Ram-Hat” (a small, self-help stationary store corner) a place in a class room corner where, all the stationary is kept in open pigeon holes with prices marked over each product. A student who may need stationary from the stock puts money in small open piggy bank on the table with all due honesty and buys pencil or rubber or sharpener. At the end of the day that money is collected and at the end of the month the same money is used again to buy new stationary. Profits are used for buying some useful things/treats for the students. The lesson of honesty and trust wrought by this visionary teacher is truly priceless, innovative as well as extremely successful!

As we walked out after having tea, we saw a patch open up in the sky. Since all the teachers were interested in understanding the mysteries of the star configurations in the sky, they were shown Orion, Canis major and Auriga constellations. Today’s session, more than any other, gave us a great feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment!

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Bharatbhai (teacher), Jigar Darji & Stephen Samuel for nice and quick set up and Rajesh Nath for photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Muni school No – 2, SRP Krishnanagar, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 13-03-2009
3. Time : 6:30 to 8:00 pm
4. Object observed : Cloudy
5. Participants : 57
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Rajesh Nath
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Heena Gohel, Sangita Japadiya, Naved Mughal

Prog :44, 08-03-2009, Akshar Purshottam Swaminarayan Temple, Shahibaug, Ahmedabad

2009-03-09T23:07:00.003+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 44th TAS Program.

Today we visited the Akshar Purshottam Swaminarayan Temple, Shahibaug, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The program started with the interactive session. The slides of solar system bodies and phenomena visible from the Earth fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that nearly all age group students got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer during the session! The teachers, students and Swamis were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding and viewing through telescope.

My brother in law Shwetang Vyas coordinated well during the program and documented the session through photographs.

Summary:
1. Venue : Akshar Purshottam Swaminarayan Temple, Shahibaug, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 08-03-2009
3. Time : 6:10 to 7:10 pm
4. Object observed : -
5. Participants : 250
6. Volunteers : 1
7. Photo : Shwetang Vyas
8. Resource Persons : 0
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Gave Moon pictures to all.

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 43, 06-03-2009, Municipal School No-6, Bapunagar, Ahmedabad

2009-03-07T08:08:00.002+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 43rd TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school no. 6 at Bapunagar, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with the interactive session. They were fascinated by all slides of solar system but especially Aurora & Space Shuttle slides. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Questions like – how hot the sun is, who was the first to go to the moon, etc’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. After the slide show, all were shown the gibbous Moon through the telescope. They were particularly amazed to see the craters. And when they knew that that small bubble size holes are no smaller than 50 kms, they were spellbound. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

The area school cluster head along with Municipal school board members visited the place and were glad too.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: The principal who was very enthusiastic, Jigar Darji & Ravi Gamit for nice set up and Urvi Vyas for photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Muni school Hindi No – 6, Bapunagar, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 06-03-2009
3. Time : 6:10 to 8:00 pm
4. Object observed : Moon
5. Participants : 112
6. Volunteers : 1
7. Photo : Urvi Vyas
8. Resource Persons : 2
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Mohammed Sheikh, Yashraj Patel, Priyanka Chauhan.

P.S. : From school we went to Vintage car farm to see cars and have dinner. Since the farm was on the eastern outskirt of the city, the Saturn in Leo was clearly visible. Suddenly, we thought of showing Saturn to all, through the telescope. We were nearly 17 of us in a group, but then the restaurant staff, cooks, servants and other security men (nearly 35 of them) also came & enjoyed the beautiful Saturn with closed rings.

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 42, 05-03-2009, Municipal School No-15, Asarva, Ahmedabad

2009-03-06T11:35:00.005+05:30

People were even standing at the door to unveil secret of solar system

Teachers were understanding crater formation

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 42nd TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school no. 15 at Asarva, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with Lunar observation. They were particularly amazed to see the craters of the moon. During the interactive session that followed, the room was jam pack. Nearly all the slides of solar system fascinated them all, as they never thought of such world outside the earth. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

At the end of the session, we were informed by teachers that they are from very poor families. They are all street venders of vegetables. Girls were not allowed from their family due to unsecured feelings of parents.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: teacher Piyushbhai, Jigar Darji & Stephen Samuel for set up and Rajesh Nath for overall help with photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Muni school Hindi No – 15, Asarwa, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 05-03-2009
3. Time : 6:30 to 8:10 pm
4. Object observed : Moon
5. Participants : 106
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Rajesh Nath
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Mahendra Patni, Aakash Patni, Sunil Patni

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 41, 04-03-2009, Municipal School No -1, Jahangirpur, Ahmedabad

2009-03-04T22:01:00.004+05:30

Few students even from windows "The Universe Yours to Discover"

Crater Archimedes in Mare Imbrium!

A painter who drew the wall painting of 'Gandhiji's Dandi Yatra', was teacher in this school.

Students cleaning the observation place

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 41st TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school no. 1 at Jahangirpur, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program. The school was just opposite to, once biggest hospital of Asia “The Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad”.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends. Teachers were also interested in taking notes from the posters.

The program started with ‘Lunar’ observation. They were particularly amazed to see craters on the moon. They wanted to observe again and again. During the interactive session that followed, nearly all the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Questions like –temperature of the sun, first Indian to space, etc’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students like Vishruti Prajapati answered my questions with amazing clarity and was awarded prize at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: the school staff for discipline, Jigar & Stephen for set up and Urvi Vyas for photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Muni school Hindi No – 1, Jahangirpur, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 04-03-2009
3. Time : 6:20 to 8:15 pm
4. Object observed : Moon
5. Participants : 136
6. Volunteers : 1
7. Photo : Urvi Vyas
8. Resource Persons : 2
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Aarti Surve, heena Parmar, Vishruti Prajapati

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 40, 03-03-2009, Municipal School No -9, Rajpur, Ahmedabad

2009-03-03T21:38:00.003+05:30

Age no bar...

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 40th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school no. 9 at Rajpur, Gomtipur, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program. The school was so deep inside a street that, we couldn’t find at first.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with interactive session. Today we changed the sequence of program as, few residents were playing cricket inside the school premise. During the interactive session, the slides of different solar system bodies fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Especially, the principal. Questions like – who was first person to go to moon, what are aurora?, etc.’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Then they were asked to observe the Moon through the telescope. They were particularly amazed to see craters. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Jigar Darji & Stephen Samuel for set up and Urvi Vyas for photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Muni school Hindi No – 9, Rajpur, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 03-03-2009
3. Time : 6:40 to 8:00 pm
4. Object observed : Moon
5. Participants : 48
6. Volunteers : 1
7. Photo : Urvi Vyas
8. Resource Persons : 2
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Ankit Vaghela & Abharal Maniar

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 39, 02-03-2009, Municipal School No -13, Saraspur, Ahmedabad

2009-03-02T22:35:00.006+05:30

Proud winners...

Parents at the door with students in full presence

Stephen explaining Sunspots.

Yes, we want to go to space...

All with specific traditional hair style.

Some lighter moments on purchasing land on Moon...

Curious parent...

Practicing before the turn

Are we required by any contractor up there??!!

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 39th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school no. 13 at Saraspur, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with Lunar observation. They were particularly amazed to see craters that looked like bubbles. Along with school students and staff members, few construction site workers also observed the craters with curiosity.

The interactive session that followed, was completely and successfully conducted by one of the resource person Stephen Samuel. We consider this as great achievement.

The solar, aurora, moon and Saturn’s slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Especially Komal Barot, who asked further about the Aurora Borealis. Questions like – surface temp of the sun, first person to moon?, etc’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We must say that the school was clean, all students were in school uniform with identity card and were well behaved too. This school was given additional name "Anupam" (It means Unique).

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Stephen Samuel for conducting show with full confidence, Jigar Darji for set up and Rajesh Nath for photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Muni school No -13, Saraspur, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 02-03-2009
3. Time : 6:30 to 8:30 pm
4. Object observed : Moon
5. Participants : 106
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Rajesh Nath
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Priyanka Sonara, Hiral Sahani, Smit Patel.

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Summary till February 2009

2009-03-02T00:14:00.003+05:30

Hello,
I am happy to announce that by the end of 2nd month of IYA, we have crossed the figure of 4000 participants. The summary of the participants are as under :

Programs 38
Students 3535
Teachers 295
Parents 264
Guests 98
Other 232
Total 4424

Once again I would like to thank following, for their great support : "Udgam School for Children" , TAS volunteers and resource team members, and all those friends & well wishers who are constantly sending e-mails with encouraging words and suggestions.

Thanks.

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 93270 19254
+91 99798 61071

Prog : 38,27-02-2009, Municipal School No - 11, Saraspur, Ahmedabad

2009-02-28T08:11:00.004+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 38th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school no. 11 at Saraspur, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with Venus observation. They were particularly amazed to see the phase of the Venus. All were looking at us with doubtful glance as; the Moon was also visible below Venus today. To give correct image, we showed Moon through the telescope too. That satisfied their unsaid doubt.

During the interactive session that followed, all the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Questions like – ‘who was the first Indian to go to space and who was first to go to the Moon?’ created some interesting debates. Today one of the resource persons from our team Stephen Samuel called his nephews to participate in the show as they were staying nearby and were studying in 7th & 5th standards. They answered nearly all my questions with amazing clarity.

Some exceptionally bright students like Kishan Waghela answered my questions was awarded prize at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Jigar Darji & Stephen Samuel for set up and Urvi Vyas for the photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Muni school No -11, Saraspur, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 27-02-2009
3. Time : 6:30 to 8:00 pm
4. Object observed : Venus, Moon
5. Participants : 65
6. Volunteers : 1
7. Photo : Urvi Vyas
8. Resource Persons : 2
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Kishan Waghela & Yash Samuel

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 37,26-02-2009, Municipal School Hindi-1, Naranpura, Ahmedabad

2009-02-26T22:46:00.003+05:30

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 37th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school Hindi no. 1at Naranpura, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The program started with Venus observation. They were particularly amazed to see it’s phase. During the interactive session that followed, the Aurora & Lunar Rover slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Questions like – what are dark spots on sun, who was the first Indian to go to space?’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students like Samir Somaiya and Sunny Rana answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Jigar Darji & Stephen Samuel for set up & Rajesh Nath for photo documentation and other help. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Muni school Hindi No -1, Naranpura, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 26-02-2009
3. Time : 6:30 to 8:00 pm
4. Object observed : Venus
5. Participants : 51
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Rajesh Nath
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Samir Somaiya, Sunny Rana

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 36, 25-02-09, Municipal School Hindi -5, Rajpur, Ahmedabad

2009-02-25T21:15:00.005+05:30

Ready to answer...

Explaining the Milkyway

Students playing in front of heap of discarded furniture

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 36th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the Hindi municipal school no. 5 at Rajpur, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were expecting a warm welcome by the students and the authorities but unfortunately there was lock on the gate. After calling one of the teachers, he replied that kids are called when it’s dark. We got shock. We asked him to come immediately and to call all students who stay nearby. The watchman came and opened the gate and he called some school children. They were students from 3rd to 10th standard.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with observation of magical Venus. They were particularly amazed to see the phase of Venus. During the interactive session that followed, nearly all the slides fascinated them all. Instead of routine interactive session, we carried out simple information session as, they were no knowing much about the subject. Still some exceptionally bright students like Chetan Diama of 7th standard and Ashish Bharwad of 10th standard answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Mr Dave the watchman, Jigar Darji & Ravi Gamit for set up and Urvi Vyas for photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Muni school Hindi No -5, Rajpur, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 25-02-2009
3. Time : 6:30 to 8:00 pm
4. Object observed : Venus
5. Participants : 36
6. Volunteers : 1
7. Photo : Urvi Vyas
8. Resource Persons : 2
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Chetan Diama, Ashish Bharwad, Vishal parmar

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 35, 24-02-2009, Municipal School Hindi - 1, Meghani Nagar, Ahmedabad

2009-02-24T22:40:00.006+05:30

Blessings to Pradeep, who stood first

Parents too were enjoying the school today.

Curious and concerned mother...

Urvi guiding students...

Late. Mukesh Rathod

In memory of Mukesh Rathod!

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 35th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school no. 1 at Meghani nagar, Ahmedabad. The road to school was so confusing that, we reached after 20 mins of wandering in only 500 mtr area.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program. The school is dedicated to one soldier called “Mukesh Rathod” who lost his life during Kargil War in 1999, hailed from this area of the city.

We couldn’t display posters as they were in Gujarati language and no fluent Gujarati reader was there. This school was Hindi language school.

The program started with observation of Venus. They were particularly amazed to see the magic of so called “Moon”. During the interactive session that followed, the solar system slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Especially, the principal. Questions like what is the temperature of the sun, who was the first man to Moon?’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students like Rajendra and Pradeep answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

The discipline was quite noticeable amongst the students.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: the school staff, Jigar Darji & Stephen Samuel for nice set up & Urvi Vyas for photography & handling telescope for many times. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary :

1. Venue : Muni school Hindi No -1, Meghani Nagar, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 24-02-2009
3. Time : 6:30 to 8:30 pm
4. Object observed : Venus
5. Participants : 127
6. Volunteers : 1
7. Photo : Urvi Vyas
8. Resource Persons : 2
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Pradeep Bagel, Jayant Prince, Paresh Katia – Rajendra (shared)

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

23-02-2009, Comet Lulin

2009-02-24T00:17:00.002+05:30

Hello,

Comet Lulin as seen from Ahmedabad. I have tried to capture from my home location as, unfortunately my allergy does not allow me to go out. In above picture, there are four stars in half circle as we see in clock. At 12, 1, 2 & 3 there are four stars in upper middle picture. If you try to see just below star at 12, you can see greenish haze. Yes, that's Comet Lulin. The tail is not visible from city. The picture is not very clear, but still the comet is visible through binocular. The photo detail is as under.

Time : 11:59 pm 23rd Feb, 09
Camera : Sony DSC H9 :: Exposure 20 sec. :: F 6.3 :: ISO 400

Tanmaye Vyas

Prog : 34, 20-02-2009, Municipal School -1, Rakhial, Ahmedabad

2009-02-21T11:04:00.004+05:30

Everybody wanted to answer

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 34th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school no. 1 at Rakhial, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program. Today’s attendance was highest till date.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with observation of Venus. They were particularly amazed to see a common looking star in phase. During the interactive session that followed, the solar flare, aurora, saturn’s ring slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation!

Questions like – what is sunspot, what is the height of Mount Everest, how many classical planets are there?’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students like Ansari Nawazahmed and Ansari Saifalam answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Two girl students were also answering nicely but could not reach to final round were, Rajpur Arshiyairam, Sheikh Uzmakhatun. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Jigar Darji & Ravi Gamit for nice set up and Rajesh Nath for photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Due to acrid atmosphere and school building at road junction, I had to raise my voice to highest level even in allergic condition due to pollen. And as a result, I lost my voice by the end of program L

Summary :

1. Venue : Muni school No -1, Rakhial, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 20-02-2009
3. Time : 6:20 to 8:30 pm
4. Object observed : Venus
5. Participants : 212
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Rajesh Nath
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Ansari Nawazahmed Anwarahmed, Ansari saifalam Mehfukalam, Pathan Sarfarazkhan Jawedkhan

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 33, 19-02-2009, Satyamev Jayate School, Bopal, Ahmedabad

2009-02-19T22:57:00.007+05:30

Presenting the Castor & Pollux of Gemini...

Is it Moon or Venus??!!

Mrs. Hinaa Shah & Shaina Shah wondering between "Moon & Venus"!
Hello!

Here’s a report on the 33rd TAS Program.

Today we visited the school Satyamev Jayate at Bopal, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The program started with observation of Venus. But before the observation, we announced that we are starting the program with magic. Though you can’t see the moon, I will show that through the telescope. At first no one believed, but as all saw so called “Moon”, they were amazed. Then before the interactive slide show began, we declared that, it was not moon, it was Venus showing phase.

During the interactive session that followed, at nearly every slide they appreciated the depth of slides as well as explanation. After many programs, we delivered today’s program in English. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation!

In between the program we also showed them through green laser, all the visible constellations like Gemini, Taurus, Orion, Auriga, Canis major, etc.

Questions like –what are sunspots, when did Rakesh Sharma go to space, why Pluto is not a classical planet now?’ created some interesting debates. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding. They have promised to start Astronomy club in their school. We suggested to start with monthly bulletin where astro news, astro words and night sky chart should be regular feature.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Mrs. Hinaa Shah, Shaina Shah, school teachers / staff and Ravi Gamit for handling everything beautifully. Ravi captured nice photographs too. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary :

1. Venue : Satyamev Jayte School, Bopal, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 19-02-2009
3. Time : 6:20 to 8:50 pm
4. Object observed : Venus
5. Participants : 45
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravi Gamit
8. Resource Persons : 1
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Handy moon picture with information to all.

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071