Mukteshwar to Host Stellar Astronomy Events for International Dark Sky Week

Experience a series of spectacular celestial events at Starscapes Observatory in Mukteshwar

The picturesque town of Mukteshwar is gearing up to welcome stargazers and astronomy enthusiasts from across the country. As the world celebrates the International Dark Sky Week, Mukteshwar is all set to host a series of astronomy-related events.

Starscapes, India's leading astro tourism company and a member of the International Dark Sky Advocate Network, is hosting a series of astronomy-related activities as a part of the ‘International Dark Sky Week’. Starscapes will host the Planetary Parade and the ‘Messier Marathon’ from 15th April to 30th April at their observatory in Mukteshwar.

Starscapes Star trails at Mukteshwar

International Dark Sky Week is an annual event celebrated worldwide during the New Moon week in April. This year, it occurs from April 15th to April 22nd. The event is endorsed by the International Dark Sky Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the night sky. Since its inception in 2003, International Dark Sky Week aims to raise awareness about the night sky, the ecosystem that thrives in darkness on Earth, and the vast universe beyond our planet. Astronomy enthusiasts around the globe celebrate this week by participating in various activities such as stargazing sessions, astrophotography workshops, and turning off lights to reduce light pollution.

Starscapes has been actively working towards promoting Dark Sky Locations in India to boost interest in astro-tourism. They have recently partnered with the Uttarakhand Tourism Board to develop Benital as India's first astro village. In addition to this, Starscapes is working closely with locals to raise awareness about light pollution and its effects on the environment. Furthermore, they have been advocating for the implementation of dark sky regulations across India.

Commenting on the initiative, Paul Savio, CEO and Co-Founder, Starscapes, said, “We are passionate about promoting astro tourism and preserving the beauty of the night sky. Over the last several years, we have actively spoken about the importance of protecting our night sky from light pollution and we have been strong advocates to implement dark sky regulations in India. The events that we are doing as a part of International Dark Week is a step to bring more awareness to this cause. We invite astronomy enthusiasts to join us in celebrating International Dark Sky Week and explore the wonders of the night sky."

The Messier Marathon

The Messier Marathon offers an exclusive opportunity to learn about Charles Messier's contributions to cataloguing the night sky. Attendees will be able to observe some of the galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters catalogued by Messier.

Planetary Parade

Watch the planets as they line up in the eastern sky heralding the rising of the sun, early in the morning. Participants will be able to look at the phases of Venus, the clouds, the satellites of Jupiter, and the rings of Saturn.

For more details, visit:

https://starscapes.zone/

https://www.instagram.com/starscapes.zone/?hl=en

About Starscapes Private Limited

Starscapes is a unique platform that offers a holistic astronomy experience to give voice to your curiosity about the vast skies beyond our stratosphere. Founded in 2017 by astronomy aficionado Ramashish Ray with Paul Savio joining him as Co-Founder and CEO in 2019, Starscapes is India’s first and only chain of u that gives travel enthusiasts an integrated astronomy experience.

Celebrating National Science Day, IIT Hyderabad establishes an ‘Advanced Darksky Observatory’ for Multidisciplinary Research

• “Space exploration can assist us in farming & weather prediction, which is very important for the country’s growth”, said, Dr Radhakrishnan
• A 4m modern astronomical observatory which is the first in-campus astronomical research facility among all IITs, has been established by IIT Hyderabad
• Apart from leading astronomical and planetary research, the observatory will develop and actively engage in the R&D of advanced imaging equipment

Department of Physics, IIT Hyderabad (IITH, celebrated National Science Day with the theme ‘Global Science for Global Wellbeing’. Dr K Radhakrishnan (Recipient of Padma Bhushan), Honorary Distinguished Advisor in the Department of Space and Former Chairman of ISRO, was the chief guest of the program. He delivered a reflective talk on ‘Tryst with an amazing ISRO and my life lessons’. Prof P Panigrahi, director, IISER, Kolkata, had also delivered a popular talk on ‘Emergence of quantum science and technology in the 21st century’.

As a part of the National Science Day celebration event, an ‘Advanced Darksky Observatory’ (ADO) was established inside the campus and was inaugurated today by Dr K Radhakrishnan in the august presence of Prof B S Murty, Director, IITH, Deans, HoD, Faculty, Staff & Students of IITH. The project is funded by IITH.

ADO will host a 0.5-meter Robotic optical telescope (largest among small telescope categories) which will have a magnification of ~1000x, capabilities of resolving a structure as small as 25 km on the surface of the moon, individual rings of Saturn, detecting active galaxies up to a distance of 1.5 Giga light-years (1419 billion kilometers). Primarily designed as a frontier research facility in Astronomy, ADO, with adaptive imaging and multi-filter spectroscopy, will deliver imaging and spectroscopic data banks, which will be valuable assets for research and modern teaching.

Due to its upcoming full robotic capabilities, the observatory will be capable of integrating into the global telescope network system like NASA’s Global Telescope Network (GTN) for urgent alerts to the scientific communities on transient celestial events, asteroids and meteorites. It will also complement ISRO’s current and future space-based astronomical observatories. Prof Prem Pal, HoD – Department of Physics, has delivered the Vote of Thanks.

Dr Radhkrishnan inaugurating ADO -IITH

Stating the importance of such an observatory, Dr Radhakrishnan added, “It is wonderful robotic telescope that you have built here today. If all Engineering Science capabilities of this institute are put together to build a new breed of instrumentation for space exploration, then you will be a major contributor."

Dr Radhakrishnan During the Talk

Applauding the efforts of the Department of Physics, Prof B S Murty, Director, IITH, said, “We should learn from Dr Radhakrishnan to dream passionately. It is always exciting for anyone to know about the stars, their existence, and many other queries and dilemmas; one of the options helpful in this scenario is a Telescope. At IITH, we have set up a 14 Inch Telescope under a special ADO, which can give us a vision of minor details in the space so that one can be able to learn more about them, ensure that the knowledge about the space, in general, get enhanced, and we can attain Atmanirbharta.”

“Here, we have one of the advanced observation facilities which will seed not only astronomical research but also research in data science and management, machine learning, as well as, robotics. With these advanced facilities, we will provide young students with an opportunity to study stellar objects in greater detail and discover new celestial objects, including exosolar planets. ADO will also be a part of the international astronomical community and complement the space-based astronomical mission”, added Dr Mayukh Pahari, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics.

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) is one of the eight new IITs established by the Government of India in 2008. In a short span of 14 years, the institute has become a top-ranker. It has 300+ full-time faculty, ~4,200 students, 18 Departments + Centre for Interdisciplinary Programs, nearly 200+ state-of-the-art laboratories, and five research and entrepreneurship centers. The institute has a strong research focus with approx. Rs ~700 crores of sanctioned research funding, with PhD scholars accounting for about 30% of total student strength. IITH has more than 8100+ research publications with 1,20,000+ Citations, 190+ Published Patents, 2,000+ sponsored/consultancy projects with 500+ running projects, and about 125+ startups.

To know more, please visit https://www.iith.ac.in/.