SPACE celebrated Winter Solstice at Jantar Mantar, Dec 22, 2010

SPACE celebrated Winter Solstice with public outreach and with a large group of school students at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi
22nd December was the shortest day of the winter, i.e. the Winter Solstice when the Earth's axis in the Northern Hemisphere was tilted furthest away from the sun. After this day, the day lengths slowly increase again. This day is celebrated over the world in different cultures, the most famous celebrations being at Stonehenge. SPACE observed this day in Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

SPACE conducted public outreach at Jantar Mantar. Thankfully, although Winter Solstice indicates the peak of winter unofficially, it turned out to be a glorious sunny day. A lot of tourists and general wanderers walked through and were happy to find out what the ancient 'Jantar's (Yantras- meaning Machines) or structures were actually used for and how they were used to measure locations and time using the sun's shadow or by observing celestial objects.SPACE conducted tours of the various instruments and explained their workings.

STEPL (Space Technology and Education Pvt. Ltd.), i.e. the education wing of SPACE conducted an experiment for school children. The competition titled 'Scientist of the Day' involved measuring the shadow of a long stick over a period of time and using the shortest shadow to find the Circumference of the Earth. This uses the concept that the sun rays shine directly overhead on the Tropic of Capricorn (the latitude line at 23.5° south, passing through Brazil, South Africa, and Australia) on the day of Winter Solstice. About 200 students from 15 schools from Delhi NCR participated in this competition, including schools such as The Airforce School, Subroto Park; DPS Sonepat; Ryan International School, Rohini; Step by Step, Noida; Apeejay School, Saket, etc. The students sat in groups amidst the green lawns surrounded by the ancient monuments and measured away for a couple of hours. It was a great experience for the teachers and students to be involved in such a project.
Experimental material such as Telescopes, Binoculars and Astrokits were provided by SPACE Arcade www.spacearcade.in.

SPACE wil celebrate Winter Solstice at Jantar Mantar, 22nd Dec

       SPACE will celebrate Winter Solstice at Jantar Mantar
                                 22nd Dec, 11:00am - 3:00 pm 

SPACE will celebrate Winter Solstice with Public Outreach at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

• Learn about all the Jantar Mantar instruments and see how they are used.
• STEPL will conduct competitions on 'Measuring the Sun Angle' (Primary students) and 'Measuring the Circumference of the Earth' (Middle and Senior school students)

A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun's apparent position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme.

On the day of Winter Solstice, North Pole tilts away from the Sun and South Pole tilts towards the Sun. The Winter Solstice occurs exactly when the earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun at its maximum of 23° 26'. So the Sun shines at lowest heights in Northern skies and at maximum heights at Southern skies. It results in the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere but at the same time it’s the longest day in Southern Hemisphere. So for people in Southern Hemisphere it’s a Summer Solstice.

Winter Solstice indicates winter at its peak. After this, the length of the day starts increasing and it reaches a point where day and night becomes equal in length at Vernal or Spring Equinox. The day continues to grow longer till Summer Solstice, the longest day.

The Winter Solstice will take place at 23:38 UT on 21st Dec (5:08 am IST on 22nd Dec) . In New Delhi, sunrise on winter solstice day is at 7:10 am and sunset is at 5:29 pm making it a day which is about 10 hours in duration. 

On Dec 22nd, SPACE will conduct a Public Outreach  in collaboration with Nehru Planetarium at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. The students from various schools of Delhi will be performing activities tracking the shadow created by the sun using the Jai Prakash Yantra, and participating in competitions. 

More information can be found at our blog http://wintersolsticeindia.blogspot.com/.

For details on competitions visit www.stepl.org

For telescopes, binoculars and cameras visit  www.spacearcade.in

SPACE TEAM receives Kudos for Success in Great Indian Star Count Program

SPACE TEAM receives Kudos for Success in Great Indian Star Count Program:
SPACE recently concluded the Great Indian Star Count program (Oct 29th - Nov 12th) in collaboration with the Great Worldwide Star Count. This time SPACE turned in a record 1000 observations from all over India, which was 25% of the total number of about 4500 from over the world!

Our reports have also generated media attention, as it calls attention to the fact that light pollution has now increased by as much as 5% in cities such as Delhi compared to last year.

Such media attention and record number of observations have earned us recognition from the Director of the Globe at Night and Hands on Universe program who have sent their congratulations to SPACE and invited SPACE to join the Globe at Night program in March 2011. They have also requested C.B. Devgun to be a presenter at the IAU (International Astronomical Union) session on light pollution in July 2012 and talk about GISC and Project Dark Skies programs there.

Thanks to all of you who have worked hard to contribute results to this program. It is a privilege to be recognized by an international organization of this stature and be invited to join their programs, and thus receive support in our push to create awareness of light pollution.

Read some media clippings here on this program:http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4636275

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Delhiites-midnight-loss-97-stars-not-visible/Article1-623197.aspx

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article854884.ece