Kathmandu:

Stating that there are quite a few unused telescopes in the country Acharya Jayanta said,

“We would like to request the owners to lend us their telescopes for this year, so that it can be a part of the celebrations to mark IYA 2009. We will return it after the year ends, and if they want, we can teach them how to use telescope in an effective manner.”

In 1609, one man brought the Universe that we live in closer to mankind. He not only discovered various aspects of the sky, but also challenged the age-old belief that all heavenly bodies revolve around the earth. He confirmed the findings of Copernicus that it is actually the Sun around which all the planets revolve. This person is none other that Galileo Galilei, who built his own telescope and observed the sky and discovered sunspots, and craters and peaks in Earth’s moon.

To celebrate the 400th anniversary of this man’s breakthrough discoveries that helped humans understand the Universe much better, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) have announced 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009). With the theme ‘The Universe, Yours to Discover’, this global celebration of the contribution of astronomy to society intends to generate worldwide interest, especially among youngsters, in astronomy.

Various events and activities are planned to be held at local, regional and national levels in different countries throughout the year. In order to make this possible, National Nodes have been set up in various countries. These Nodes will create the necessary collaborations with people concerned to organise the activities planned.

Although the official opening ceremony of IYA 2009 will take place in Paris on January 15, some events have already been held throughout the world to mark the beginning of the year.

Here on January 1, a special Sun observation event ‘Dawn of the IYA2009’ was held at the Takshashila Academy, Bishalnagar. Around 300 people from different age groups took part in this. This is also a global event proposed by Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto (CAUP) and the IYA2009’s Solar Physics Group.

In Nepal, there are five organisations namely Balmeeki Campus, Takshashila Academy, AIM Astro Club, Nepal Astronomical Society and Galielo Astronomical Society that have been involved in various activities related to astronomy.

According to Acharya Jaynata, Nepal Chair, International Year of Astronomy 2009, Bharat Aryal and Devika Phuyal from Takshashila Academy and Suresh Bhattarai from Nepal Astronomical Society are going to participate in the official opening ceremony of IYA 2009 in Paris.

All these organisations are planning countrywide activities to mark IYA 2009. “Our basic objective it to enlighten people about astronomy and also to eliminate superstitions related to heavenly bodies,” said Acharya Jayanta. According to him, organising ‘Star Parties’ where people can observe the stars through telescope at least in five developmental regions of Nepal is the major event on cards. He informed that they have even received a telescope from an international organisation called Astronomy Without Borders. They also have plans to run training programmes for school students.

The overwhelming responses received during such observations have been a major morale boost for people of the organisations involved. Thus they are planning a special campaign for IYA 2009 with much enthusiasm.

“We are a very small group of around 50 people but we intend to make our presence felt at the national level and we are positive that we will achieve this goal this year,” he added.

The only drawback that worries them is the lack of funding and government’s indifferent attitude.

IYA 2009 events

Cosmic Diary: This project aims to shed light on astronomers. More than 50 bloggers including professional astronomers from different countries are posting various materials which help a common man know not only about their lifestyle bit also about how researches are conducted.

365 Days of Astronomy: This will publish one podcast per day over the entire year. The episodes will be written, recorded and produced by people around the world.

100 Hours of Astronomy: The key objective of this project is to include as many people as possible to look though a telescope. This project will take place from April 2 to 5 and will include a wide range of public outreach activities.

From Earth to the Universe: This is an exhibition of large scale astronomical images that will be held at venues that have maximum accessibility for the general public like parks, gardens, shopping malls and even metro stations.

World at Night: This project will produce and bring out a collection of spectacular photographs and time-lapse videos of the world’s landmarks with the sky in the background. More than 30 exhibitions and educational events all around the world have already been planned.

Dark Skies Awareness: With this project IAU aims at generating awareness among the people about the light pollution and the deteriorating condition of the beauty of night sky especially over the urban areas. Star counting events where people will be encouraged to see how many stars in a particular area of the sky are actually visible from their location and comparing it with the truly dark sites is the major event under this project.