Zameen Aasmaan

Feedback on the October 2008 Workshop

Feedback

Vote of Thanks?

The workshop is also working in collaboration, with organisations involved in Science Education

The workshop has so far benefited through Science and other support that has been give by

Help from the Local Participants

For Outstation Participants?

Learning Pages

The workshop has so far benefited through colaborative Science and other support that has been give by

• Arya Bhata Institute for Observational Sciences, Nainital

The workshop is looking for a collaboration with Astronomy and Astrophysics Institutions :-

• Indian Planetaria
• Vigyan Prasar

http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/images/top-left.jpg http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/images/stories/awblogo_rgb.jpg

http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/images/top-left.jpg http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/images/stories/awblogo_rgb.jpg

http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/images/top-left.jpg

http://www.twanight.org/

[Site.http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/images/top-left.jpg | http://www.twanight.org/]

[http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/images/top-left.jpg | http://www.twanight.org/]

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/6403/3001475lh8.jpg

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/6403/3001475lh8.jpg

Schedule and Overall Flow of the Workshop

Sandbox for Invited Speakers

Schedule and Overall Flow of the Workshop

• Pt. Ravi Shankar Shukla University, Raipur

• Amateur Astronomers Association, Delhi http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/8251/headerimgua6.jpg

The workshop is also looking for support, though a collaboration, with organisations involved in Science Education

• Indian Planetaria

• Amateur Astronomers Association, Delhi http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/732/headerimgid2.jpg

• Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5742/nsceu5.jpg

The workshop will be enriched through a collaboration with voluntary organisations involved in Astronomy Education

• Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/995/nsceb1.jpg

• Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (S.P.A.C.E.) http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/995/nsceb1.jpg

• Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (S.P.A.C.E.)

• Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (S.P.A.C.E.) http://www.space-india.net/themes/Solaris/forums/images/forumlogo.jpg

Advisory Committee

Scientific Organising Committee

Technical Committee?

Local Organising Committee?

• Confederation of Indian Amateur Astronomers

A lot of background support has been provided for the framing of the workshop, through interaction with astronomers of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.

List of Invited Speakers?

It is envisaged that all the participants of the workshop will be encouraged to take up some specific imaging and analysis oriented projects, in partnership groups, to be undertaken over the next year. These partnerships will also include the presence of an educator and a professional astronomer to mentor the projects over the period of a year. A follow up workshop is envisaged to be held in the latter half of 2009, to bring together the material from all these partnerships. During the workshop, discussions will be held to encourage the participants to take up specific observing and analysis projects, in partnership groups, that will be mentored by educators and professional astronomers, over the coming months and years. Partnership groups, who come up with good projects of their own and show enough promise of carrying the work through, will be given an astrophtography kit containing a German Eq3 equatorial mount, dual axis drive and a moderate telescope with a camera adapter, for some specific projects that can be done with such small aperture telescopes. The policy will be - one astrophotography kit per city or town, with the understanding the kit will be donated to an amateur astronomers group, to be used in rotation, by all the amateur groups in that city who would find a need for it, to undertake some learning projects.

These projects could be related to variable star observations, asteroid and lunar occultation studies, imaging and analysis of planetary events, and light pollution studies. These projects need not be contributory, they could just be learning and student projects for submission at senior school/Bsc/Msc level.

Long term interaction and projects following the Workshop

It is envisaged that all the participants of the workshop will be encouraged to take up some specific imaging and analysis oriented projects, in partnership groups, to be undertaken over the next year. These partnerships will also include the presence of an educator and a professional astronomer to mentor the projects over the period of a year. A follow up workshop is envisaged to be held in the latter half of 2009, to bring together the material from all these partnerships. During the workshop, discussions will be held to encourage the participants to take up specific observing and analysis projects, in partnership groups, that will be mentored by educators and professional astronomers, over the coming months and years. Partnership groups, who come up with good projects of their own and show enough promise of carrying the work through, will be given an astrophtography kit containing a German Eq3 equatorial mount, dual axis drive and a moderate telescope with a camera adapter, for some specific projects that can be done with such small aperture telescopes. These projects could be related to variable star photometry, asteroid and lunar occultation studies, imaging and analysis of planetary events, and light pollution studies. These projects need not be contributory, they could just be learning and student projects for submission at senior school/Bsc/Msc level.

The proposed dates for the workshop are October 3rd to 6th 2008. It is envisaged that the daytime workshop sessions from the 3rd to 5th will be held at the Planetarium, and the participants will be taken to Nuh, in Haryana, for overnight observations and imaging on the night of 4th of October. A dark site, free of light pollution, is very essential for the practical sessions of the workshop, and the site at Nuh has been frequently used and tested by the amateur astronomers of Delhi.

The workshop sessions on the 3rd and the morning of 4th, will be held in the Planetarium sky theatre and in the auditorium of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. On the evening of the 3rd, there will be some practical astrophotography sessions from the Jantar Mantar Observatory. The participants will start in the evening of 4th, for the 4-5 hour journey to Nuh, Haryana, and attend overnight observing sessions. A few rooms and Dormitories will be booked as accommodation, and all the young participants will also be asked to bring sleeping bags for camping out. The participants will return to Delhi, on the morning of 5th October. Short concluding daytime sessions will be held in the late afternoon of the 5th. The 6th of October is reserved for discussions on possible long term projects to be undertaken by the participants. The detailed schedule of the workshop will be updated soon.

An International workshop on The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing, is proposed to be conducted at Delhi, by the Nehru Planetarium, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi.

Funding for the workshop has been applied for, from the National Council of Science, Technology and Communication. Partial funding, science and technical support is also envisaged to be obtained through collaborations.

Workshop Registration

Workshop Registration

"Star Gazer" @ Babak Tafreshi, Director, TWAN

Funding for the workshop has been applied for, from the National Council of Science, Technology and Communication. Partial funding is also envisaged to be obtained from the home institution Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, and through all the collaborations.

The workshop has also a fortunate collaboration with the Indian chapter of the United Nations recognized special project for the International Year of Astronomy – "The World at Night" and with the project "Astronomers without Borders", an organisational node of the International Year of Astronomy.

Science help from the Astronomy institutions, for the envisaged student and amateur projects to emerge from the workshop, would be invaluable!

The workshop will mark the beginning of TWAN India imaging.

About 20 students each, would be selected and registered by some of the collaborating organisations.

There is an upper limit of 200 on the number of partcipants in the workshop, who will largely be amateur astronomers and senior school Bsc/Msc students with an interest in Astronomy.

The workshop sessions on the 3rd and the morning of 4th, will be held in the Planetarium sky theatre and in the auditorium of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. On the evening of the 3rd, there will be some practical astrophotography sessions from the Jantar Mantar Observatory. The participants will start in the evening of 4th, for the 4-5 hour journey to Nuh, Haryana, and attend overnight observing sessions. A few rooms and Dormitories will be booked as accommodation, and all the young participants will also be asked to bring sleeping bags for camping out. The participants will return to Delhi, on the morning of 5th October. Short concluding daytime sessions will be held in the late afternoon of the 5th.

It is envisaged that all the participants of the workshop will be encouraged to take up some specific imaging and analysis oriented projects, in partnership groups, to be undertaken over the next year. These partnerships will also include the presence of an educator and a professional astronomer to mentor the projects over the period of a year. A follow up workshop is envisaged to be held in the latter half of 2009, to bring together the material from all these partnerships. During the workshop, discussions will be held to encourage the participants to take up specific observing and analysis projects, in partnership groups, that will be mentored by educators and professional astronomers, over the coming months and years. Partnership groups, who come up with good projects of their own and show enough promise of carrying the work through, will be given an astrophtography kit containing a German EQ3? equatorial mount, dual axis telescope with a camera adapter, for some specific projects that can be done with such small aperture telescopes. These projects could be related to variable star photometry, asteroid and lunar occultation studies, imaging and analysis of planetary events, and light pollution studies. These projects need not be contributory, they could just be learning and student projects for submission at senior school/Bsc/Msc level.

The workshop is looking for a collaboration with Astronomy and Astrophysics Institutions :-

The workshop is also looking for support, though a collaboration, with organisations involved in Science Education

TWAN India

TWAN India, would be a wonderful way of showcasing India’s monumental heritage, giving it a unique backdrop of the starry skies. It is not just the monumental heritage, that would be of interest to TWAN India – geographical and natural heritage as well as the multilayered cross cultural heritage of India would be a unique backdrop for the TWAN India Astrophotographs.

India has so much of Astronomical heritage – medieval as well as modern – and many observatories and institutions working at the front ends of astronomical research. These locations would make some uniquely interesting backdrops for the TWAN astrophotographs.

The workshop will mark the beginning of TWAN India imaging. The TWAN India wishlist and a preliminary, possible itinerary for TWAN India imaging, during this first trip by TWAN astrophotographers for TWAN India imaging, are placed under the TWAN India Wishlist link on the sidebar of this wiki page.

"Star Gazer" @Babak Tafreshi, Director, TWAN

It is envisaged that about 70 participants will be selected from Delhi, and about 50 outstation participants will be selected from all over India.

About 20 students each, would be selected and registered by some of the collaborating organisations - the National Bal Bhavan, S.P.A.C.E., CIAA and Astro Education Services.

It is envisaged that about 70 participants will be from Delhi, and there will be about 50 outstation participants, selected from all over India. The workshop sessions on the 3rd and the morning of 4th, will be held in the Planetarium sky theatre and in the auditorium of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. On the evening of the 3rd, there will be some practical astrophotography sessions from the Jantar Mantar Observatory. The participants will start in the evening of 4th, for the 4-5 hour journey to Nuh, Haryana, and attend overnight observing sessions. A few rooms and Dormitories will be booked as accommodation, and all the young participants will also be asked to bring sleeping bags for camping out. The participants will return to Delhi, on the morning of 5th October. Short concluding daytime sessions will be held in the late afternoon of the 5th.

It is envisaged that about 70 participants will be selected from Delhi, and about 50 outstation participants will be selected from all over India.

About 20 students each, would be selected and registered by some of the collaborating organisations - the National Bal Bhavan, S.P.A.C.E., CIAA and Astro Education Services.

 The workshop sessions on the 3rd and the morning of 4th, will be held in the Planetarium sky theatre and in the auditorium of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. On the evening of the 3rd, there will be some practical astrophotography sessions from the Jantar Mantar Observatory. The participants will start in the evening of 4th, for the 4-5 hour journey to Nuh, Haryana, and attend overnight observing sessions.  A few rooms and Dormitories will be booked as accommodation, and all the young participants will also be asked to bring sleeping bags for camping out. The participants will return to Delhi, on the morning of 5th October. Short concluding daytime sessions will be held in the late afternoon of the 5th.

The workshop will mark the beginning of TWAN India imaging. The TWAN India wishlist and a preliminary, possible itinerary for TWAN India imaging, during this first trip by TWAN astrophotographers for TWAN India imaging are placed under the TWAN India Wishlist link on the sidebar of this wiki page.

During this workshop, it is envisaged that some of the Indian Astrophotographers would be identified who could contribute as guest astrophotographers, to the TWAN India project.

The selection of participants for the workshop will be based on the work and skills that they have already demonstrated, related to either - astrophotography, image processing, data analysis, telescope instrumentation or dedicated and serious usage of amateur telescopes.

The proposed dates for the workshop are October 3rd to 5th 2008. It is envisaged that the daytime workshop sessions from the 3rd to 5th will be held at the Planetarium, and the participants will be taken to Nuh, in Haryana, for overnight observations and imaging on the night of 4th of October. A dark site, free of light pollution, is very essential for the practical sessions of the workshop, and the site at Nuh has been frequently used and tested by the amateur astronomers of Delhi.

It is envisaged that all the participants of the workshop will be encouraged to take up some specific imaging and analysis oriented projects, in partnership groups, to be undertaken over the next year. These partnerships will also include the presence of an educator and a professional astronomer to mentor the projects over the period of a year. A follow up workshop is envisaged to be held in the latter half of 2009, to bring together the material from all these partnerships. During the workshop, discussions will be held to encourage the participants to take up specific observing and analysis projects, in partnership groups, that will be mentored by educators and professional astronomers, over the coming months and years. Partnership groups, who come up with good projects of their own and show enough promise of carrying the work through, will be given a 4” comupterised GOTO telescope with a camera adapter, for some specific projects that can be done with such small aperture telescopes. These projects could be related to variable star photometry, asteroid and lunar occultation studies, imaging and analysis of planetary events, and light pollution studies. These projects need not be contributory, they could just be learning and student projects for submission at senior school/Bsc/Msc level.

http://www.twanight.org/ http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/images/top-left.jpg

http://www.twanight.org/ http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/images/top-left.jpg and

and

http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/ http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/images/stories/awblogo_rgb.jpg

http://www.twanight.org/ http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/images/top-left.jpg

Star Gazer, @Babak Tafreshi, Director, TWAN

'''Star Gazer, @Babak Tafreshi, Director, TWAN

http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/photos/3001475.jpg

Star Gazer, by Babak Tafreshi, Director, TWAN

http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/Astronomy_Activities_2009/

http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/Astronomy_Activities_2009/

http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/Astronomy_Activities_2009/

Through its collaboration with the Indian chapter of the International Year of Astronomy project “The World at Night” (TWAN).

TWAN India

TWAN attempts to image the night sky through very high quality astrophotographs. The night sky images for the TWAN project, also include a terrestrial backdrop, thus describing the night views from various locations of the world.

Selection of Participants

1. If some kind of partnerships could be encouraged, between one amateur astronomer who has instrumentation and imaging skills, one amateur astronomer or Bsc/Msc student who has image processing/data analysis skills, an educator, and one professional astronomer who could give them the necessary guidance, a lot of useful work could be expected from such partnerships.

TWAN India, would be a wonderful way of showcasing India’s monumental heritage, giving it a unique backdrop of the starry skies. It is not just the monumental heritage, that would be of interest to TWAN India – geographical and natural heritage as well as the multilayered cross cultural heritage of India would be a unique backdrop for the TWAN India Astrophotographs. In Addition, India has so much of Astronomical heritage – medieval as well as modern – and many observatories and institutions working at the front ends of astronomical research. These locations would make some uniquely interesting backdrops for the TWAN astrophotographs.

During this workshop, it is envisaged that some of the Indian Astrophotographers would be identified who could ontribute as guest astrophotographers, to the TWAN India project.

The selection of participants for the workshop will be based on the work and skills that they have already demonstrated, related to either - astrophotography, image processing, data analysis, telescope instrumentation or dedicated and serious usage of amateur telescopes. The proposed dates for the workshop are October 3rd to 5th 2008. It is envisaged that the daytime workshop sessions from the 3rd to 5th will be held at the Planetarium, and the participants will be taken to Nuh, in Haryana, for overnight observations and imaging on the night of 4th of October. A dark site, free of light pollution, is very essential for the practical sessions of the workshop, and the site at Nuh has been frequently used and tested by the amateur astronomers of Delhi.

An International workshop on The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing, is proposed to be conducted at Delhi, by the Nehru Planetarium, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, in collaboration with Astronomy and Astrophysics Institutions, other planetaria, science education institutions, and some voluntary organizations involved in Astronomy education.

Science help from the Astronomy institutions, for the envisaged student and amateur projects to emerge from the workshop, would be invaluable!

• National Science Centre, Delhi
• National Bal Bhavan, Delhi

An International workshop on “The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing”, is proposed to be conducted at Delhi, by the Nehru Planetarium, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, in collaboration with Astronomy and Astrophysics Institutions, other planetaria, science education institutions, and some voluntary organizations involved in Astronomy education.

Funding for the workshop has been applied for, from the National Council of Science, Technology and Communication. Partial funding is also envisaged to be obtained from the home institution Nehru Memorial Museum and Library and through all the collaborations.

The workshop is also likely to be enriched through a collaboration with voluntary organisations involved in Astronomy Education

An International workshop on “The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing”, is proposed to be conducted at Delhi, by the Nehru Planetarium, New Delhi, in collaboration with Astronomy and Astrophysics Institutions, other planetaria, science education institutions, and some voluntary organizations involved in Astronomy education.

Funding for the workshop has been applied for, from the National Council of Science, Technology and Communication. Partial funding is also envisaged to be obtained from the home institution Nehru Memorial Museum and Library and through a;; the collaborations.

The workshop has also a fortunate collaboration with the Indian chapter of the United Nations recognized special project for the Internationl Year of Astronomy – "The World at Night" and with the project "Astronomers without Borders", an organisational node of the International Year of Astronomy.

The spirit and thoughts behind this workshop are the following :-

It would also be possible to work towards online and video conferencing participation of some of the international amateur astronomers who have done good work towards quantitative usage of their imaging skills, during the proposed workshop. This aspect of the workshop will be co-ordinated through collaboration with the project “Astronomers without Borders”. This possibility would also allow many young students and amateur astronomers from India, who cannot physically be present at the workshop, to gain from the sessions and participate in the discussions.

During this workshop, it is envisaged that some of the Indian Astrophotographers would be identified who could ontribute as guest astrophotographers, to the TWAN India project. The selection of participants for the workshop will be based on the work and skills that they have already demonstrated, related to either - astrophotography, image processing, data analysis, telescope instrumentation or dedicated and serious usage of amateur telescopes. The proposed dates for the workshop are October 3rd to 5th 2008. It is envisaged that the daytime workshop sessions from the 3rd to 5th will be held at the Planetarium, and the participants will be taken to Nuh, in Haryana, for overnight observations and imaging on the night of 4th of October. A dark site, free of light pollution, is very essential for the practical sessions of the workshop, and the site at Nuh has been frequently used and tested by the amateur astronomers of Delhi.

The workshop is also looking for support though a collaboration with organisations involved in Science Education

http://www.twanight.org/

and

The workshop is looking for a collaboration with the following Astronomy and Astrophysics Institutions :-

Science help for the envisaged student and amateur projects to emerge from the workshop, would be invaluable!

The workshop is also supported though a collaboration with organisations involved in Science Education

• National Bal Bhavan, Delhi
• Vigyan Prasar

The workshop is also enriched through a collaboration with voluntary organisations involved in Astronomy Education

• Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore
• Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune
• Delhi University
• Arya Bhata Institute for Observational Sciences, Nainital

The workshop is also enriched through a collaboration with volantary organisations involved in Astronomy Education

• Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (S.P.A.C.E.)
• Amateur Astronomers Association, Delhi
• Confederation of Indian Amateurs
• Astroeducation Services

An International workshop on “The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing”, is proposed to be conducted at Delhi, by the Nehru Planetarium, New Delhi, in collaboration with Astronomy and Astrophysics Institutions, other planetaria, science education institutions, and some voluntary organizations involved in Astronomy education. The workshop has also a fortunate collaboration with the Indian chapter of the United Nations recognized special project for the Internationl Year of Astronomy – "The World at Night" and with the project "Astronomers without Borders", an organisational node of the International Year of Astronomy.

The workshop has a fortunate collaboration with the following Astronomy and Astrophysics Institutions :-

1. Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore
2. Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune
3. Delhi University
4. Arya Bhata Institute for Observational Sciences, Nainital

An International workshop on “The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing”, is proposed to be conducted at Delhi, by the Nehru Planetarium, New Delhi, in collaboration with Astronomy and Astrophysics Institutions, other planetaria, science education institutions, and some voluntary organizations involved in Astronomy education. The workshop has also a collaboration with the Indian chapters of two United Nations recognized special projects for the Internationl Year of Astronomy – The World at Night and Astronomers without Borders.

1. Imaging and image processing probabilities have become much more accessible to a non professional than they had been, a decade ago. Amateurs are learning to image, not just with low cost digital cameras, but, with some useful CCD equipment, as well.
2. Many amateur astronomers in India have developed skills through self learning - for either imaging celestial objects through their own telescopes and imaging equipment - or for developing software for astronomical observing or processing of images. Giving a little direction to these skills might lead them towards making some contributory observations in variable star and other avenues of amateur astronomy explorations. Even if contributory research observations do not come from these efforts, quantitative observations for student projects and for learning purposes would also be a very fruitful outcome of these skills.
3. If some kind of partnerships could be encouraged, between one amateur astronomer who has instrumentation and imaging skills, one amateur astronomer or MSc student who has image processing/data analysis skills, an educator, and one professional astronomer who could give them the necessary guidance, a lot of useful work could be expected from such partnerships.

A celebration of the Science of the skies, with the Heritage of the land!

The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing

!! The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing

!!The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing

An International Workshop on

!!The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing

A National Workshop on

A National Workshop on

The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing

(:title Zameen Aasmaan:)

Zameen Aasmaan

Zameen Aasmaan

Zameen Aasmaan

A National Workshop on

“The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing”

A National Level workshop on “The Earth and the Sky, Astrophotography and Image Processing”, is proposed to be conducted at Delhi, by the Nehru Planetarium, New Delhi, in collaboration with Astronomy and Astrophysics Institutions, other planetaria, science education institutions, and some voluntary organizations. The workshop has also a collaboration with the Indian chapters of two United Nations recognized special projects for the Internationl Year of Astronomy – The World at Night and Astronomers without Borders.

http://www.twanight.org/ and

http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/

The spirit and thoughts behind this workshop are the following :-

1. . Imaging and image processing probabilities have become much more accessible to a non professional than they had been, a decade ago. Amateurs are learning to image, not just with low cost digital cameras, but, with some useful CCD equipment, as well.
2. . Many amateur astronomers in India have developed skills through self learning - for either imaging celestial objects through their own telescopes and imaging equipment - or for developing software for astronomical observing or processing of images. Giving a little direction to these skills might lead them towards making some contributory observations in variable star and other avenues of amateur astronomy explorations. Even if contributory research observations do not come from these efforts, quantitative observations for student projects and for learning purposes would also be a very fruitful outcome of these skills.
3. . If some kind of partnerships could be encouraged, between one amateur astronomer who has instrumentation and imaging skills, one amateur astronomer or MSc student who has image processing/data analysis skills, an educator, and one professional astronomer who could give them the necessary guidance, a lot of useful work could be expected from such partnerships.

And finally, the workshop attempts to look at -

A celebration of the Science of the skies, with the Heritage of the land!

Through its collaboration with the Indian chapter of the International Year of Astronomy project “The World at Night” (TWAN). TWAN attempts to image the night sky through very high quality astrophotographs. The night sky images for the TWAN project, also include a terrestrial backdrop, thus describing the night views from various locations of the world.

The workshop will thus encourage amateur astronomers to better their imaging skills to produce interesting and beautiful landscape astrophotographs as well as use their imaging skills for obtaining some quantitative science results.

The workshop will work towards encouraging the formation of partnerships between amateur astronomers and students with varied skills, and providing training and resources to these partnerships.

The training envisaged during the workshop, would particularly be useful when it comes to measuring relatively unknown quantities like the amount of light pollution in different regions of India, and its seasonal variations. An inspiration to the students and amateur astronomers to contribute useful data in the fields of Lunar and Asteroid occultation studies and variable star observations, will be one hopeful outcome of the workshop, to be followed up with more rigorous training over longer periods of time.

One particular aspect of this workshop is related to the possibilities of long term interactions with the participants both before and after the workshop, through the online forum created for daily interactions with interested students and amateur astronomers, for activities related to the International Year of Astronomy, at

http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/Astronomy_Activities_2009/

It is envisaged that all the participants of the workshop will be encouraged to take up some specific imaging and analysis oriented projects, in partnership groups, to be undertaken over the next year. These partnerships will also include the presence of an educator and a professional astronomer to mentor the projects over the period of a year. A follow up workshop is envisaged to be held in the latter half of 2009, to bring together the material from all these partnerships. During the workshop, discussions will be held to encourage the participants to take up specific observing and analysis projects, in partnership groups, that will be mentored by educators and professional astronomers, over the coming months and years. Partnership groups, who come up with good projects of their own and show enough promise of carrying the work through, will be given a 4” comupterised GOTO telescope with a camera adapter, for some specific projects that can be done with such small aperture telescopes. These projects could be related to variable star photometry, asteroid and lunar occultation studies, imaging and analysis of planetary events, and light pollution studies. These projects need not be contributory, they could just be learning and student projects for submission at senior school/MSc level.

This kind of long term work and partnerships are feasible, only through collaboration with many Astronomy and Astrophysics institutions, planetaria and science centres. Such collaborations are being formed, both for this workshop as well as for the envisaged follow up activities and projects.

There is another very important aspect of the workshop and its training, in addition to its science goals. This aspect is related to India’s vast monumental heritage.

The Planetarium has received a proposal from two of the United Nations recognized special project for the International Year of Astronomy. These related special projects are named Astronomers without Borders (AWB) and The World at Night (TWAN).

The proposal from these two projects, received by the Nehru Planetarium, New Delhi, is an invitation for the association of the collaborators in the workshop, with some of the proposed activities of TWAN India and AWB in India.

It would be possible to invite some of the expert astrophotographers of the TWAN project, to give lectures and train the Indian amateur astronomers during the proposed workshop. This would enhance the science goals and possibilities of learning imaging techniques, for the participants. It would also be possible to work towards online and video conferencing participation of some of the international amateur astronomers who have done good work towards quantitative usage of their imaging skills, during the proposed workshop. This aspect of the workshop will be co-ordinated through collaboration with the project “Astronomers without Borders”.

TWAN India, would be a wonderful way of showcasing India’s monumental heritage, giving it a unique backdrop of the starry skies. It is not just the monumental heritage, that would be of interest to TWAN India – geographical and natural heritage as well as the multilayered cross cultural heritage of India would be a unique backdrop for the TWAN India Astrophotographs. In Addition, India has so much of Astronomical heritage – medieval as well as modern – and many observatories and institutions working at the front ends of astronomical research. These locations would make some uniquely interesting backdrops for the TWAN astrophotographs.

During this workshop, it is envisaged that some of the Indian Astrophotographers would be identified who could be selected as TWAN astrophotographers or could contribute as guest astrophotographers, to the TWAN India project. The selection of participants for the workshop will be based on the work and skills that they have already demonstrated, related to either - astrophotography, image processing, data analysis, telescope instrumentation or dedicated and serious usage of amateur telescopes. The proposed dates for the workshop are October 3rd to 5th 2008. It is envisaged that the daytime workshop sessions from the 3rd to 5th will be held at the Planetarium, and the participants will be taken to Nuh, in Haryana, for overnight observations and imaging on the night of 4th of October. A dark site, free of light pollution, is very essential for the practical sessions of the workshop, and the site at Nuh has been frequently used and tested by the amateur astronomers of Delhi.

It is envisaged that about 70 participants will be from Delhi, and there will be about 50 outstation participants, selected from all over India. The workshop sessions on the 3rd and the morning of 4th, will be held in the Planetarium sky theatre and in the auditorium of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. On the evening of the 3rd, there will be some practical astrophotography sessions from the Jantar Mantar Observatory. The participants will start in the evening of 4th, for the 4-5 hour journey to Nuh, Haryana, and attend overnight observing sessions. A few rooms and Dormitories will be booked as accommodation, and all the young participants will also be asked to bring sleeping bags for camping out. The participants will return to Delhi, on the morning of 5th October. Short concluding daytime sessions will be held in the late afternoon of the 5th.