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Children's Fortnight 15th - 30th November 2008

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, will be celebrating a Children's Fortnight, from the 15th to the 30th of November 2008.

This year, at the Nehru Planetarium, the program that would be available to all school groups and public visitors will be

Chandrayaan - Destination Moon

Schools can avail concessional Full sky theatre booking at 9.30 a.m., 10.30 a.m, and 12.30 p.m. The public programme is available both in Hindi (1:30 PM and 4:00 PM) and English (11:30 AM and 3:00 PM). Duration of each show is about 35-40 minutes.

How to Book

During the Children's fortnight, full sky theatre can be booked at the highly concessional rate of Rs. 1500/- for 270 people. Payment can be made in cash, cheque or demand draft drawn in favour of NMML-Nehru Planetarium. Smaller groups of more than 25 can avail a group concession at Rs. 10/- per head, in the 11:30 AM, 1:30 PM, 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM shows.

Book in advance to avoid last minute rush. Entry to the sky theatre would begin 15 minutes before each show. There will be no entry/refund in case group is late for the scheduled show.

The fortnight will also be filled with activities with three themes running through them this year - (1) A "Celebration of the Earth and the Sky" (2) "Moon Carnival" and (3) Living together in Harmony with each other, and with Nature.

The Childrens' Fortnight activities at the Planetarium will be conducted by the Nehru Planetarium, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in collaboration with the Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators S.P.A.C.E. and the volunteer groups Amateur Astronomers Association, Delhi AAAD and Astronomicans

Each day, there would be one simple activity in which all visitors to the planetarium can participate, and one registered activity where the numbers of participants will be limited. Registration inquiries can be sent to nehruplanetarium@gmail.com

Register as Volunteer?

Random imagery from the Children's Fortnight

The detailed program of activities for the Fortnight is as follows:

Chandrayaan Quiz I : All through the day. All school groups and public visitors to the planetarium can take part in the Quiz program. The Quiz will be announced after every planetarium show, interested participants can submit their answers in the answer card format that will be made available after the show. Prizes will be announced at the end of the Fortnight.

Yeh Zameen Aasmaan : Registered Activity 11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon. These will be several activities celebrating the interesting connections between the Earth and the Sky - Night, Day and Seasons - and the rising and setting of stars, as seen from different latitudes.

Sky Lore - Satrangee taaron ki kahaniyaan : All through the day. All school groups and public visitors to the planetarium were asked take part in this story writing program. Small segments of stories being added by each participant to ongoing narrations on different themes, related to the stars.

Planetarium closed

Sky Lore - Satrangee taaron ki kahaniyaan : All through the day. All school groups and public visitors to the planetarium were asked to take part in this story writing program. Small segments of stories being added by each participant to ongoing narrations on different themes, related to the stars.

Chali, Chali re Patang ? : Make your own constellation kites and fly them from the backlawns of the Teen Murti House. Make your slogans related to your concerns for the Earth and the Sky be visible over the power corridors of Delhi :-)

My Favourite Planet : An interesting activity thought up on the spur of the moment, by the NMML Bal Mela volunteers. Children coming out of the Planetarium show were asked which was their favourite planet and their concerns about it. Material was provided for the children to express themselves in creative ways.

Binocular Box Projection ? : All through the morning, until the 1:30 PM Planetarium show. Visitors can participate in using handmade equipment for easy observing of a projected image of the Sun using a pair of binoculars, obtaining a large sized, stable projected image of the Sun for doing some quantitative measurements. Every school should have one such box apparatus made for themselves. Some boxes at cost, can be made available for schools.

Netaji se mulakaat : Once again, a very interesting activity thought up on the spur of the moment, by the NMML Bal Mela volunteers, asking children to voice their concerns about themselves, their neighborhood and the planet Earth, to the netas.

Taare Sadak Par : All through the day. All school groups and public visitors to the planetarium can take part in this sky theatre skywatch, which will be held after every planetarium show. The program will help visitors befriend some of the evening stars and constellations currently visible and solicit their help towards counting stars from Delhi skies and measuring light pollution.

T-Shirt Painting : Registered Activity 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM. Paint the constellation (or deep sky object) of your choice on your own personalised T-Shirt.

Paani re paani ? : Yet another interesting activity by the NMML Bal Mela volunteers. Another mulakaat with discussions on concerns related to water and its conservation.

Binocular Box Projection ? : All through the morning, until the 1:30 PM Planetarium show. Visitors can participate in using handmade equipment for easy observing of a projected image of the Sun using a pair of binoculars, obtaining a large sized, stable projected image of the Sun for doing some quantitative measurements. Every school should have one such box apparatus made for themselves. Some boxes at cost, can be made available for schools.

Moon Carnival - Phases of the Moon? : The Phases segment of the Moon Carnival. A source of light, ball on a stand and plenty of vanilla cream biscuits ensure a happy group of students and teachers :-)

Pinhole Camera ke andar ki duniya ko dekhein? : For very large student groups - it would only be possible to demonstrate the making of a sturdy pinhole camera - but, ensuring that every student would see the subdued shadow world of enchantment inside the pinhole camera.

Taare Sadak Par : All through the day. All school groups and public visitors to the planetarium can take part in this sky theatre skywatch, which will be held after every planetarium show. The program will help visitors befriend some of the evening stars and constellations currently visible and solicit their help towards counting stars from Delhi skies and measuring light pollution.

T-Shirt Painting : Registered Activity 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM. Paint the constellation (or deep sky object) of your choice on your own personalised T-Shirt.

Matka Planetarium Draw the evening stars on the days of the Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice, for the year 2009, the International Year of Astronomy. Make a Matka Planetarium with the light polluted Delhi skies and a Matka Planetarium with gaon waale skies and feel the difference!

Low presence of schools and activities confined to pinhole camera usage.

Chandrayaan Quiz : All through the day. All school groups and public visitors to the planetarium can take part in the Quiz program. The Quiz will be announced after every planetarium show, interested participants can submit their answers in the answer card format that will be made available after the show. Prizes will be announced at the end of the Fortnight.

Optics Festival ? : Registered Activity 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM. A little fun with mirrors and lenses, ek choti si doorbeen, a prism and its spray of colours, some fun with persistence of vision and a lot more.

Relatively low key activities : Pinhole Camera usage, story making and persistence of vision activities for small groups.

With the start of the NMML Bal Mela, the 27th saw a huge number of registered participants for the many activities organised as well as a number of open activity participation throughout the day. Many interesting activities formed a part of the Bal Mela on these three days. Astronomy activities at the planetarium and heritage, history and social concerns related activities at the NMML Bal Mela. It was a truly overwhelming experience.

Cricket wickets, ellipses and orbits Two cricket wickets placed firmly as two foci for elliptical orbits, some fun with hoola hoop rings and tops, and a lot of interesting material and fun obtained from the weekly Budh Bazar, to better appreciate solar system orbits and interesting sky events related to these.

Binocular Box Projection ? : All through the morning, until the 1:30 PM Planetarium show. Visitors can participate in using handmade equipment for easy observing of a projected image of the Sun using a pair of binoculars, obtaining a large sized, stable projected image of the Sun for doing some quantitative measurements. Every school should have one such box apparatus made for themselves. Some boxes at cost, can be made available for schools.

Eclipse Mania With the huge number of children present, the eclipse mania was confined for now, to discussions on the July 22 2009 Total Solar Eclipse, locations in India where it would be total and the Delhi circumstances. Some activities for observing the Sun safely and making some simple quantitative measurements mostly tunrned out to be demonstration, rather than hands on, due to the huge number of students present. It was fun, but, and perhaps, at a later stage the eclipse mania could be organised for smaller groups with more hands on activities.

Pinhole Camera Banayein ? : Registered Activity 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM. Make your own pinhole camera, view wonderful shadow worlds of subdued colours and moving enchantment through your own pinhole camera and use it to safely observe a projected image of the Sun. How do you make your pinhole Sun image larger in size? Let us follow Jeremiah Horrocks and Samanta Chandrasekhar! Observe (and measure) the Sun using tree pinhole images.

Chadtha Sooraj dheere dheere dhalta hai dhal jaayega : Activity all through the day. All school groups and public visitors to the planetarium can take part in this Sun observations activity using simple gnomons and models of the Ram Yantra and the Misra Yantra (the Ram Yantra model was made by Sneh Kesari and the Misra Yantra model by a class III student).

Activities which could not be undertaken during the Children's Fortnight and which will be utilised for future events

Nukkad Natak ? : Registered Activity 11:30 AM - 12:00 Noon. Participate in a street play that attempts to raise awareness about issues related to light pollution.

Eclipse Mania All through the day. Following every planetarium show, there will be discussions on the Total Solar Eclipse 2009, the various locations in India from where it would be total, eclipse circumstances and possible methods for safe viewing of the eclipse. These discussions will be in the sky theatre.

Make a Constellation : Registered Activity 11:30 AM - 12:00 Noon. (For the very young) Make your own constellations of choice using sticker bindis.

Eclipse Mania Registered Activity 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM : Hands on activities for observing the Sun safely and making some simple quantitative measurements.

Chandrayaan Science : Registered Activity 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM. (For Senior School students) Discussions on Chandrayaan Science and possible Moon projects using archived data.

Eclipse Quiz : All through the day. All school groups and public visitors to the planetarium can take part in the Quiz program. The Quiz will be announced after every planetarium show, interested participants can submit their answers in the answer card format that will be made available after the show. Prizes will be announced at the end of the Fortnight.

Solar System Treasure Hunt? : All through the day. In the whole campus of the Teen Murti House, will be set up an exciting Solar System Treasure Hunt. Look for the pot of gold at the end of this trail!

Uttarayan-Dakshinayan : All through the day. Following every planetarium show, there will be a discussion on the annual movements of the Sun in the sky, its observations for thousands of years and precession of the Equinoxes. Arguments against Astrology will also be discussed.

Moon Carnival : Registered Activity 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM. These will be several activities looking at the many different observational aspects of the Moon, as seen for thousands of years, through naked eyes.