About SPACE 100 Hours of Astronomy:
SPACE will be celebrating 100 Hours of Astronomy at Jantar Mantar - The Ancient Astronomical Observatory in the heart New Delhi
Between 1727 and 1734 Maharajah Jai Singh II of Jaipur constructed five astronomical observatories in west central India. The observatories, or "Jantar Mantars" as they are commonly known, incorporate multiple buildings of unique form, each with a specialized function for astronomical measurement. These structures with their striking combinations of geometric forms at large scale, have captivated the attention of architects, artists, and art historians world wide, yet remain largely unknown to the general public.
SPACE will be conducting 100HA at Jantar Mantar at New Delhi from 2nd to 5th April 2009 (sunrise to 11:00 PM everyday). It will be an exciting 4 day astronomy carnival lasting the whole day and upto late in the night where thousands of people including hundreads of school students will get to learn about Jantar Mantar instruments, get thier first views of Saturn, Moon, Sun, Venus and even sign up for a Star Party to be conducted on the night of 4th April from dark skies 50 KM from the city. The whole event will also be webcast for the international community to enjoy and see the mysteries of the Jantar Mantar unravelled before them over the internet.
Webcast schdule will be put up on SPACE website (www.space-india.org) 2 days before the event.
The following activities will be conducted at Jantar Mantar during 100HA.
* Educating people about the working of various Jantar Mantar Instruments such as Ram Yantra, Samrat Yantra, Misra Yantra and Jai Prakash Yantra. During day as well as evening time (upto 11:00 PM)
* Live interactive webcast explaining the working of Jantar Mantar instruments for international community. People from around the world will be able to view this webcast and see the mysteries of Jantar Mantar being unravelled by our expert educators.
* Live webcast of all the activities going on at Jantar Mantar during the event
* Sidewalk Astronomy: Telescopic observations of Moon and Saturn during evening and night time.
* Safe Solar Observation
* We will also be attempting to see venus in daytime.
*A public star party will be conducted on the night of 4th April 2009 at a dark site 50KMs from the city. People will be able to register for this star party at first come first serve basis at Jantar Mantar from 2nd to 4th April