Astronomy is a Science that has always keenly interested our young Presidians. To satiate their thirst for learning more about this Science, a double module astronomy workshop was recently organized at Presidium, Indirapuram. Module one included understanding the difference between reference and cardinal directions, analyzing importance of different methods to locate cardinal directions, and using gnomon and sun to mark cardinal directions. The Presidians recreated the Eratosthenes experiment and calculated the circumference of the Earth. They also tried to understand how scientific pursuits can be done by simple experimentation and learnt how to conduct Project Paridhi for Science popularization.

 

Module two included establishing the importance of time as a physical measurement, understanding difference between local time and IST, finding local time using a sundial, learning to deduce IST using local time, and basics of equation of time. Interested to understand the working of a sundial and its importance in history and mathematics, the young astronomers created a sundial using simple materials to find time. It was an amazing session where both the modules explained a lot of concepts in a bright sunny day.