Founders' Message

Dr. Debrabrata Deb

“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.” – Carl Sagan

I believe, if we could contrast our daily life experience with a cosmic perspective, then it would help us be more understandable, humble, kind and live a truly spiritual life that is a much-needed exercise for everyone in this day and age. A prerequisite to developing such a perspective is to actually know the cosmos, it’s grand scale both in space and time and hence the existence of Thapar Amateur Astronomer Society (TAAS) as a student society at the Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology (TIET), Patiala.

The working of the society is divided into two broad areas, namely the ‘in-house learning’ and ‘spreading scientific knowledge’ about the cosmos. We would learn about the cosmos through observational astronomy and work towards spreading the gathered knowledge among the broader community around. To this end, we would organize private and public meetings, events like workshops, quiz, expert lectures, research visits and excursions to astronomical observatories. Thus taking part in various activities of our society, brings in following benefits, only to name a few

• Get to know about the constituents of the cosmos, the planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae etc and their working.

• Learn how to engineer different probes and instruments for astronomical observations

• Get to learn and live a life with Scientific Spiritualism. Feel the awe while looking at the grandest cosmic objects.

We at TAAS invite all at TIET and beyond be a part of our activities throughout the year and help us building a scientifically aware and cultured generation who would form their philosophy of life based on a grand cosmic perspective and take human civilization to the next level.

The mother ship: Pale Blue Dot

“It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.” – Carl Sagan

Bandhan Goyal

A Life lived Without knowing it’s Meaning and Origin is Worthless.

The best way to do something when you can’t get it from outside is to start yourself!

The launch of Thapar Amateur Astronomers Society – TAAS last year gave me and hopefully many other students too, immense support and motivation to continue engineering, focusing upon their career in Astronomy.

The Society not just gave a platform to study or know more about the field but also the experience and exposure to the research world, interacting with both researchers and non-researchers teaching every time, a new lesson of life.

It is because of the Society, I could get a clear picture of my future career as a Theoretical Physicist. I believe and hope, it has and will guide many more showing the path towards their goals.

Talking about Science, I highly doubt if anyone would disagree with the fact that everything is Physics. Just the level/depth changes with the perspective; lying at the bottom-most the question: “How something popped out of Nothingness?”

The question to one’s very own existence will drive anyone to love this field trying to explore and discover in one’s lifetime. The wait is to just taste the essence of the subject…