Every successful mission has a small idea behind it, with this same notion, Kalam's Observatory along with Loyola Astro Club chained together to start a webinar series on Observational Astronomy. Our main intention is to illuminate the minds of young children and people about the basic ideas of Astronomy especially, Observational Astronomy and how can it be proceeded without any astronomical instrument but our own naked eyes.
The first session of the series was conducted on May 3, 2020, with two presenters from Loyola Astro Club. A complete overview of the solar system was presented by Mr. Ashwinth Jeffrey with his topic 'The Solar System' and a brief overview on the technique to spot different stars and celestial objects was presented by Mr. Maheswaran with the topic 'Star Hopping'. The session consisted around 30 participants including children and their parents.
The session of the series was conducted on May 9, 2020, with two presenters from Loyola Astro Club. A brief journey and working of telescope was presented by Mr. Deepak with his topic 'Basics of Telescope' and classifications of deep sky objects and their properties was given as session by Mr. Raja with the topic 'Deep Sky Objects'. This session also consisted 30 participants that included common people and children.
The session of the series was conducted on May 23,2020. Here, we had two presenters from Loyola Astro Club and Kalam's Observatory. A full pledged talk on actions required to start with Observational Astronomy was explained by Mr. Infant Carmel Reju P from Kalam's Observatory. However, he had a plan on sharing it with two halves and first half held this day. His topic was 'Getting Started with Observational Astronomy (Part 1)' .Then, Mr. Ashwinth Jeffrey from Loyola Astro Club carried out the session with few natural aspects of astronomy with photographs captured by himself under his topic 'Nature's Light Display'. This session consisted around 50 participants.
The session of this series was conducted on May 30, 2020, with two presenters from Loyola Astro Club. First half of the session was about the origin of our universe and it was presented by Mr. Maheswaran with his topic 'Discover the cosmos'. Next half of the session was taken over by Mr. Antony Rohan about 'Misconceptions of Astronomy'. This session consisted around 30 participants.
The session of the series was conducted on June 6, 2020. Here, we had two presenters from Loyola Astro Club and Kalam's Observatory. A full pledged talk on actions required to start with observational astronomy was explained by Mr. Infant Carmel Reju from Kalam's Observatory. The second half of his presentation held this day. His topic was 'Getting Started with Observational astronomy (Part 2)'. Then, Mr. Ashwinth Jeffrey from Loyola Astro Club carried out the session with clouds and its characteristics with photographs captured by himself under the title 'An Umbrella of Nature'. This session consisted around 50 participants.
The session of this series was conducted on June 20, 2020. The session happened to be very special one because, this session had three sections that includes a short quiz, tips to view the eclipse and how can we make evidences for our observation encounters. The session started with a brief introduction to the previous sessions. Mr. Infant Carmel Reju from Kalam's Observatory gave us a tremendous beginning with his final topic 'Astronomical Indices and Logging'. This particular presentation of his, gave participants an idea of how can they keep track with the objects they see in the sky and predictions that can be made out of it. Secondly, in order to refresh the minds of participants, a short quiz session was conducted on the basis of observational astronomy. Finally, the session was carried out by Mr. Ashwinth Jeffrey from LAC with the topic 'Eclipse Gadgets'. With his topic, he not only gave his presentation about the gadgets, but also the special aspects of the Annular Solar Eclipse 2020, when and where it can be seen etc. Eventually, this session had the participants who raised more and more questions regarding the topic. More than 30 participants attended this session.
The session of this series was conducted on June 27, 2020. The session happened to be the final one of the series of sessions on "Basics of Observational Astronomy". This session had three sections alike the previous session that included a short quiz, and sessions with topics 'Binocular astronomy' and 'Observing guide for the Year 2020', for observation encounters. The session started with a brief introduction to the sessions conducted before this particular session. Mr. Raja from LAC gave us a tremendous beginning with his final topic 'Observing Guide for the Year 2020 from July To December'. This particular presentation by him, gave participants an idea of how can they keep track with objects they see in the sky during the year 2020.. Secondly, in order to brainstorm the minds of participants, a short quiz was conducted and finally, the session was carried out by Mr. Deepak from LAC with the topic 'Binocular Astronomy'. Through the presentation, he not only talked about the significance of binocular astronomy, but also led the participants to have a different perspective about observations with binoculars. Many questions came out from participants side regarding the topic. More than 30 participants attended this session.