Space, an organisation working towards the development of science and astronomy in India, recently held a workshop on ‘Comet ISON’ in collaboration with Nehru Planetarium and Nehru Memorial library inside the sky theater at Nehru Planetarium. Around 150 students from 25 schools attended the event.
The objective of the workshop was to get students ready for observing Comet ISON which is predicted to be very bright. ISON is already visible with a telescope and after perigee on November 28 one will know how ISON has fared after grazing so close to the sun and if it survives it may become a bright naked eye comet and be seen in December 2013. The workshop will be followed up by an advanced workshop on Comet ISON, on November 18, 2013.
Dr Rathnashree started the workshop with a planetarium sky theater show showing constellations, how they move, how light pollution affects their viewing etc with the comet context tied in. Mila Mitra, Scientific officer -SPACE talked about what are comets and the background information about comet ISON including its history, where one can see it, its orbit etc. CB Devgun, president, SPACE demonstrated how to take photos of constellations as showing on the dome itself. He showed how to change exposure time, ISO and aperture to get the best images in the dark.
A demonstration on how to make a comet in the comet kitchen was also shown. Students also learned how to do quantitative analysis of the brightness of the comet. The workshop will be followed up by an advanced workshop on Comet ISON, on November 18, 2013.