Nehru Planetarium hosts experimental activity to mark Equinox Day

The Nehru Planetarium on Wednesday organised an event to mark the Equinox Day, aiming to encourage curiosity, observation and scientific engagement among young learners, a senior official said.

Around 250 students attended talks, and 50 high school and college students took part in an experimental activity at the planetarium in the Teen Murti Bhawan complex, the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML) said.

These experiments drew inspiration from the historic method associated with Greek astronomer Eratosthenes, who used shadow observations to estimate the size of the Earth, it said in a statement.

The Nehru Planetarium organised the event as part of an Equinox Day activity. An equinox is an astronomical phenomenon when spans of day and night are equal.

The officials said schools, colleges and scientific institutions participated in activities in Jammu and Kashmir, Kurukshetra, Guwahati, Surat, Bhopal, Hyderabad and Kozhikode.

“This initiative saw school and college students from across India participate in a collaborative scientific activity that explored the Earth-Sun system through simple observations of the Sun and shadows.

Participants used a vertical stick/pole, measuring scale and clock to observe and record shadows as part of the experiment,” the statement said.

By comparing data from two different places, the circumference of Earth and its rotational speed were calculated.

The results were close to the correct value, the PMML said. With the theme “One Sun. Many Shadows. One Earth,” the initiative aimed to encourage curiosity, observation and scientific engagement among young learners, it said.