For students curious about the stars and planets visible after sunset, the Association of Friends of Astronomy (Goa) has launched the Mapusa branch of the Astrokids Club, a year-long programme that introduces children below 16 years to astronomy through practical activities and observation sessions. Older school students can also participate in some activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The club was inaugurated at Sridora Caculo College of Commerce & Management Studies, Khorlim, Mapusa, as part of AFA\u2019s outreach activities following Global Astronomy Month held last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President of the AFA (Goa) Public Astronomical Observatory, Satish Nayak, says the initiative is based on AFA\u2019s 18-year-old Astrokids Club in Panaji, which was started during the early years of IFFI in Panaji, when most youth volunteers at the observatory were occupied with festival-related events, leaving very few people to attend to the hundreds of visitors who came to the observatory during IFFI evenings. This led AFA to involve school students as volunteers to support its youth and senior task force. <\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nPresident of the AFA (Goa) Public Astronomical Observatory, Satish Nayak, says the initiative is based on AFA\u2019s 18-year-old Astrokids Club in Panaji. \u201cThe club was started during the early years of IFFI in Panaji, when most youth volunteers at the observatory were occupied with festival-related events, leaving very few people to attend to the hundreds of visitors who came to the observatory during IFFI evenings. As a result, AFA started involving school students as volunteers to support its youth and senior task force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Mapusa branch was launched after growing student interest at the observatory centre run in collaboration with the college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Activities at the club include model-making, sky observation sessions, camps, talks, film screenings, competitions, field visits, nature walks, robotics workshops, and personality development sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of these, telescope observation has been the biggest attraction for participants. \u201cStudents are excited about directly observing the sky through telescopes. Overnight camps and skywatching sessions are also very popular because they enjoy the outdoor experience and the atmosphere of learning together,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At present, the Panaji club has around 60 regular participants with sessions held on Saturdays. At the recently launched Mapusa club, attendance ranges from 25 to 27 students. Activities take place mainly on Thursdays, with larger public programmes organised on weekends. Most participants, Nayak notes, join with little or no prior knowledge of astronomy and gradually learn through hands-on activities and telescope sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative forms part of AFA\u2019s broader science outreach structure, which functions through specialised units across Goa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From a single telescope<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Founded in 1982 by former bureaucrat late Percival Noronha, AFA began with a small set of enthusiasts and a single reflecting telescope. Early activities included basic sky observation sessions that later expanded into public outreach work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nayak says a major boost came in 1986 with the appearance of Halley\u2019s Comet, which increased public participation in astronomy programmes across Goa. Nayak says, \u201cAnother important step followed after astronomer Dr Jayant Narlikar urged the then chief minister of Goa to strengthen astronomy education in the state, leading to the setting up of India\u2019s first public astronomical observatory under the Department of Science and Technology. It initially functioned from a rooftop at Junta House in Panaji before evolving into a government-supported facility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The model has since attracted interest from states such as Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, as well as cities including Hyderabad and Bengaluru, which have studied its framework for possible replication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The observatory was upgraded in 2021 into a 550-square-metre facility with an auditorium, computer and tinkering labs, a space museum and a library. It previously hosted school groups, tourists and astronomy enthusiasts, including visitors from outside India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AFA continues to emphasise practical learning through direct use of instruments, with students participating in public sessions and assisting during school programmes. \u201cKids as young as 12 to 13 are introduced to astronomy here and take part in outreach sessions in schools, where they explain basic concepts and operate telescopes,\u201d says Nayak, adding that in several cases, school students guide adults in telescope handling and basic night-sky observation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Membership and activities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n AFA currently has over 450 life members, hundreds of general members, more than 2,000 student members and institutional tie-ups with schools and colleges across Goa. Its work is organised through specialised units such as the Astrokids Club, the Fun Science and Astronomy Club for students below 16, an astrophotography group, science forum, literary cell, quiz club and astro-film club, which screens science fiction films and documentaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Observers Club focuses on observational astronomy, including sky-watching sessions, Messier marathons, star parties at Chorla Ghat, comet tracking, meteor shower observation, eclipse and lunar studies and constellation identification. The club also conducts solar observation sessions, astronomy projects, software-based learning, school sessions, camps and telescope-making sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Science Council hosts workshops in robotics, 3D printing, ham radio, radio astronomy, solar energy experiments, nature and earth science, along with visits to scientific institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Literary Cell publishes the quarterly magazine Via Lactea and conducts writing workshops, book reviews and reading sessions, while the Ideation Forum organises quizzes, discussions, lectures, seminars, competitions and tinkering sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Astrophoto Clique handles photography and documentation, including astrophotography, night landscape photography, filmmaking and field trips. Its \u2018Goa @ Night\u2019 project documents monuments under night skies and it also organises workshops on solar, lunar, planetary and deep-sky photography, star trails, moon phases and time-lapse imaging<\/p>\n\n\n\n Panaji observatory in transition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With regular operations affected since 2024, AFA has reduced activities at the Panaji observatory and shifted public sessions to venues such as Yog Setu, Campal and Miramar Beach, while continuing work through its other centres across Goa<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nayak says temporary arrangements are currently being made by the PWD at St Inez. \u201cThe facility is expected to be used for about a year until a final location is allotted,\u201d he says, adding that the observatory may be shifted from Junta House in the first fortnight of June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAFA had proposed setting up an 18- to 20-inch telescope with a dedicated dome facility, which could house one of Goa\u2019s largest public astronomy instruments but the project has been kept on hold due to the observatory relocation process.\u201d ~ Satish Nayak, president, AFA<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Association of Friends of Astronomy (Goa) has extended its Astrokids Club to Mapusa, based on its Panaji model, as part of its state-wide network of specialised units for student astronomy programmes RAMANDEEP KAUR | NT KURIOCITY For students curious about the stars and planets visible after sunset, the Association of Friends of Astronomy (Goa) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4473,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aspire-inspire","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4476,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4472\/revisions\/4476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n