IAU appointed a new National Outreach Coordinator (NOC) for Nepal for next three years!

International Astronomical Union (IAU) general secretary Prof. Maria Teresa Lago has appointed Mr. Suresh Bhattarai, Chairman at Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO), as a National Outreach Coordinator for Nepal (NOC-Nepal). The term of the NOC will be for a maximum of 3 years and end at the next IAU General Assembly (GA) unless special notification made by the National Committee of Astronomy (NCA). Since Nepal has no NAC currently, he received his appointment from the IAU Secretariat. 

Photo: Newly appointed IAU National  Outreach Coordinator for Nepal (IAU NOC-Nepal). Credit: Manisha Dwa/NASO 

NOC is the principal national representative appointed under the IAU structure. The primary aims of NOCs are to implement the proposed IAU outreach initiatives at the national level, disseminate information and bridge the IAU with local communities.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is an international astronomical organization that brings together more than 12000 professional astronomers from around the world. Its mission is to promote and safeguard all aspects of the science of astronomy through international cooperation. The IAU also works to promote astronomical education, research, and public outreach activities. To learn more about IAU, please visit https://iau.org. 

These activities culminated with the organization of the UNESCO International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009), which reached out to over 800 million people from 148 countries. The Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) was set up in 2012 to implement the Beyond IYA2009 plan, to build networks to support and disseminate information to the amateur astronomy and public outreach communities, and to ultimately make it easier for the public to access information about our universe. The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) is based in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan. It is a joint venture between the IAU and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). To learn more about IAU OAO, please visit https://iau.org/public/.

IAU is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year with many events around the globe and he will be coordinating IAU100 activities in Nepal. To learn more about IAU100, please visit www.iau-100.org.

Photo: IAU100 Banner for the celebration in Nepal. Astronomy enthusiasts are encouraged to use this banner at all their astronomy-related events in 2019 and use hashtag #IAU100Nepal and #IAU100. Credit: IAU

Mr. Bhattarai will be the working with the outgoing IAU NOC for Nepal Mr. Janayanta Acharya, Associate Prof. at Department of Astronomy, Valmiki Vidhyapeeth (Nepal Sanskrit University), Kathmandu as well amateur and professional communities in Nepal. 

Webinar with the students at Gaurishankar English Boarding School, Arghakhachi!

Mr. Bijaya Chandra Luitel

Recently, I conducted a webinar for tenth graders at Gaurishankar English Boarding School, Arghakhachi which was conducted with the help of Mr. Sujab Bhusal, one of the associate members of Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO). 

In the webinar, we focused on discussing mainly three things: what Science is and the history of the development of the Scientific method, what futures are possible in the Sciences for a student who will be appearing in the SEE exams soon and finally the possibility of enrichment opportunities like the Olympiads for students in high school. 

Firstly, we discussed what Science is all about. The students had a reverence towards Science and summarized their feelings towards Science thusly: “Science is the deepest form of everything”. However, in order to grasp a future in Science, it is very important for potential students of Science to realize that Science is a method of inquiry, something which I stressed by citing several examples from historical figures. Consequently, we discussed Aristotle and Galileo, focusing on the latter’s experiments with inclined planes which resulted in the understanding that all objects, regardless of their weights, fall to the Earth’s surface when dropped from the same height at the same time, if their densities are sufficient to resist most of the drag caused due to Earth’s atmosphere. 

Next, we talked about future opportunities in the Sciences. There were many students in the audience who wanted non-traditional roles (roles in the context of Nepal) in Science, like becoming educators. We discussed some of these opportunities and the specific skill sets required for such roles. We also chatted about the importance of a clear motivation for studying Science in order to achieve good results in it, discussing the prevalence of practices whereby students are encouraged and even forced to study Science if they have good marks. 

Lastly, we engaged in a session whereby we spoke on matters related to Olympiads, specifically the process of taking part in Olympiads and how to best prepare for them. We focused mainly on the Astronomy Olympiad as that happens to be an area of personal expertise for me. 

In conclusion, the webinar was a good experience for me in interacting with Science enthusiasts in our country. I am hopeful that the experience was equally good for the students participating in the webinar. 

[Mr. Bijaya Chandra Luitel was an absolute winner at the National Astronomy Olympiad held in 2016 and 2017. He received Honorable Mention (HM) at International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) in 2016 and 2017 held in Bhubaneshwar, India and Phuket, Thailand respectively]

Do you have a question to an Astronaut? Submit now!

We are pleased to announce that former NASA Astronaut Sandra Magnus will be among us during our collaborative event with Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) during 11:00 AM- 2:00 PM on Wednesday, May 30, 2018.

We have opened a call for ‘Ask an Astronaut’ (http://bit.ly/2ILEpty) which closes on Friday, May 25, 2018. We believe, it will provide an opportunity for Nepali people from Nepal and abroad to ask their question to her. Interested people can create max. 30 second question as a video with their introduction. Selected people will be invited to attend the event.

The program will have an interaction with her, presentations to have an insight of space activities in Nepal and prize distributions to the winners of 1st National Space Art Competition 2017 (class 1-8), 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017 (class 11-12) and 2nd Women in Science Award 2018 (WiSA2018) (student and young professional categories) respectively.

Astrofest Nepal 2018: Look upward to unravel the mistery!

On the occasion of Global Astronomy Month (GAM), Central Department of Physics (CDP) organized AstroFest Nepal 2018 at Department premises, Kirtipur on April 22, 2018. The event was supported by B.P. Koirala Memorial Planetarium, Observatory and Science Museum Development Board, Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO), Pokhara Astronomical Society (PAS) and Beyond Apogee.

Photo: NASO volunteers conducting lunar observation sessions during AstroFest Nepal 2018 at Central Department of Physics, Tribhuvan University (TU) on April 22, 2018.

During this event students got chance to know about cosmology studies from Dr Uday Raj Khanal.  His speech on the topic of cosmology and astronomy gave new insight to the world of astronomy. Also the talk session of Dr Binil Aryal (Head of Central Department of Physics) helped student to know about current condition of physics and astronomy in Nepal. The presentation of Mr Suresh Bhattarai (Chairman of NASO) helped student to know about astronomy, engineering and outreach projects handled by NASO team for promotion and implementation of science and technology. Sabin Gautam (Treasurer of PAS) presented the ideas and activities of Pokhara Astronomical Society. Sudip Vikram Adhikari (Chairman of Beyond Apogee) presented the idea of CAN Satellite which could be easily programmed by school level students too which they termed as Sajilo Satellite.

For recreational and talent exposure purpose many student of department of physics presented their poems related to universe and astronomy. Various posters and quotes of scientific minds could be seen on the premise of the college too. The event was attended by around hundred students and visitors. After 5:00 PM observation session was jointly organized by CDP, NASO and PAS in which visitors got chance to observe the Moon and Venus. Also visitors were informed about the types of telescopes used for the observation.

This event thus helped the student and visitors to know about the astronomy, cosmology, physics study in Nepal and the activities related to these topics done by various organizations for promoting and implementing science in Nepal.

The Global Astronomy Month (GAM) is the largest global celebration of astronomy, celebrated every year in April by organizing different astronomical events like Astro-art, Astro-star party, Astro-poetry, Astro-concert etc. The motto of the GAM is to bring interested people together to encourage participation in programs related to astronomy and astrophysics. The main aim of conducting this event is to bring new opportunities for interested and enthusiastic persons to celebrate the Global Astronomy Month. 

A Decade of Astronomy & Space Science: Celebrating 10th Anniversary in Nepal

We celebrated our 10th Anniversary today with our volunteers, members and high students at Ankur Vidhyashram. The journey was definately not an easy one, but we learnt a lot through this decedal experience and look forward to implement our experience to create better opportunities for the youth and students in Nepal.

Mr. Pushpa Raj Sapkota, chief guest of the event  and principal at Ankur Vidhyashram praised our work engaging school students in our different activities and shared the improvement in their classroom behaviour. He also requested us to help students to guide them to their astronomy discussion forum that they are going to organized during October-November 2017.

Photo 1: Mr. Suresh Bhattarai, chairman at NASO sharing the major achievements with the participants of the gathering. (From left: Mr. Suresh Bhattarai, Mr. Pushpa Raj Sapkota, Mr. Samaya Khadka)

During the event, Mr. Samaya Khadka,one of the closed camp participants of our 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017 shared his experience at our astronomy olympiad to the students. He also explain the need of science communication with public and students to make science a fun.

National Astronomy Olympiad program was initiated in 2014 and become of the fastest growing talent hunt program in Nepal with its holistic approach to select students as a national winners!

Photo 2: Group photo of the participants of the gathering after the cake cutting ceremony

During the event, we also discussed on some of our proposed initiatives/programs and how we can make them more compatible to our students. We highlighted the need of more capacity building programs in coming days to strengthen our network in Nepal and abroad creating more opportunities for our youths and students.

Photo 3: Sudip Bhattrai, Assistant Professor, Aerospace at IOE, Pulchowk and Mr. Suresh Bhattarai, Chairman brainstroming on how we can improve our space programs in coming days

As we realised unless we train our students to build their confidence as well as skills we are not going to help for the development, we decided to partner with different academic institutions in Nepal and organizations in Nepal and abroad. We have already tested some of our academic partnership projects with engineering students at TU and we look forward to implement our program/s for physics students at TU in coming days.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to all our executives, members and well-wishers for their contribution to make this day a reality!

Olymphysics

A brief post today. 

Following is my recent article on the importance of, mainly, Physics in Olympics and in general on any sports. It is originally taken from my blog post and was published in the Himal weekly (23rd Aug 2016 edition).

As always feel free to leave your comment or tweet @pythonomer . 

 

Solar Eclipse Observed from Nagarkot, Nepal!

Weather remained perfect for eclipse photography and public observation session though there were less number of people due to the warning of bad effect of watching solar eclipse by the astrologers in the country!!!

Photo 1: Event Banner for the Free Solar Eclipse Observation Program at Nagarkot Hill, Kahmandu, Nepal on March 9, 2016

Our team were working hard to make sure we observe the eclipse and create evidence for our observation: We had excellent public session with observers from different parts of  Nepal as well as abroad! Solar Eclipse glasses were provided for the visitors for safe observation and Personal Solar Telescope (PST) for telescopic observation.

Photo 2: Partial Phase of the Total Solar Eclipse as seen from Nagarkot Hill, Bhaktapur, Nepal on March 9, 2016

We used Canon 600 D for the photography session of the eclipse and several compact and mobile cameras to capture the moment of this wonderful time at the Hill of Nagarkot during 6:00 AM-8:00 AM.

Photo 3:Public Observation Session during the partial phase of Total Solar Eclipse at Nagarkot Hill, Bhaktapur, Nepal on March 9, 2016

For more updates and photographs of the event, please feel free to visit our facebook page: www.fb.com/NepalAstronomicalSociety

नवौं ग्रह: भ्रम कि वास्तविकता| Ninth Planet: Illusion or Reality!

Dr. Prajwal Kafle

***This blog was originally published at www.nagariknews.com on January 24, 2016 and republished here with due consent from the blogger, Dr. Prajwal Kafle.***

हामीले स्कुल हुँदा 'पृथ्वीसहित सौर्यमण्डलभित्र नौ ग्रह छन्' भनेर पढ्यौं। तर विश्वविद्यालयको अध्ययन सकिन लाग्दा ग्रहको संख्या घटेर आठ बन्यो। अहिले फेरि नौ ग्रहको चर्चा छ।

गत साता अमेरिकी खगोलशास्त्री मैक ब्राउन र कोन्स्तन्तिन व्यतिगिनले सौर्यमण्डलभित्र अर्को ग्रह भएको आधार प्रस्तुत गरेका छन्। उनीहरुले ग्रह भेटेर यस्तो दाबी गरेका होइनन्। उनीहरुको सैद्धान्तिकृत गरेका हुन् तर त्यो अहिलेसम्म वास्तिवक रुपमा पत्ता लागि सकेको भने होइन। यसको मतलब उनको दावीअाधारहीन पनि छैन। ब्राउनकाअनुसार नयाँ ग्रह पृथ्वीभन्दा झण्डै १० गुणा ठूलो हुनुपर्छ। बरुण (Neptune) भन्दा निकै पर भेटिएका केही दर्जन साना पिण्डहरु गति समान छ र उनीहरु सूर्य परिक्रममा गर्दा पनि उही गति र दुरीमा रहेर गर्छन्। जस्तो पृथ्वीलाई परिक्रममा गर्ने चन्द्रमा जुनसुकै स्थानमा पनि त्यसको गति र दूरी अन्य पिण्डहरुसँगका समान हुन्छ। त्यस्तो हुनुमा पृथ्वीको गुरुत्वाकर्षणले काम गरेको हुन्छ। याे ब्राउनको दावीको आधार हो।

दूरी समान हुनुको अर्थ कुनै एउटा विशाल ग्रह साथै हुनुपर्छ भन्ने हो। त्यो अदृश्य विशाल ग्रह नहुने हो भने ती साना पिण्डहरु एकनासको गतिमा हुन सम्भव हुदैन्थ्यो। भौतिकशास्त्रका सुत्रहरु प्रयोग गरेर यस्ता अनुमान (hypothesis) गर्नु र ती अनुमानपछि प्रमाणित हुनु सामान्य प्रक्रिया हो।

अन्य विषयको चर्चा गर्नुअघि त्यसअघि थोरै कुरा ग्रह हो की होइन भनेर कसरी छुट्टाइन्छ त्यसबारेको चर्चा गरौं। रोमन, हिन्दुको शास्त्रमै पनि केही ग्रहहरुको नाम परा पूर्वकालदेखि नै उल्लेख छन्। यताका केही दशक यता जसरी प्रविधि र विज्ञानको विकास हुँदै गयो सौर्यमण्डल र त्यस बाहिर अन्तरिक्षमा अनेकौ नयाँ आविस्कारहरु हुँदै गए, विभिन्न नयाँ बस्तुहरु भेटिदै आए। त्यसपछि त्यसलाई कसरी व्यवस्थित गर्ने भनेर कुरा उठ्न थाल्यो।

सन् २००३मा यम (प्लुटो) भन्दा ठुलो अर्को पिण्ड एरिस (Eris) पत्ता लाग्यो र त्यसपछि यो विषयमा अनेकौ नयाँ खोज तथा अनुसन्धान हुने देखियो। त्यसपछि मात्रै बल्ल कुरा उठ्यो, ग्रह केलाई भन्ने? कसले-कसरी नामकरण गर्ने? हामीले थाहा पाएअनुसार बुध(Mercury), शुक्र(Venus), पृथ्वी(Earth), मंगल(Mars), बृहस्पति(Jupiter), शनि(Saturn), अरुण(Uranus), वरुण(Neptune) र यम(Pluto) भन्दा अलावा पनि ५ बिशाल पिण्डहरु भेटिसकिएका छन्। सानातिना चट्टान त कति हुन कति। सबै फरक फरक नाप, तौल, रंग, प्रकारका भेटिन थालेपछि खगोलशास्त्रीको (astronomer/astrophysicist) छाता संगठन अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय खगोल युनियन International Astronomical Union (IAU)मा वर्गीकरण गर्नुपर्ने कुरो उठ्यो। सन् २००६ कमिटी बन्यो, भोट भयो र अन्तरिक्षमा भेटिएकाहरुको वर्गीकरण हुनथाल्यो। त्यही प्रस्तावअनुसार ग्रह, पुड्का (dwarf) ग्रह र साना पिण्ड भनेर वर्गीकरण गर्न थालियो। युनियनको त्यो प्रस्तावअनुसार ग्रह भनेको– सूर्यलाई केन्द्र मानेर घुम्नु पर्छ, यति बिशाल हुनुपर्छ कि आफ्नै गुरुत्वकार्षणले गोलाकार (वा अन्डाकार, किनभने ग्रह आफै फनफनी घुम्ने हुँदा भूमध्य भागमा भुड़े हुनसक्छ) भैसकेको हुनुपर्छ र उसका छेउ छाउमा सानातिना चट्टानहरु पनि हुनुसक्छ।

त्यहीव्याख्याभित्र नपरेपछि यम (प्लुटो) लाई 'घटुवा' गर्दियो। त्यसपछि सूर्यलाई घुम्ने ग्रहहरुको संख्या ८ मा झर्योट बरुणभन्दा पारतिरका यम, एरिससहित अरु तीन पीण्डलाई पुड्का ग्रह वा ट्रान्स-नेप्टुनियन भनिन थालियो। तर एक शताब्दी अघिसम्म जसले सक्छ उसैले त्यसको नामाकरण गर्दथ्यो। अन्तरिक्षमा जे नयाँ खोज्यो उसैको बाणी सर्वमान्य हुन्थ्यो। तर मैक ब्राउनले येल विश्वविद्यालयका अर्को खोगलशास्त्रीसँग मिलेर एरिस पत्ता लगाएका थिए। उनले येलका एक वैज्ञानिकसँग मिलेर बरुणभन्दा टाढा रहेको एरिस पत्ता लगाए थिए। त्यसपछि अनि ग्रह कस्तोलाई भन्ने बारेमा बहस शुरु भएको थियो ।

ब्राउनले नै हालै बरुण(Neptune) पर हामी भन्दा झन्डै हजार खर्ब किमी टाढा एउटा बिशाल ग्रह हुन सक्ने सैद्धांतिकअनुमान गरेका छन्। त्यही एरिसको कारण यम(प्लुटो)को घटुवाको 'करण' बन्यो। उनको नयाँ खोजले सर्वत्र ध्यान खिच्नुको अर्को कारण त्यो पनि हुनसक्छ, उनले यम (प्लुटो)को प्रतिस्थापन खोजिदिए जस्तो!

जस्तै कि केही समयअघि पत्ता लागेको हिड्स बोसन (Higgs boson) जसलाई गड पार्टिकल्स (god particle) पनि भनेर भनियो, त्यसको खोज ४० वर्षदेखि हुँदै थियो। अर्का सशक्त उदाहरण महान बैज्ञानिक अल्बर्ट आइन्टाइन आफै पनि हुन् जसले १०० वर्ष अघि गरेका विभिन्न अनुमानहरु विभिन्न समयमा प्रमाणित हुँदै गए। अर्कोतर्फ भौतिकशास्त्रमा आजको दिनमा सबैभन्दा अत्याधिक खोजिएको बस्तु डार्क म्याटर(dark matter) हो। जसको खोजमा हजारौ विश्वविद्यालयका लाखौं बैज्ञानिक डटेर लागि परेका छन्। त्यो नयाँ ग्रह भेट्न भने त्यति सजिलो हुने छैन। मुख्यत, हाम्रो र उसको दुरीले गर्दा उसलाई देख्नु भनेको मोटामोटी चन्द्रमामा राखेको पानसको बत्ति पृथ्वीबाट नाङ्गो आँखाले देखे जस्तो हो!

अन्त्यमा, मंगल ग्रहमा पानी भएको तथ्य, बृहस्पतिमा धेरै अघि बिशाल ग्रह खसेको कुरा जसरी निरन्तर परीक्षण र अनुशन्धान बाट पत्ता लागेको हो, यो नयाँ ग्रहको थप अनुशन्धान बाट अझै रहस्य उद्घाटन हुँदै जाला। जाँदा जाँदै के थप्न चाहन्छु भने नासा (NASA)को केप्लर (Kepler) दुरबिनले सुर्य बाहेकका अन्य ताराहरुमा पनि ग्रहहरु भेटी सकेका छन् र तिनमा पानी र पानी भएपछि कुनै प्रकारको जीव पनि हुनसक्ने संकेतहरु भेटिएका छन्। अरु धेरै यस्ता नयाँ खोजहरु अरु छन् । त्यसैले बिट मार्नुअघि प्रसिद्ध अमेरिकी खगोलशास्त्री कार्ल सागनको यो भनाइ अझै पनि उत्तिनै सान्दर्भिग लाग्छ: ब्रहमाण्डमा अझै पनि कतै केही आश्चर्यजनक विषय थाहा लाग्नका लागि बाँकी छ ।
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3rd National Call for Astronomy Olympiad Logo Competition 2015!

Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) is pleased to announce 3rd National Call Astronomy Olympiad Logo Competition 2015- Nepal today! With the success of our logo competition in 2013 and 2014 which provided hundreds of designers to share their creativity with us, we are looking forward to more creations this year from both science and non science background enthusiastic people. Interested amateur/professional designers can submit their logo/s to info.naso[at]gmail.com by 5:00 PM, Friday, September 25, 2015.

What is Astronomy Olympiad Logo Competition?

It is an annual competition run by NASO in order to provide national platform for creative designers and promote astronomy Olympiad program in Nepal. The best logo will be used as a logo as an official logo of the National Astronomy Olympiad- Nepal of the Olympiad year. For e.g. the best logo from 2013 logo competition was the official logo for first National Astronomy Olympiad 2014- Nepal.

Who can participate in the Competition?

Anyone who wants to share their creativity with us wish to get national and international exposure can submit their work following the rules and regulations provided by the organizer.

What are the rules and regulations of the competition?

Please carefully read and follow the bellow mentioned rules and regulations in order to submit your work for the competition.

• The logo must include the following themes: ASTRONOMY, EDUCATION & NEPAL and should reflect Third National Astronomy Olympiad 2016
• Maximum of three designs can be submitted by a person. Submitted designs must contain the original idea/creation of the designer. Logos must be created in full colour in JPG formats. The logo specification is width 600 pixels
• Each design must contain a description of no more than 200 words. Design without description will not be accepted for the competition
• The deadline for submission is 5:00 PM, Friday, September 25, 2015. Submission after the deadline will not be entertained.
• The submission must be done through email: info.naso[at]gmail.com
• The decision of the evaluation committee will be final. The copy-write of the selected logo will be of NASO only

 What are the benefits of participating in the competition?

• The best three logos will be awarded cash prize of NRs 5,000/-, NRs 1000/- and NRs 500/- respectively as well as certificates
• Winners will get global exposure which may be instrumental for their career development

Selected designers will be contacted via telephone, so please make sure you provide us your contact number/s while submitting your works to us.

Looking forward to welcome your creations! Lets share our ideas, lets share our creation to global astronomical community!

International Year of Light (IYL2015):Global Year Highlighting the Importance of Light!

Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) invites you to participate in #NameExoWorld Contest and Cosmic Light, two major International Astronomical Union (IAU) projects to celebrate International Year of Light 2015 (IYL2015).

What is NameExoWolds?

It is a global contest where everyone can participate to propose the name of the ExoWorlds. To propose the name, you need to register your organization, group, club, college, school, etc to IAU Directory (https://directory.iau.org/) before December 31, 2014! You can check all the details about the contest at its official site, for any confusion, please feel free to contact us at info.naso [at] gmail.com

Please read the press release by IAU regarding the IAU Directory and Contest:
http://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau1406/
http://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau1404/

What is Cosmos Light?

It is global celebration of importance of light. There will be several sub programmes as:

• Einstein Centenary
• Dark Skies Awareness
• Universe of Images
• Galileo-scope
• The Big Bang

You can find all the details at official website of IYL2015 (www.lightl2015.org) about Cosmic Light Programme. If you have any queries,you can write us at info.naso[at]gmail.com

What is International Year of Light 2015?

The International Year of Light 2015 recognizes the importance of raising global awareness of how light-based technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to global challenges in energy, education, agriculture, and health. Fore more details, www.light2015.org

What is IAU Office for Astronomy Outeach?

The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) is IAU's hub for coordinating its public outreach activities around the world. The aim is to build networks to support and disseminate information to the amateur astronomy and public outreach communities, and to ultimately make it easier for the public to access information about our Universe. For more details, http://www.iau.org/public/ 

Nepal Celebrates 80th Birth Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin- First Man in Space!

Russian Centre of Science and Culture Kathmandu (RCSC-Kathmandu), Nepal Academy of Science & Technology (NAST), B.P. Koirala Memorial Planetarium, Observatory and Science Museum Development Board, Nepal Physical Society, Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) and Nepal Science Olympiad are jointly organised a solemn meeting to mark the Cosmonautic Day (April 12) and the 80th Birth Anniversary of the first man in space-Yuri Gagarin at 3:30 PM -5:00 PM, April 9, 2014 at RCSC-Kathmandu.

Photo 1: Dr. Rishi Shah, Academician-Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and President-Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) delivering his experience on Yuri Gagrin's flight to space and the sensation brought to world.

Solar Observation & Photo Exhibition at Jyoti Kunj Secondary School Pokhara!

Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) in coordination with Pokhara Astronomical Society (PAS), western chapter, organized one day Astrophoto Exhibition and Solar Observation Session during the Science Exhibition at Jyoti Kunj Secondary School, Pokhara, Nepal. The school management has announced three day celebration of their 25th Anniversary with different programs during January 29-31, 2014.

Photo 1: Curious minds looking at the astrophotos and the telescopes during the science exhibition at Jyoti Kunj Secondary School, Pokhara, Kaski, Nepal on January 30, 2014.

Photo 2: Father explaining the astrophotos to his young son during Science Exhibition at Jyoti Kung Secondary School, Pokhara, Kaski, Nepal on January 30, 2014.

Photo 3: Suresh Bhattarai, co-founder and secretary of Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) with volunteers during the Science Exhibition at Jyoti Kunj Secondary School, Pokhara, Kaski, Nepal on January 30, 2014.

Photo 4: Coverage of the event on Adarsa Samaaj, National Nepali Daily, published from Pokhara on January 31, 2014.

Photo 5: Curious students waiting for the observation of Sun and its spots through Personal Solar Telescope (PST) during the Observation Session at Jyoti Kunj Secondary School, Pokhara, Kaski, Nepal on January 30, 2014.

We would like to thank Volunteers: Jyoti Sharma, Kabita Ghimire, Suresh Baral and Surendra Adhikari for their precious time and dedication.

If you are willing to organize such events at your place, please feel free to contact us. To know more about our regular as well as special programs, we recommend you to follow us here and our facebook page and twitter page

Photo 6: Happiness after the reaction of a child when she managed to see the Sun and the spots during the solar observation session at Jyoti Kunj Secondary School, Pokhara, Kaski, Nepal on January 30, 2014 organized to celebrate 25th Anniversary of the school.

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We're looking forward to reach more people with our exciting events enrishing the knowledge of young minds of Nepal!

Wish You All Happy New Year 2014 !

We would like to thank all our readers and supporters in Nepal and abroad for their support, comments and feedback during last year.We wish to have more support, comment and constructive feedback during 2014 enabling us to implement some of our flagship programs on Astronomy & Space Science in Nepal!

Lets work for the another progressing year for astronomy and space science outreach, education and research in Nepal! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!

Application for National Astronomy Olympiad 2014 is open now!

The National Astronomy Olympiad Programme is designed by Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) and ESPRO Foundation to encourage Nepalese students with good foundations in Physics and Mathematics and an interest in Astronomy to pursue further studies in this field. It involves a four stages process leading to participation of Nepalese team in the International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA). This year the IOAA is going to be held in Suceava, Romania, 1-10 August, 2014.

For detail information about NAO2014, please visit official website of NAO2014: www.nationalolympiad.org

!!!Exam Centers  and Dates of NAO2014 will be announced later!!!

RCSC Kathmandu Honors NASO for it contribution during 2013!

Russian Center of Science & Culture (RCSC) in Kathmandu honored Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) for its continution support to scientific activities of RCSC in Nepal during a grand ceremony of falicitaion program organized in Kathmandu.

Photo: Dr. Rishi Shah, president of Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) and with Stanislav Simakov, Director of Russian Center of Science and Culture (RCSC) on December 27, 2013

With this appreciation, we are looking forward to more collaborative works with RCSC in 2014 engaging Nepalese Students and Professionals for outreach, education and research on Astronomy and Space Science in Nepal.

NASO and DAS organizes "Lets talk about Space Science" in Mid-Western Region of Nepal!

Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) and newly formed Dang Astronomical Society (DAS) for successful organization of one day interaction programme on " Lets Talk About Space Science" at Sidhartha Adacemy, Dang for students of class 11 and 12 at Siddhartha Academy, Ghorahi-11, Dang, Nepal. 

Photo: Group photo of the participants of the one day interaction programme " Lets Talk about Space Science" at Siddhartha Academy, Ghorahi-11, Dang, Nepal.

DAS will be looking for the NASO activities in Mid-Western Regionin coming days! We are entrilled with your enthusiasm and looking forward to have more programmes in your region in coming days.

Congratulations guys for the successful event!

Wish you all the best for your work to promote astronomy and space science acivities in Mid-Western Region of Nepal!

Solar Observation Programme at Lumbini Nepal, The Birthpace of Lord Buddha!

On October 24, Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) organized a Solar Observation Programme at Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, which is one of the World Heritage Sites in Nepal.

Photo 1: Mr. Devraj Sapkota, president of Damak Astronomy Club: Eastern Wing of Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) helping a girl to realise the beauty of the sun. The girl seems very happy which can be realsed with ther smile and pinted finger to the sky :)

During the programmes, more than 1,000 observered the Sun and the two spots on it through Solar Glasses donated by Central Maine Astronomical Society to Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO). The Observers were monks, prients, incharge of monastries, guards and the visiters to the park from different parts of Nepal and abroad.

Photo 2: Students on educational excurtion to Lumbini thrilled by the beauty of the sun with its two spot. Though their teacher refused to have their students look through the glasses, as soon as student realise the spot on the sun, their crowd coverd Mr. Prabodh  Rijal, President of ESPRO Foundation with their queries and another chance to look at the sun again :)

Photo 3:  Mr. Kishor Acharya, Programme Coordinator at NASO, guiding one of the participants of the programme to realise the spots! You can see the participant's face with full of enquiry!

Photo 4: Priests doing thei relugar jobs at Lumbini park remained thrilled when they saw ther God! When they realise the sun and the spots they workshiped with wholeheartely!

Photo 5: NASO outreach team at Lumbini (from left): Kishor Acharya-programme coordinator, Manisha Dwa-project coordinator, Prabodh Rijal-president of ESPRO Foundation, Sujan Regmi-Vice-president of Pokhara Astronomical Society(PAS): western wing of NASO, Suresh Bhattarai-founder secretary, Devraj Sapkota-President of DAC and Mahesh Thakuri-Vice president of PAS.

With the overwhelming participation of the public and requests from the concern departments at the Lumbini Park, we plan to visit them with more programme in the year 2014!

Thanks a lot for all people who helped us to make this programmea great success.

We are gearing up for one of the most exciting astronomical programme in Lumbini in 2014!

Astronomy with Orphans in Pokhara

Pokhara Astronomical Society (PAS) successfully conducted the first astronomy outreach program at Annapurna self Sustaining Orphan Homes, Batulechour, Pokhara which is a self sustaining Orphan Homes. The program was attended by fifty orphans who looked at the Moon and its surface, Jupiter and its satellites for the first time. The program was conducted with the help of 3.5 inch Meade Telescope from 5:30 pm to till 7:00 pm. Suman Gautam, president-PAS, delivered his talk about the technique of Night sky Observation while Mahesh Thakuri, Vice- president-PAS,  delivered his talk on Solar System. Astro quiz was also organized as a part of outreach and the winner team was awarded with astro-photos.  

Pokhara Astronomical Society (PAS) is a sister organization of Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) which promotes astronomy and space science outreach in Western Nepal.