Ahmedabad to host three-day Astronomy Festival from Apr 15

Ahmedabad: To spread awareness among the masses about the outer space, planets and stars, a city-based group has announced to hold an Astronomy Festival near here between April 15 and 17.

According to amateur astronomer and president of the Astronomy Group of Ahmedabad, Dhananjay Raval, this is for the first time when such a festival is being organised here.

The three-day event will be organised at Suryam Repose, located near Thol Bird Sanctuary, around 30 kms from the city.

"The festival is aimed at answering the curiosity of people about how universe works. Apart from sky watching using high-tech telescopes, eminent guests, including ISRO scientists, will deliver their lectures on various astronomical subjects," Raval told reporters here.

Speakers include ISRO scientists Dr C M Nagarani, Dr Ramesh Pandya and Dr Narendra Bhandari.

Other activities include screening of films using make-shift dome planetarium, model making, astro-photography, etc.

"Our group have been organising such festivals across Gujarat. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed the sky-watching through our telescopes at Rann Utsav in Kutch. We expect that more than 600 citizens and children will turn up for this three-day event," added Raval.