SPACE would celebrate Autumn Equinox on 23rd September 2011 at Jantar Mantar. SPACE has flagged-off a unique international citizen science project – “Project Paridhi – Measure the Earth Again”.

Starting on 23rd September on the Autumnal Equinox Day, Project ‘Paridhi’ initially will span across all the Asian countries in this Equinox. There will be a participation from India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Russia. The observation base will be extended to the whole globe by Winter Solstice in December 2011. This project is a showcase for proving that science can be best learnt by doing. On this day, SPACE has invited school students to witness the Autumn Equinox as it is one of the best occasions for all of us to celebrate this wonderful phenomenon using the ancient instruments at Jantar Mantar.

SPACE has been bringing opportunities such as astronomical events, scientific programs and competitions throughout the year to SPACE club students, to give them more opportunities to be at the forefront of Astronomy. Following this trend, SPACE has a line-up of activities planned at the historic Jantar Mantar on Solstice Day.

About Autumn Equinox

September 23rd, marks the beginning of Autumn in the northern hemisphere. The name “equinox” is derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night), because around the equinox, the night and day are approximately equally long. An equinox happens twice each year, when there is a location on the Earth’s Equator where the centre of the Sun can be observed to be vertically overhead, occurring approximately around March 20/21 (Vernal) and September 22/23 (Autumnal) each year. This time the Autumnal equinox is on Sept. 23rd, 2010 at Sept. 23rd, 2011 at 09:04 AM UT (14:34IST). On 23rd September, the day and the night are equal. This natural phenomenon provides a very good and unique opportunity for young kids to perform some experiments and find out facts like Measuring Sun Angle and Measuring the Circumference of Earth and Coordinates of Jantar Mantar.

‘Paridhi’ at Jantar Mantar

Project Paridhi is an International Citizen Science Project to measure the size of the earth with shadows measurements. Circumference in the language Hindi is known as ‘Paridhi’. Under this project students will replicate and in fact take actual measurements of the shadows made by sun to gather the size of earth and its shape as done 2300 years back by astronomer Eratosthenes. This project involves reading of shadows at local noon by pair of teams on the same longitude on the globe. Eg cities like New Delhi, Bangalore and Alma-ta in Kazakhstan fall almost within one degree of longitude. The readings taken at the same time from these cities will help to reach an approximate value of the size and shape of the earth.

SPACE volunteers and Educators will be present at Jantar Mantar with school children from different schools for various public outreach activities. The schools coming to participate in this experiment will get the maximum benefit of learning science, geography, history, mathematics and of course astronomy simultaneously at the same platform. The volunteers will be there at the event from 9:30 am till 2:00pm at Jantar Mantar.

For further information: Contact Aakanksha Sinha/ Apoorva Malhotra at 9212669920/53 or mail us at pr@space-india.net. You may also log on to http://www.space-india.org/paridhi

Notes to Editor

SPACE is a young and dynamic organisation providing services and products in the area of astronomy and space sciences to schools, colleges, educational and other institutes, NGOs, corporations, rural markets, clubs, hotels, and individuals. It is an ISO 9001:2000 certified company, came into being in 2006. It is also a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s premier business association. It is part of SPACE Group of Companies, working towards Science Popularisation since 2001.

The trademark of SPACE is innovation, passion and total commitment to our vision of spreading the knowledge of astronomy and space sciences in the masses. Every project in SPACE is an opportunity for us to communicate our belief in developing scientific temperament in people, especially children, to create an intelligent and analytic global community. Services and products offered in each project are geared towards making learning hands-on, practical and relevant to everyday life. These are further customised to the targeted audience’s demographic to make learning comprehendible, exciting and plain fun.

* SPACE
Aakanksha Sinha
PR Executive
Email, (M) 9212669920 / 0313859470
Apoorva Malhotra
PR Executive
Email, (M) 9212669953, 9899188994