Students warm to the stars

Students warm to the stars

I Wayan Juniartha, Denpasar, Bali

Hariningsih closed her right eye and focused the left one on the
eyepiece of the Meade star telescope.

Her friend watched attentively while the 17-year-old high
school student tried to get a better look at the Sun. The
telescope was equipped with a special filter for viewing the Sun.

A few second later she gasped in amazement.

"Wow, now I know what the Sun looks like. It is definitely
more than just a disc with blinding lights," she said with a grin
on her face.

Her friends took turns observing the Sun through the
telescope, sharing their newly acquired knowledge and, most
importantly, curiosity and wonder over the celestial object,
whose existence they had taken for granted before this.

A few meters from Hariningsih's small group another group of
high school students was sitting before a sundial, listening to a
young instructor carefully explain how the shadows on the sundial
determined compass directions, particularly north and south.

"Magnet-based direction-finding instruments such as compasses
usually produce a slightly deviated result due to the influence
of the earth's magnetic field. A sundial is not affected by the
magnetic field and can yield better, more accurate results," the
instructor said.

Nearby, another group examined a pinhole camera, a simple and
easy-to-construct device that can be used to measure the width of
the Sun's shadow.

The students were among 70 participants of an amateur
astronomy workshop held on Thursday at SMU 1 high school in
Denpasar. They came from schools across Bali. The workshop was
organized in conjunction with the ninth Asia-Pacific Regional
Meeting of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) from July
26 through July 29 in Nusa Dua.

The workshop involved 15 instructors from Planetarium Jakarta,
the Astronomy Students Association of the Bandung Institute of
Technology and the Association of Jakarta Amateur Astronomers.

"We want to introduce them to the field of astronomy, to spark
an interest in the subject, which, honestly speaking, is less
popular than, say, economics. Hopefully, some of them will end up
pursuing a career in astronomy," instructor Widya Sawitar said.

The workshop included classroom presentations and field
training.

"We are trying to present all of the topics in the most
pleasing and appealing way," he said.

For example, the instructors engaged the students in a relaxed
discussion on the 12 zodiac constellations, the source of the
popular astrology columns in newspapers and magazines, before
guiding them through the astronomical and scientific data of the
zodiac.

"An interest in astronomy could lead the students into various
rewarding fields, from astrophotography to research on jet
propulsion and interstellar flight," Sawitar said.

For the students, it was an eye-opening event that filled them
with knowledge and amazement. Some, like Hariningsih, who goes to
high school in the eastern corner of the island, are even
considering studying astronomy at university.

"It turns out to be a very engaging subject. Previously, I did
not even know that there was an astronomy department at the
university," she said.

(Note: People should never look directly at the Sun without
taking special precautions, whether or not they use a telescope
or binoculars. The light is so intense it can seriously damage
the eyes, even causing blindness. If using an optical instrument
like a telescope, the advice of an experienced user should be
sought beforehand.)

Caption foto telescope:
-Hariningsih peers at an image of the sun through the eyepiece of
a Meade star telescope.