Being Global: The World at Your Front

This year the Global Astronomy Month Celebration in Nepal is going to mark a history!!! How would you feel if you were in front of someone who has been to space 5 times and you could ask all your queries to him face-to-face? Excited!! Then we have more for you now :-) I'm pleased to inform you that Russian Cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov who had been to space for 5 times will be visiting Nepal this April 2013 for the third time!!! On this occasion, Russian Center of Science and Culture, Kathmandu is organizing  a program on April 11, 2013 at 3:30 PM to  mark 'International Day of Cosmonautics' and '50th Anniversary of the first woman space mission by Valentina Tereshkova' where the participants of the program will have an opportunity to interact with him.   Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) in association with Russian Center for Science and Culture is providing a unique opportunity for 80 applica...

Hello readers,  I am back now from my 10 days trip to Italy and jet lagged from the trip. This was my first time to participate in the International Astronautical Congress ( IAC) which I could not attend last year! I was in Cape Town, South Africa, to attend Space Generation Congress in September 2011. This year though I was not a delegate to Space Generation Congress ( SGC) I managed to attend the Gala Dinner which was organised on September 29, 2012 to meet some of my great friends who were not staying for the IAC next week!! For this I had to  miss another Gala Dinner organised by UN/IAF Workshop where I missed to interact with my new friends! It's always a matter of time and you don't get sweets in your both hand ;) My participation to this great gathering was possible as I was invited by UNOOSA to attend UN/IAF Workshop 2012 during September 28-30, 2012. This workshop remained very fruitful to network with new people with our ideas and share ou...

I would like to wish all my valued reader a Happy Blue Moon tonight. A blue moon can refer to the third full moon in a season with four full moons. Most years have twelve full moons that occur approximately monthly. In addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains roughly eleven days more than the lunar year of 12 lunations. The extra days accumulate, so every two or three years (7 times in the 19-year Metonic cycle), there is an extra full moon. Lunisolar calendars have rules about when to insert such an intercalary or embolismic ("leap") month, and what name it is given; e.g. in the Hebrew calendarthe month Adar is duplicated. The term "blue moon" comes from folklore. Different traditions and conventions place the extra "blue" full moon at different times in the year. In the Hindu calendar, this extra month is called 'Adhik (extra) masa (month)'. It is also known as purushottam maas, so as to give it a devotion...

Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) in association with Nepal Academy of Science & Technology (NAST), Russian Center of Science & Culture ( RCSC), Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Group Nepal ( ACRG-Nepal) -Tribhuvan University ( TU) and ESPRO Foundation organized three days Astronomy Festival with different programs in Nepal during June 4-6 , 2012 to celebrate the last Transit of Venus of Twenty-first Century. The next Transit of Venus will occur after 105 years in December 2117. To provide more opportunity for Nepalese to witness this rare celestial event in different regions of Nepal, NASO extended its supports to Pokhara Astronomical Society (PAS) in Kaski, Damak Astronomy Club in Jhapa and Nepal Astronomy and Space Science Association (NASSA) in Chitwan. GTTP Session: A half day workshop was organized on June 4, 2012 from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm as a special session on Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP)-Nepal. This special session of AstroFest on ToV2012-Nepa...

On Wednesday, July 4, 2012, I had an opportunity to interact with the students of Central Higher Secondary School for The Deaf, Naxal, Kathmandu,Nepal. This opportunity was provided by B.A.G. Brothers Handicraft Center, Kathmandu, Nepal. The Center had planned to donate the scientific equipments it has been producing and marketing in Nepal since 2009. The Center donated scientific equipments of worth ~50,000 NRs to the school during the donation program. Mr. Bijay Shahi donating the equipment to Mr. Narayan Bhakta Shrestha, Principal of the school.    Mr. Bijay Shahi, who makes the astronomical modules, demonstrated the instruments to the students. During the program, Mr. Shahi explained that they planned to donate those sets to at least one school per year to motivate students to do science with our own materials. He also expressed that the center will gradually make its product more scientific with its accuracy with the support of Nepal Astronomical Soc...

South East Asian Young Astronomer Collaboration ( SEAYC) has announced it's first meeting that will be held in Philipines during November 5-9, 2012.  The aim of the SEAYAC Meeting is to gather young astronomers (undergraduate, graduate and early post-docs) who are conducting research in astronomy and to provide a venue where they can present their work. To get more updates of the meeting, please feel free to visit the SEAYC webpage:  http://seayac.org/ You can get all the travel information from the official website of Consulate General of Republic of Philippines in Nepal:  http://www.voith.com.np/philcongen/ Southeast Asian Young Astronomers Collaboration or SEAYAC is a group for young astronomer in South East Asian Region. The main objective of SEAYAC is to encourage interaction and collaborations between young astronomers from all Southeast Asian nations.  Being a relatively new field in Southeast Asia, it is important that young astronome...