Oakridge International School Hosts Two-Day Sky Gazing Program

Admiring the evening sky is a gateway to lifelong astronomy education. Oakridge International School, Visakhapatam organized a 2-day star gazing session for its students from grade 4 to 9 on 3rd and 4th of November at its campus. Around 172 students were part of this session with Genex Space where they observed celestial objects like Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, different faces of the moon, and various stars.

This programme provided hands-on and practical education for students about Hands-on Telescope Assembling, Calibrating the Telescope, Identification & Location of The Celestial Bodies in The Sky. The main objective of the programme was to introduce students to the universe and help them define their dream.

Ms. Shaila Bhamidipati, Principal Oakridge International School, Visakhapatnam said,” These days, for children and adults, sky blindness is common. Sure, we can download one of those stargazing apps and point our smartphones at the sky to see what’s up there. But somehow that’s, well, not the same experience.”

“Events like sky gazing far away from city lights  provided a sense of fascination to students about space through the learning about Astronomy, celestial objects, telescopes, and sky observation,” she added.

“Wandering into night skies and observing stars was my favorite pastime. Today when I assembled the telescope and observed the most amazing view of Jupiter it felt like a dream come true. The instructors were excellent and proficient. They did their best to ensure that we got a variety of information and viewing of Star Constellations, galaxies etc.” said Geetika, a grade 6 student.

“Apart from observing Jupiter, it was fascinating to look at various faces of the moon. Though I never happened to be a night sky lover this sky gazing event has changed my perspective and I would love to be a part of such sessions in the future.” added Tanusri, a grade 4 student.