One of the most important programmes of the Bangalore Astronomical Society is the Outreach Programme. One of the missions of the Bangalore Astronomical Society is to take astronomy to more and more people, especially to school students and residents of remote villages. The outreach programme aims at this. Through such programmes, BAS encourages people to enjoy amateur astronomy, and at the same time aims to create understanding of astronomy as a science and dispel various myths. The outreach programme is carried out at various levels:
These are for the general public and bystanders. Such events are held at select locations in the city without much publicity. The motive is to educate the passers-by about astronomical equipment and celestial objects. However, the city's skies being light polluted and the appreciation potential of the audience graded, such sessions mostly focus on the Moon or the planets, and rarely quite a few other bright objects.The photo on the right shows BAS's outreach event at Forum Mall, to mark the International Astronomy Day (Click for larger version).
The society also organises observing sessions, lectures and seminars at the request of various other organisations. The society ties up with other organisations interested in promoting science and helps them in organising sky-watch events and seminars. The members usually supply the equipment required for such programmes. In the past, the Bangalore Astronomical Society tied up with BEL Udyogigala Vignana Vedike and held a sky-watching event for more than 600 people. (Photo on the right. Click for larger version)
Organisations interested in holding similar such events can contact the society using the Contact Form.
These are sessions conducted at schools - rural and urban, to inspire and educate school students about astronomy. Higher grade school students are also introduced to astrophysics. Usually, a session at a school consists of a small talk introducing the night sky followed by observing through the telescope. The talk is usually aimed at briefing the students about the following observing session.
The society also plans to take up astronomy and related projects at the university level.
These are variants of the sidewalk-astronomy sessions but that these will be conducted in the rural areas. The motive again is to approach and educate the locals into sky observations genre of astronomy.