Shaw-IAU Workshops by the OAE

We always had the 5-day or 10-day workshops on astronomy starting 2 days after new moon. Therefore observing the phases was easy. However, the same idea was used for noting the moon rise and set timings. Later this idea was extended to all through the year - many interesting ideas came forward for discussion. We would meet once a month for understanding the relative motions of the sun (earth) and moon using these tables of moonrise and set (sunrise and set also).This can be introduced as a special activity in regular curriculum.

Biography:

Dr B S Shylaja is a visiting scientist at the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, where she held various positions before retiring as the Director. She introduced various methods of teaching for age groups 8 to 20+. The planetarium projector itself served as the tool for practical sessions; senior students were taken to the nearby observatory to use 1m telescope. As a professional observational astronomer she studied the WR stars, novae, magnetic stars and comets.