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Indira Gandhi Planetarium, Lucknow is conducting a special Night Sky Observation Programme for Scouts and Guides from India and abroad during the 19th National Jamboree, organized by The Bharat Scouts and Guides. Through their high-capacity telescopes set up at the camp, participants are experiencing an extraordinary view of the night sky.
This year’s Jamboree is hosting nearly 35,000 participants, who are experiencing the true spirit of Scouting service, discipline, courage, unity, and skill through various activities in the camp. Under the sky-watch programme, Scouts, Guides, Rovers, Rangers, officers, and supporting staff observed the rings of Saturn, planet Jupiter along with its Galilean moons, and the surface of our beloved Moon through telescopes.
The programme is being conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Amateur Astronomers Club, led by Mr. Anurag Awasthi and Mr. Swapnil Rastogi. Using the large telescopes installed by the Planetarium, the participants observed remarkable celestial objects such as the Moon, Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, and the phases of Venus. Children displayed immense excitement and curiosity while viewing these celestial bodies for the very first time. Members of the Uttar Pradesh Amateur Astronomers Club including Anurag, Kavya, Vanshika, Aradhana, Rahil, Garima, Komal, Aditya Anas, Deepshikha, Akshat Pal and Ansh are also training their junior members to manage astronomy outreach events for the general public. The club’s experts are brief¬ing the participant scouts & guides on the structure and key features of various planets. Indira Gandhi Planetarium has deputed Mr. Dinesh Joshi and Mr. Sandeep Yadav for effective coordination of the events.
There was exceptional curiosity among all Scouts and Guides regarding the Moon, as many were seeing its surface so closely for the very first time. Observing the Moon through a telescope is a mesmerizing experience, revealing features invisible to the naked eye. Participants could clearly see thousands of impact craters formed by meteorite collisions, major ones being Tycho, Copernicus, Clavius, and Plato. They also observed mountain ranges casting long shadows near the terminator (the line dividing lunar day and night). The dark patches visible to the naked eye appeared as vast lava plains, known as lunar maria.
All activities are being conducted under the guidance of Dr. Rajesh Kumar Gangwar, Joint Director / Planetariums & Science park division In-charge, and Dr. Sumit Kumar Shrivastava, Scientific officer & mentor of UPAAC. Dr. Gangwar stated that all programmes of the Planetarium are completely free of cost. The Planetarium regularly organizes events for the public such as solar observation, night sky watchings, eclipses, planetary transits, meteor showers and astrophotography workshops. All & every details of upcoming activities are available on the Council’s website: www.cst.up.gov.in. This astronomy programme at the Jamboree is being organized daily from 23 to 29 November 2025 in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi Planetarium and the Uttar Pradesh Amateur Astronomers Club.
