On August 27, 2005, as part of Goa Sudharop sponsored youth activities in the'YEAR OF THE CHILD", several future Goan Carl Sagans (of TV series "Cosmos" fame) and their families explored the exciting world of astronomy on Sat. August 27 at the Chabot Space and Science Center in the Oakland hills of California.
Comments from our Goan kids were I enjoyed this!, The show (Search for Life movie) was good, I liked it very much. Parents all raved about our Goan science teacher, Cora da Costa Pereira, who gave a stimulating and interactive talk to the youngsters about careers in science. Fabulous show - thanks for telling us about it was one mothers comment. Another Dad said, Very educational and an opportunity to expose our children in other fields of science. Cora was excellent and her presentation was very powerful, interactive, and educational. Our group went through the science and space exhibits, and we participated in science experiments that demonstrated gravity and the various compositions and densities of the sun and planets, saw a Mars exhibit, a moon exhibit with a chance to sit inside a moon space shuttle, and various kinds of old and new telescopes including Einsteins telescope. At 8:30 p.m. we went up to the Chabot Observatory and looked at the night sky through the various telescopes. There were Chabot astronomers on hand to explain how the telescopes worked and what we were viewing. We saw the Ring Nebula, Jupiter, the Andromeda galaxy, the star Alcaid, and many other heavenly objects. We viewed the night sky through the marvelous Nellie, a 36-inch telescope that measured 93 inches long and weighed 12,000 pounds, donated to Chabot by an Oakland family. Of particular interest was an 8-inch, computerized Schmidt-Cassegrain German Telescope like the one that Goa Sudharop is raising funds for, in response to an appeal from Percival Noronhas the Friends of Astronomy youth astronomy education program in Goa. Some of us were fortunate in seeing an astronomer use the telescopes computer to align the telescope and then find the particular star or planet that we were going to view. Again, Goa Sudharop appeals to our supporters and lovers of Goa to help thousands of youth and public in Goa have this kind of equipment to learn about the universe and become future scientists and astronomers. Please send your donation of $20, $40 or more to help purchase a $6000 telescope for the Friends of Astronomy youth astronomy education program in Goa to: Goa Sudharop, 67 Kingston Road, Kensington, California, USA, 94707. Remember, 150 donors giving $40 each would buy this telescope! Donations by US residents are tax-deductible in the USA. Goa Sudharop will organize future educational trips for our youth and families, so send us your suggestions and ideas. Sincerely, Goa Sudharop
