KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 (NNN-Bernama) — A science teacher from the Malaysian primary school of Sek Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) Jugra, Kuala Langat has been announced as one of the winners of the Telescope for All 2021 project from 12 telescopes provided through the International Astronomical Union (IAU) global outreach project.
The National Planetarium, in a statement here Monday, said Vadivelan Sinnasamy was chosen as one of the recipients of the Bresser 90/1200 refractor telescope through the project held virtually from May 3 to May 24 in Malaysia.
It said Vadivelan Sinnasamy drew international attention through his many essays in which he stated that he wanted to “open up opportunities for the underserved community to own a telescope to attract students to astronomy and to study the stars and space objects.”
“The telescope to be received by Vadivelan, donated by Bresser, is equipped with a digital camera, eyepiece, and solar foil. He can record the observed images using a digital camera and share them with the community online throughout the period of the pandemic.
“The telescope can also be used to observe the moon, the major planets, and its satellites in the solar system,” said the statement.
The telescope can also detect bright space nebula (Mesier Object) such as Orion Nebula, globular clusters, and binary stars, it added.
Telescope for All 2021 project was launched simultaneously worldwide under the leadership of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO) in collaboration with Stars Shine for Everyone (SSVI), Leiden University/Universe Awareness (UNAWE), National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and BRESSER.
This programme aims to cultivate and expand the interest of Malaysians in the field of space science while promoting equal opportunities to pursue a career in the field of space science and a total of 172 entries were received and out of that number, only 38 entries were shortlisted for international judging.
The criteria for the participating proposal must contain high creativity, effective impact on the community, the selected community (underserved community), and must have sustainability for the continuity of the project.
Malaysia was one of the 12 countries shortlisted for the best Telescope for All 2021 programme proposals.
For more information, the public can visit https://www.iau.org/public/telescopecollaboration/ or the official Facebook page of the National Planetarium.
— NNN-BERNAMA