One of the main challenges in star gazing is Light pollution. Aas the location becomes famous, the balance with light is the fight and there is no light pollution policy or guideline in India. There are community policies for animal conservation or forest conservation. Similarly, StarGazing India have also filed their policy on light pollution and submitted it to the Government of Uttarakhand.
While the market is growing and there is a boom, there are a lot of players coming in but there is no standardisation on what facts can be spoken. There is a difference between fact and fiction. Also, if someone is following nonstandard practices, it becomes a run to the cost.
Starscapes, have curated astro tourism offerings in an organised fashion and bringing in standard practices. The team has the credentials to ensure that they are sharing the right information with their customers. The Astro Tourism space still needs a lot of support. The market is still small/niche and it needs funds, and interest from investors. Otherwise, this is a great sector, it has a social angle as well, it will save earth from light pollution but it would need more support.
They periodically organize public events like: Road-Side Astronomy, Workshops for school students, Rocket making workshops, Day-Time Astronomy workshops, Solar/Lunar Eclipse observation (if any), Meteor Shower observation, Public StarGazing, Sky Safari, Moon Month and much more.
We all know how everyone was keeping an eye on Chandrayaan-3 as well as Aditya L-1 Mission, those are the fresh footprints of how many astronomy enthusiasts we have in India. Social media is also playing a crucial role in this, you may have noticed many astronomy related reels or videos are being in top trending videos.
Tourism boards as well as local government bodies have started recognising the potential of astro-tourism for attracting visitors. Promotional activities for the inclusion of astro-tourism should be made, which can be a great tourism initiative contributing to its growth.
The formation of online and offline communities of astronomy enthusiasts are fostering a sense of belonging and encourages shared experiences. Social media platforms (like WhatsApp, Instagram) and dedicated forums (like X, YouTube) are allowing individuals to connect with people of the same interest people to science communicators or scientists.
After the Himalayan sky, Rann of Kutch is considered as one of the best locations for stargazing. Unlike Himalayan weather, Kutch has a mostly clear and sharp sky, second plus point of Kutch is, it has a 360-degree clear and open horizon.
Stargazing activity is joyful for all the age group, Elderly people relive their memories of childhood when they used to sleep under such dark sky. Youngster recall the stories told by their grandfather/grandmother and kids are being fascinated by getting to know about astronomy and our universe.
Read the full story that first appeared in Zee Zest here:
