From 400-year-old Kepler copy to AI: What Indian Institute of Astrophysics highlighted on its Open Day

One of these many entrepreneurs was clear-skies.club, a digital marketplace with an AI storefront that organises equipment needed by astronomers and photographers according to their requirements, also featuring an observation planner for celestial bodies – accounting for various factors like weather, cloud cover, etc., to highlight good days for astro-photography, amongst a host of other features.

Another draw at the event was a selection of exhibits from the IIA’s archives, some of them dating back hundreds of years. One of the most historically significant items was an original copy of Johannes Kepler’s Astronomia nova, published in 1609. Other astronomical instruments from the 1800s were also present – such as a “transit circle” designed by Sir George Airy (which would help locate the position of a star) and a theodolite, an optical instrument with major applications in surveying.

Several talks were held in Kannada and English, with topics ranging from the solar system to stellar merging. Alongside demonstrations of several physics concepts by experimental means, the event also showcased ancient Indian astronomical techniques and recreations of those instruments.