Astronomy Fest to display dinosaur eggs, bones, meteor stones

The second edition of the three-day Astronomy Fest will be organised here with new attractions including display of dinosaur eggs and bones, stones and dust particles from meteors, besides talks by experts.
The event being organised by Astronomy Group of Ahmedabad, a city-based club, aims at spreading awareness about astronomy among school-going students and expose them to the wonders of universe, the organisers said.
"With the first fest--organised last year--receiving huge success, we have decided to add new features to the second edition," said president of Astronomy Group of Ahmedabad, Dhananjay Raval.
Other than display of dinosaur eggs and dinosaur bones, meteor stones and dust particles (all these articles are currently in possession of Physical Research Laboratory)--the event will also see talks by experts from city-based Physical Research laboratory and Space Research Centre of ISRO, Raval said.

"There will also be a meet-the-scientist event, where two scientists will be available to reply queries of students related to universe and astronomy. We will also have an expert talk on exoplanet," said Raval.
Screening of films using make-shift dome planetarium, and rocket making workshop are other attractions, he said.

PRL scientist Narendra Bhandari said that asteroid stones to be displayed at the event are those collected from Surendranagar district in the state in 1976.
"This will be one of the main attractions of the fest. The stones were collected by a team of scientists from PRL, ISRO and others after a meteor shower that took place on January 20 1976. They are currently in possession of PRL," he said.

The event will be held between April 21 and 23 at Suryam Repose garden near Thol Bird Sanctuary, around 30 kms from the city.