Jugaad reaches stars: A homemade observatory

AHMEDABAD: Kuldeep Vora, 25, has an MTech degree and is an amateur astronomer. However, the bright lights of the city and the menace of monkeys in his locality, Bapunagar, were making it difficult for him to pursue his hobby of stargazing. Showing unusual ability for improvisation, Kuldeep, with some help from his father, built an 'observatory' on his terrace so that he could observe planets, stars and galaxies unhindered.
When Kuldeep told his father, Narendra, an instructor at ITI Viramgam, about his idea of having an observatory right there on their terrace, the latter did not laugh him off. They had no prior experience of making something of this kind but they took it up as a viable project and, in just two months, built an observatory with a dome 9.25-ft in diameter and 15-ft in height.
"I checked online for specialists who could help us in the project but they were too expensive. Moreover, they worked with material such as steel. My father suggested that we use reinforced fiber which is light but sturdy and we began our project. We designed the entire dome and placed orders with custom specifications. We were lucky that we found many required materials at nearby industrial units. We modified these according to our need," said Kuldeep who is in Delhi for a workshop on astro-photography.
Dhananjay Rawal, a science educator and Kuldeep's mentor, said that the observatory is a marvel if for nothing else than for its display of what you can achieve with some common sense.
"For example, take its red dot finder which is used for keeping a telescope pointed at a certain section of the sky. If purchased separately, it can cost around Rs 4,000 but the father-son duo ingeniously designed it using China-made laser and had it ready for less than Rs 500. The same can be said about its rotation system. For this, Kuldeep and his father used batteries that are used in two-wheelers. Such projects show that science can be made affordable with some 'jugaad' which is India's greatest strength," Rawal said.
Narendra Vora said that as the telescoped had fuelled Kuldeep's interest in astronomy, they are now inviting nearby children to introduce them to the beauty of the night sky.