An observatory built with 'jugaad'

AHMEDABAD: India made record of sorts when it managed to send its maiden mission to Mars in the budget less than that of Hollywood blockbuster Gravity. A father-son duo from Bapunagar emulated the mantra of ‘jugaad’ in their own way to fulfill their dream of getting their own observatory for astronomical studies and photography.
While the professional small-scale observatories could cost more than Rs 10 lakh, they managed to do it for less than Rs 1 lakh as they used locally available parts and often designed their own after getting the designs off internet.
Kuldeep Vora, 25, is a computer engineer and amateur astronomer. He recently bought his first telescope from his stipend but soon realized that Ahmedabad’s polluted sky and monkey menace are not exactly encouraging for stargazing. Thus, he proposed to build a structure that can help him in his dream to click celestial objects.
His father Narendra, an instructor at ITI Viramgam, summoned his technical skills for the task. The duo built an observatory with a dome 9.25-ft in diameter and 15-ft in height made out of reinforced fiber housing Kuldeep’s telescope and paraphernalia in two months. They also designed the mechanism for shutters and movable structure on platform.
Dhananjay Rawal, a science educator and Kuldeep’s mentor for the project, said that the duo has cut corners in so many ways cleverly.
“Instead of the red-dot finder that cost above Rs 4,000, they have used Chinese laser and pipes that has cost around Rs 500. Similarly, they have put the two-wheeler battery on the wheels that move the structure instead of expensive mechanism. Such projects show that science can be made affordable with some ‘jugaad’ which is India’s greatest strength,” Rawal said.
Kuldeep now wants to use the observatory to popularize astronomy among toddlers in the area.