Astronomy buff Vadivelan Sinnasamy, a science teacher from SJK (Tamil) Jugra, Kuala Langat, Selangor, recently bought something online that he thought would achieve the magnification required to observe the planets and stars. However, Vadivelan is now at his happiest after being notified by the National Planetarium that he was the Malaysian winner of the Telescope for All 2021 project. In a statement, the Planetarium said Malaysia snagged one of the 12 telescopes donated by the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) global outreach project to spur interest in the subject. A joint effort between IAU and National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) under the auspices of Japan’s National Institutes of Natural Sciences, IAU’s Office for Astronomy Outreach aims to engage the public in astronomy by providing access to astronomical information and communication of the science of astronomy. At the country level, the National Planetarium acted as Malaysia’s national outreach coordinator by collaborating with the National STEM Centre and Universe Awareness Malaysia to organise the Telescope for All 2021 project from May 3-24.

Source: The Star July 18, 2021 23:45 UTC