Sonbhadra establishes its first astro lab at Lodhi upper primary school

The Sonbhadra district administration has established the district’s first astro lab at Upper Primary School Lodhi in Uttar Pradesh. District Magistrate Charchit Gaur inaugurated the facility on 21 October, and students have since received regular access to it.

Models support practical learning

The administration used a ₹2 lakh award from NITI Aayog to set up the lab. It contains 28 types of models and 35 model posters to teach astronomy and other scientific concepts through practical activities. Topics include the solar system, planetary structure, eclipses, and the formation of day and night.

Students from nearby council schools can also use the facility. The administration plans to establish one astro lab for a group of five to six council schools, extending access to practical learning in rural areas.

Important Facts for Exams

• Protoplanetary accretion: Planets formed as dust and gas in the protoplanetary disc attracted one another and coalesced into progressively larger bodies.
• Eclipse alignment: Because the Moon’s orbit is tilted about 5° to the ecliptic, eclipses occur only when new or full moon falls near an orbital node.
• Planetary composition classes: Planetary interiors are commonly grouped into rocky terrestrial planets, gas giants and ice giants; Uranus and Neptune are ice giants.
• Moon phases versus eclipses: Ordinary lunar phases show changing proportions of the Moon’s sunlit hemisphere; Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon only during a lunar eclipse.