There is a party up on the hill, some 6,500-odd feet above sea level, he informs us and proudly unveils the 12-inch telescope that he bought three years back. “I have travelled all the way from Bhuj for this party. It’s a star party after all,” he says.

This is one of India’s first star parties, organised by a Delhi-based group of amateur astronomers and students called SPACE (Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators). Both amateur and professional astronomers from across the country have gathered under one of India’s darkest skies, fighting the bitter cold of 2 degrees Celsius. Far from the sodium glow of streetlights, they are here to sight their celestial friends and exchange notes — three nights of just gazing at the sky through India’s biggest amateur telescope that was unveiled at the Aryabhatta Research institute of Observational Sciences yesterday.

While such parties are quite popular in the UK and the US, Sachin Bahmba, one of the founding members of SPACE, says the concept is still new in India. “While one-fifth of the world’s population cannot even see the stars anymore, India still has a huge resource in it’s non-urban regions,” he says.

“I am building an 18-inch telescope back home and came to check out the 20-inch one which is by far the biggest and the best in design. We don’t get to see the sky clearly in Hyderabad, but here even my binoculars are good enough,” says Vaibhar S, a 21-year-old electrical engineering student.

The mission for tonight: spot all the 110 deep sky objects recorded by 18th century French comet hunter Charles Messier. “All amateurs are comet hunters. Messier could never find a comet, but he left a list of such wonderful objects for us, and March is the best time to spot them,” says Bahmba.

“We need to popularise the concept among students and children, because astronomy is the future,” he adds. “We are already looking at setting up space townships on the moon. We will then need space plumbers, architects, engineers and experts to help us through. We need more astronomers, and for that we need more telescopes and more star parties.”

The evening is getting dark, and as the clock strikes six, the group gets restive and turns to the sky. “It’s party time,” shouts Zota, as he heads towards his telescope.

India’s largest amateur telescope unveiled

India’s largest amateur telescope was unveiled on Friday at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences in Nainital. The 20-inch telescope has been built by Ajay Talwar, a member of the Amateur Astronomers Association of Delhi. According to Talwar, the telescope took a year-and-a-half to build, and is designed on the Dobsonian model of tubeless telescopes. “In the US, the biggest amateur telescope is about 40 inches. But this one is as good as any observatory telescope,” he claims. “All the components of the telescope have been built and designed at home. We bought pipes and other fitting from local hardware shops,” he adds.