Rutjuga – Dark Sky Astronomy trips

This website is dedicated to Dark Sky Astronomy trips of KAS. You will find photos and event logs of all our Rutjugas. Rutjuga is the word taken from Urdu Dictionary meaning “wake up all night“. Astronomy in Dark Skies is done by waking up all night, far from city lights, hence we coined the word “Rutjuga” to these sessions.

Rutjuga aka Astronomy and Astrophotography trips under dark skies by Karachi Astronomers Society, are the special and most interesting events.

Since 2008, KAS has been holding public and private Astronomy events in Karachi.  Since 2009, KAS has been doing Dark sky Astronomy trips outside of Karachi in different places in Sindh and Balochistan. These events are special events that are arranged and organized solely by Karachi Astronomers Society (KAS) event management team.

In Karachi, KAS started the trend of taking large groups of people outside Karachi who love Astronomy, photography, starry nights in general, traveling, exploration, wildlife, mountains, peace, adventure, explore the galaxies and planets through telescopes and binoculars.  The credit goes to Mr. Naveed Merchant (Co-Founder KAS) and Mr. Hanif Bhatti (Founder PakWheels.com) who took the step for initiating these dark sky trips outside Karachi. It wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of these two travelers.

Till now KAS has arranged 50+ such events which is a major achievement considering the traveling weather and other conditions. Many private events for executive team and for recce purposes have also been arranged since then. Till now KAS has done Rutjugas at different dark sky places in Sindh and Balochistan including Gorakh Hills, Kirthar National Park, Bado Jabal, Mirpur Sakro, Kalri Lake, Mud Volcanoes, Ranikot Fort, Mirpur Sakro, Kalri Lake and Kanrach. The farthest we have gone is ~400 Kms by road and off road.

This website contains photos of all our Rutjugas. It will be continuously updated with photos, so keep visiting.

Credits

The efforts put into making this website a reality should be appreciated. Special thanks to Mr. Abubaker Shekhani  (Co-Founder & Gen. Secretary KAS) for creating this website. Thanks to Mr. Mehdi Hussain and Mr. Sajjad Ahmed for their contribution.

About KAS

Karachi Astronomers’ Society (KAS) is a dedicated group of astronomers, almost all of them amateurs, in Karachi. KAS is the short name given to this society by the founders. Now KAS has its active members all around Pakistan including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Quetta, Sargoda, Hyderabad and other cities.

KAS is the first Astronomy club and largest Astronomy club of Pakistan in terms of members, affiliations and events, having arranged many types of events promoting Astronomy as hobby and science in Karachi and Pakistan. Since 2008, KAS has been promoting the use of Binoculars and telescopes through various events, workshops and Rutjugas and made enthusiasts aware of usage, availability and technicalities.

Take me to Rutjuga Gallery