The sky belongs
to everyone.
Durbin is CASSA's volunteer astronomy-outreach programme: a telescope, a classroom, an image laboratory, and a public invitation to look up.
Night sky footage · Pixabay
Why Durbin exists
Distance should inspire wonder, not exclusion.
Durbin is Bangla for telescope: an instrument that makes the distant visible. The programme applies that same idea socially, bringing astronomy closer to students, schools, families, and communities across Bangladesh.
Our volunteers do more than point telescopes upward. They learn to capture and process light, translate science into stories, create public experiences, and help people find their own place in a shared universe.
- 116 objects in the exhibition
- 20 current volunteers
- 19 volunteer alumni
- 8 universities at the 2026 workshop
How we got here
A young programme with deep roots.
-
2022
A plan takes shape
A Dunlap Institute seed grant and a partnership between Dr. Lamiya Mowla and astronomers at IUB turn an outreach idea into a programme.
-
2023
First light
Two Unistellar eQuinox telescopes arrive in Bangladesh. Durbin launches on 9 March before an audience of about one thousand at IUB.
-
2025
A permanent home
IUB establishes CASSA and ratifies Durbin as its public astronomy-outreach programme, joining observation, research, and communication.
-
2026
A wider sky
A new cycle combines expert-led training, lasting public resources, and dedicated support for women astrophotographers and science communicators.
What it looks like
Two telescopes. Many ways into the universe.
Durbin moves between rooftops, classrooms, image-processing sessions, public lawns, and a growing online exhibition. Each setting makes a different kind of curiosity possible.
The volunteer cycle
Knowledge travels outward.
- 01
Learn
Volunteers build a working knowledge of the sky, telescopes, imaging, and science communication.
- 02
Observe
Teams plan targets and operate local or remote telescopes to gather light from distant objects.
- 03
Interpret
Raw frames become astrophotographs, stories, workshops, zines, and accessible learning material.
- 04
Share
The work returns to the public through exhibitions, school visits, astronomy nights, and open resources.
A deliberately wider sky
More women making, imaging, and leading.
Durbin’s 2026 programme is supported through the British Council’s Women of the World Bangladesh initiative. The cycle is designed to train women not only as participants, but as astrophotographers, science communicators, and future leaders.
At the launch workshop, 65% of participants were women. The larger aim is structural: build confidence, technical practice, mentorship, and public visibility that continue long after a single event.
Built to last
Volunteer-led. Expert-supervised. Public by design.
Durbin is an outreach programme of CASSA at Independent University, Bangladesh. It is supervised by astronomers, managed through formal programme cycles, and governed by CASSA’s safeguarding standards.
Initial support came from the University of Toronto’s Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics. From 2026, the British Council’s WOW Bangladesh programme supports Durbin’s expanded work with women and girls.
Read the programme manual →Citizens of a distant universe
Come closer to the sky.
Enter the image collection, meet the volunteers, or start a conversation with Durbin.