Universalizing the Universe (April 4, 2008)

A one-day seminar as a part of the preparation for the International Year of Astronomy 2009

Venue: Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore - 34

PROGRAMME
08.30 - 09.00 Registration
Session 1: The sky is not the limit: Chair: B. V. Subbarayappa
09.00 - 09.05 Welcome S. Chatterjee, IIA
09.05 - 09.20 The IYA 2009 S. S. Hasan, IIA
09.20 - 09.40 Inaugural address: Universalizing the Universe V. K. Gaur, IIA
09.40 - 09.55 Naked eye astronomy S. Ramakrishna Rao, Formerly Christ College
09.55 - 10.10 Astronomy in the day time Jagdev Singh, IIA
10.10 - 10.25 Through the Galileoscope: Lighting up the darkness Tushar P Prabhu, IIA
10.25 - 10.40 Tea
Session 2: Between the sky and the earth: Chair: H. C. Bhatt
10.40 - 10.50 Astronomy, a platform for the youth Students of IIA, Bangalore
10.50 - 11.00 Astronomy camp: part of student activity Ajith Padmanabhan, Vivekanada College, Chennai
11.00 - 11.15 Some aspects of science writing P. R. Vishwanath, IIA
11.15 - 11.30 Scientists and science writing Biman Nath, RRI
11.30 - 11.45 Science and the stage Vijay Padaki, Bangalore Little Theatre
Session 3: She is an astronomer: Chair: Devaki Jain
11.45 - 12.00 Opportunities for gender equity: looking outwards and inwards Prajval Shastri, IIA
12.00 - 12.30 Response from invited panelists Vasundhara Raju (IIA), Niharika Verma (IIA), Ramya. S.( IIA), Prasad Subramanian (IIA),
B. R. Prasad (IIA), Firoza K Sutaria (IIA)
13.00 - 14.00 Lunch
Session 4: Astronomy for the public: Chair : M. V. Vasu, Department of History, Bangalore
University
14.00 - 14.15 Astronomy of the unseen P. K. Manoharan, RAC, Ooty
14.15 - 14.30 The view from space Jayant Murthy, IIA
14.30 - 14.45 Astronomy, the window to rationality K. Pappootty, KSSP, Kerala
14.45 - 15.00 Astronomy in education B. S. Shylaja, Nehru Planetarium, Bangalore
15.00 - 15.15 Science popularization, a combined approach A. Hemavathi, Pondicherry Science Forum, Pondicherry
Session 5: Poster session: IYA 2009: Astronomy and mass activity
15.15 - 16.15 All the participating groups and individuals are requested to bring their poster presentations on the IYA which
will be on display on the day of the seminar
Tea (at the poster venue)
Session 6: IYA 2009: The message and the messenger: Chair: V. K. Gaur, IIA
16.15 - 16.30 How to spread the word Vivek Monteiro, Nav Nirmiti, Mumbai
16.30 - 16.45 Linking the unlinked: a draft action plan T. V. Venkateswaran, Vigyan Prasar, DST
16.45 - 17.15 Discussions and finalization of recommendations
17.15 - 17.25 Concluding remarks S. Chatterjee, IIA
17.25 - 17.30 Vote of thanks S. Muneer, IIA



Mysore Workshop (23 JANUARY 2007)

A one-day workshop was organised at St. Philomena's College, Mysore, entitled,"Windows to our Galaxy" on January 23, 2007, under the Public Outreach Programme. The workshop was attended by 140 students of the college and was followed by a session of night-sky observation. After the formal inauguration by the Prinicipal of the College, Father Leslie Moras, H.C.Bhatt introduced the developments in astronomy in the early part of the last century, which led to the discovery of the true length scales of our Galaxy and the distribution of stars and other stellar systems within it. This was followed by a talk by S.Chatterjee on the application of Newtonian mechanics to understand the properties of the Galaxy.

The post-lunch session focused on the observational issues related to the study of galaxies. Eswar Reddy described the imaging and spectroscopic methods in the visible range while Prajval Shastri gave an account of the observational studies in the radio wavelengths. Jayant Murthy described how new opportunities of studies in the ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths were opening up due to space based telescopes. The year 2007 marks the golden jubilee of the launch of the first artifical satellite Sputnik I by the Soviet Union .

All the speakers spoke on the opportunities that are available in IIA for pursuing a professional career in astronomy and how the prospective students can plan their studies to take up such a career.

The night-sky observations were conducted with a 14-inch Meade Telescope , which was carried to Mysore from the CREST campus of IIA. This programme was coordinated by S.Pukalenthi and V.Gopinath.The night-sky observations started at 7.15 in the evening and went on till 1AM in the early morning of January 24. It was attended by over 200 students and staff of the college.

The college provided the scientists from IIA with excellent facilities and the students evinced a great interest in the themes covered in the lectures as well as in the night-sky observations Father Moras highlighted the importance of such interactive programmes and has offered to organise bigger and extended workshops in his college.

Mangalore Workshop (February 2, 2007)

A one-day programme on Astronomy was organised on February 2, 2007 by the Physics Department of St. Aloysius College, Mangalore and the Mangalore Astro Club in collaboration with IIA. The appropriate title of "The Fascinating Field of Astronomy" was given to the programme. The programme was inaugurated by St. Aloysius Evening College Principal Fr. Vincent Pinto while the College Science Faculty Dean, Prof Sridhara, welcomed the gathering. There were a total of three lectures, 'Stars and our Milky Way' by Eswar Reddy, 'The Interstellar Medium' by Jayant Murthy and 'Galaxies in the Universe' by Prajval Shastri.

There were over 200 participants that included college teachersand students, as well as high school teachers and students, who came notonly from the city of Mangalore but also from other parts of DakshinaKannada and Udupi districts to participate in the programme. The response was very enthusiastic, with both the teachers and the students asking a lot of questions, which extended the scheduled discussion time to nearly 7 p.m. Stargazing was organised after that by enthusiastic members of the Astro Club.

View of the audience
Last updated on: February 20, 2024