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
08.30 - 09.00 | Registration | |
Session 1: The sky is not the limit: Chair: B. V. Subbarayappa |
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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 |
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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 |
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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.