All Programmes
School on Optical Astronomy Techniques
An introductory school on the science and techniques of optical astronomy.
Refresher Course on General Relativity
A comprehensive refresher course on the General Theory of Relativity, offered as an eRefresher course through IUCAA.
View Course →A First Course in Astronomy & Astrophysics
An online introductory course on tools of astronomy, stars, galaxies, and cosmology, with innovative and proven teaching techniques.
View Course →NEP Orientation and Sensitization
NEP Orientation and Sensitization
Astronomy, Science, and Society — Pune
The workshop is open to faculty members and students of any discipline from colleges, universities, and other higher educational institutions of Maharashtra, with preference to those in the Kolhapur division. The presentations and discussions will be non-mathematical and at a semi-popular level.
A workshop on the theme of Astronomy, Science and Society was organized from 6th to 8th September by the Maharashtra State Faculty Development Academy (MSFDA) and the Astronomy Centre for Educators of IUCAA, at MSFDA, Pune. The objectives of these workshops — which are often held in smaller towns of Maharashtra — are to bring the excitement of astronomy and science to faculty members across disciplines and also discuss broader issues related to science and society such as inclusiveness and non-discrimination.
During this workshop Pramod Kale (ISRO and Savitribai Phule Pune University) traced the history of India's space programme and discussed the recent Chandrayaan Mission, while Durgesh Tripathi (IUCAA) brought forward the excitement of the Sun and the Aditya-L1 Mission. The physical scales in the Universe were lucidly described by Prakash Arumugasamy (IUCAA), while Jameer Manur (IUCAA) presented fun astronomy-themed experiments. The recent exciting discovery of nano Hertz gravitational waves and pulsars was presented by one of the discoverers, Bhal Chandra Joshi (NCRA‑TIFR). Images in the sky caused by gravitational lensing were beautifully described by Anupreeta More (IUCAA).
The workshop ended with a discussion and presentation on the theme of our home, our Galaxy and our place in the Universe by Dhruba J Saikia (IUCAA). The workshop included a visit to the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope near Narayangaon. The workshop which had about fifty participants was organized by Apurva Barve and Ajay Padvi from MSFDA and Team ACE IUCAA.
Horn Antenna Workshop — ACE‑HornWorkshop2023
A workshop on fabricating a horn antenna was organised for teachers by ACE IUCAA from 03 to 06 April 2023. The resource persons were Avinash Deshpande, Prakash Arumugasamy, Jameer Manur, Ashish Mhaske, Dhruba J Saikia, Neeraj Gupta (IUCAA), Ruta Kale, and Bhal Chandra Joshi (NCRA).
On the first day, lectures covered the basic principles of antennas, radio astronomy, receiver chain, and observations using the horn antenna and HI observations of the Milky Way galaxy. On the second day participants assembled the horn antenna and tested the receiver chain in the ACE Astro Lab. On the third day, participants took observations of the HI line of the Milky Way galaxy using the horn antenna they had assembled, and installed the software required for observations and analyses. Semi-informal discussion sessions with experts on the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and radio astronomy techniques and instrumentation followed these.
The workshop's hands-on activities included:
- Assembling the pre-fabricated parts of the horn antenna and its receiver chain
- Observing neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) in emission from the Galactic plane
- Analyzing the data to obtain the Galactic rotation curve
There were 12 participants from different parts of the country who worked together in groups, actively interacting and learning. The participants presented their analysis and results in a follow-up presentation session held on 3rd June 2023. The ACE IUCAA Team coordinated the Horn Antenna Workshop.
Participants with the horn antennas they assembled and with which they observed the neutral atomic hydrogen in the Galactic plane from IUCAA.
Refresher Course on Astronomy and Astrophysics — RCAA‑2023
The Refresher Course on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2023 was held online from the 15th of May to the 16th of June, concurrently with the Summer School on Astronomy and Astrophysics offline.
| Code | RCAA–2023 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 15 May 2023 – 16 June 2023 |
| Venue | Online |
| Participants | 30 |
The lectures covered a wide range of topics including radiative processes, stellar structure and evolution, the Sun, compact objects, galaxies, galactic dynamics, active galactic nuclei and jets, gravitational lensing, x-ray astronomy, fluids and plasmas, general theory of relativity and cosmology, structure formation, photometry and spectroscopy, as well as recent advances — including gravitational wave astronomy and LIGO, machine learning, quantum clocks, and mega projects such as the Thirty Meter Telescope, Aditya-L1 and the Square Kilometre Array.
There were about thirty participants from higher educational institutions across the country. An online quiz was held after the Course, and Certificates of participation were given to all those who performed satisfactorily. Vaidehi Paliya and Team ACE IUCAA coordinated the Refresher Course.
Workshop on Astronomy-Themed Experiments — ACE‑Experiments2023
A Workshop on Astronomy-Themed Experiments held at the Teaching Learning Centre of ACE at IUCAA from the 8th to the 12th of August 2023. The Workshop was intended for faculty members interested in exploring, creating, and sharing experiments based on concepts in astronomy for instruction at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
A workshop on astronomy-themed experiments for faculty members of colleges and universities interested in exploring, creating and sharing laboratory experiments based on concepts in astronomy for teaching at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels was organized at IUCAA.
The long-term goal was to produce an open-source repository of astronomy-themed experiments covering diverse topics. There were about 30 participants from over a dozen institutions presenting a wide range of experiments. The workshop started with a presentation of a very creative set of experiments at the undergraduate level developed by Dipankar Bhattacharya and his team at Ashoka University.
The workshop covered a wide range of experiments including optical data analysis using archival data such as from GAIA, radio-astronomy related experiments including determining the rotation curve of the Galaxy from HI observations and analysis of pulsar data, planetary data analysis, cometary data and astrometry, stellarium-related experiments, gravitational lensing, gamma ray astronomy, gravitational waves, and topics on the Sun and stars. The workshop was organized by Team ACE IUCAA.
