Astronomy, Science, and Society (Pune, 2024)

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 Arumuasamy (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 where Shubendu Joardar, Kaushal Buch and colleagues described the telescope and its working. The workshop which had about fifty participants including resource persons was organized by Apurva Barve and Ajay Padvi from MSFDA and Team ACE IUCAA.