36th Annual Report (2023-24)

110 while Durgesh Tripathi (IUCAA) brought forward the excitement of the Sun and the Aditya-L1Mission. 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 concluded 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 The participants of the Astronomy, Science and Society workshop at the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope 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 TeamACE IUCAA. Astronomy, Science and Society: 2024 January at MVPS's CMCS College, Nashik A workshop on the theme of Astronomy, Science andSociety, was organized on 19th and 20th January 2024 at the Maratha Vidya Prasarak Samaj's Commerce, Management & Computer Science (C. M. C. S.) College, Nashik, by the Maharashtra State Faculty Development Academy (MSFDA) and the Astronomy Centre for Educators of IUCAA. 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 wo r k shop P r a k a sh A r umuga s amy described the scales of the Universe, Moupiya Maji recounted the story of black holes, Jameer Manur introduced them to the night sky, while Dhruba J Saikia gave an overview of radio and x-ray astronomy and highlighted recent developments in India. In a separate talk, he spoke on the importance of building inclusive societies drawing lessons from the history of astronomy. There was a night sky watching session led by Jameer Manur, and a bird watching session early in the morning led by Dhruba J Saikia. The participants enthusiastically took part in all the events. The workshop which had about fifty participants including resource persons and organizers was organized by ApurvaBarve and Ajay Padvi fromMSFDA and TeamACE, IUCAA. A group photograph of the participants and glimpses of the bird watching and sky watching sessions at MVPS's C.M.C.S. College, Nashik