Khagol 118

| KHAG L | No. 118 - APRIL 2019 | 14 The 5th edition of the Regional Meeting on Research in Astronomy: Opportunities and Challenges was held during February 8 - 9, 2019 at the Department of Physics, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Kochi. Regional Meeting on Research in Astronomy: Opportunities and Challenges The meeting was conducted on a unique platform for aspiring regional researchers to meet and present their research work, and also to interact with eminent scientists in the field. There were a total of 44 participants, consisting of faculty members, research scholars and post-graduates students from Universities, Colleges and Institutions in the state of Kerala. T. Padmanabhan and Kandaswamy Subramanian (both from IUCAA) gave special lectures on advanced challenges in Astronomy. The topics of the lectures include: Gravitation, Cosmology, Stellar Physics and Inter-Stellar Medium, Infrared, Optical and X-ray Astronomy, Solar System, MHD, AGNs, Statistics, and Machine Learning. The coordinators of the meeting were Charles Jose, Titus Mathew (both from CUSAT), andRanjeevMisra (IUCAA). Public Outreach Activities Workshop on Telescope Making A Workshop on Telescope Making was conducted at the Department of Physics, Visva-Bharati University (VBU), Santiniketan, during March 18 - 20, 2019. The workshop was mainly aimed towards students, and the main objective was to build one's own telescope and watch the night sky. Also, there were science popularization lectures, sky map reading followed by sky wat ching sess ions and demonstration of scientific principles through science toys. There was also a discussion session, in which the IUCAA Public Outreach team interacted with teachers of nearby secondary and higher secondary schools on how astronomy and in general, science can be taught with fun. Members of IUCAA Public Outreach team: Neha Deshpande, Samir Dhurde, Rupesh Labade, Maharudra Mate Shivani Pethe, Tushar Purohit, and Sonal Thorve, were the resource persons. Debi Prosad Duari (Director, M.P. Birla Planetarium, Kolkata) delivered a popular talk for the young minds on Concepts and Challenges in Astronomy and Astrophysics, followed by a talk on Telescopes by Samir Dhurde. Around 60 students and 15 teachers from nearby schools, and around 85 BSc and MSc students and faculty members of various departments of VBUparticipated in theworkshop. The hands-on telescope making activity was one of the most enjoyed sessions of the event. The participants built 35 telescopes (both 2 inch refractor type and 5 inch reflector type) with the help of IUCAAmembers, which provided a deeper insight into the working of a telescope. The workshop was funded by IUCAA and VBU. SudiptaDas (VBU) and Samir Dhurdewere the coordinators of theworkshop.