Khagol_115

No. 115 - July 2018 04 IUCAA, in collaboration with the Public Outreach and Education Commi ee (POEC) of theAstronomical Society of India (ASI), hosted a Workshop on DevelopingAstronomy Themed Experiments (for Colleges/ Universities at UG/PG Levels), during June 18 - 20, 2018, aimed at developing experiments with an astronomy flavour, which would be useful to get the subject into physics laboratories at under-graduate and post-graduate levels. This was the first activity under the IUCAA Astronomy Centre for Educators (ACE). There were around 50 astronomers and college/university teachers from various parts of the country, actively participating in discussion sessions based on specific themes chosen such that they relate to both to astronomy research and higher level physics syllabi. The themes were: (i) Properties of Electromagnetic Radiation, (ii) Optics in Astronomy/Telescopes, (iii) High Energy/Gravitational Waves Astronomy, (iv) Positional Astronomy and Orbital Mechanics, and (v) Spectroscopy and Spectral Analysis. Additional themes are planned to be discussed in follow up workshops of a similar format. There were also sessions, discussing specific use of the Michelson's Interferometer, Radio Antennae and Astronomical DataAnalysis in Physics labs. The interest among the participants was very high, and some of the night sessions went on till midnight, with the participants brainstorming on various ideas. The results for each theme will be collected with the help of the ACE and collated in a document. The coordination was done by Samir Dhurde (IUCAA), Priya Hasan (Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad), and Joe Jacob (Newman College, Thodupuzha), with valuable inputs from a working group of several astronomers,ASI POECmembers, and executive commi ee of the IUCAAACE. Workshop on Developing Astronomy Themed Experiments