khagol_122.cdr

Parallel events like Science Toys demonstrations, models of Satellite Launch Vehicles, and demonstrations on Telescope Making kept the general public magnetized in the Science Park area throughout the day time. These exhibits were coordinated by the SciPOP team. In the afternoon, there was a live interaction with Jayant Narlikar and Somak Raychaudhury, who eloquently answered several Astronomy related questions from the public. This was coordinated by Surhud More andAnupreeta More. Most of the wonderful questions regarding our universe came forward from young school kids. Following this, there were special talks on Astronomy: the Big Data Science, Giant Eyes in the Sky, Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), Exploring the Sun with Aditya L1, Multi-wavelength Science with AstroSat, Science with the Square Kilometer Array, the Thirty Meter Telescope were delivered by Kaustubh Vaghmare, A. N. Ramaprakash, Giles Hammond, Avyarthana Ghosh, Gulab Dewangan, Neeraj Gupta and R. Srianand, respectively. These sessions were coordinated byManasadevi P. T. On the evening of February 28, a public talk on the 2019 Physics Nobel Prize, titled: Universe Unraveled , was delivered byTarun Souradeep (IISER, Pune). On the evening of February 29, another public talk on the 2019 Physics Nobel Prize, titled: Exploring the Exoplanets for Extra-terrestrial Life, was delivered by Sujan Sengupta (IIA, Bengaluru). Around 10,000 people visited IUCAA in these two days, and around 2,500 odd people attended the sky watching sessions following public talks on both the nights! As per tradition, there were events for school students prior to the open day. IUCAAPublic Outreach personnel conducted a science quiz, along with essay writing, and drawing competitions for the rural students of the Ambegaon Taluka on February 01, 2020. Shreejit Jadhav, Parisee Shirke, Prakash Tripathi (all from IUCAA) enthusiastically No. 122 - April 2020 4