CIAA National Workshop 2024 (13-15 September, 2024)

National Workshop on "Contemporary Issues in Astronomy and Astrophysics-2024” (CIAA-2024) held at Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur during September 13-15, 2024 in Collaboration with Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune

Objective of the Workshop: The goal of this CIAA-2024 workshop is to spark interest in Astronomy and Astrophysics advancements among graduate, post-graduate and research students in India.

The inaugural ceremony of the CIAA-2024 workshop was started at 11 a.m. on 13th September 2024 at the Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj Senate Hall by the Director of IUCAA, Prof. R. Srianand by lightning the lamp in presence of Vice Chancellor, Shivaji University, Prof. D. T. Shirke, Pro Vice Chancellor Prof. P. S. Patil and Head, Department of Physics, Prof. R. G. Sonkawade.

After the inaugural session the academic program started. This workshop had total ten invited lectures. It started with the talks on September 13th at 11a.m. on the recents “Advancement on Astronomy and Astrophysics’‘ by Prof. R. Srianand, IUCAA followed by two talks on ``Theory of Special Relativity and Theory of General Relativity“ by Prof. S. Mitra IUCAA.

These two talks on relativity built the foundation for the undergraduate and postgraduate participants to better understand the follow-up talks. The day ended with a talk on “ Black holes: Accretion, Jet and Identification`` by Prof. B. Mukhopadhyay, IISc., Bangalore.

On 14th September morning the day started with talks on "Gravitational Waves: An Overview-I" by Prof. S. Dhurandhar, IUCAA followed by two talks on “Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation’‘ and ``Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope on-board Aditya-L1‘‘ both by Prof. A. N. Ramprakash, IUCAA. In the second half of the day we visited the IIG-Kolhapur Radar Centre and then Panhala Space Centre of Shivaji University.

On 15th September the morning started with talk on "Gravitational Waves: An Overview-II" and ``How the LIGO-India Collaboration started’‘ by Prof. S. Dhurandhar. The next talk was on ``Massive white dwarfs and neutron stars`` by Prof. B. Mukhopadhyay. The academic program ended with final talk on ``Future of Gravitational Waves by Prof. S. Mitra. All these talks, discussion, interaction with the eminent speakers impacted the profound in-depth understanding to the participants. The workshop was finally over with a valedictory function at 3:30pm. The participants feedback was collected and analyzed. Overall the feedback was excellent. A few participants were invited during the valedictory ceremony to express their views from the dias. The views presented by few particpants were very excellent and some was benefitted them for their academic activities.

Importance and Relevance: The workshop assumes profound importance and relevance on multiple fronts in Astronomy and Astrophysics. It plays a pivotal role in advancing scientific knowledge in recently discovered Gravitational Wave (on 14th September 2015), which were predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago, came from a collision between two black holes. It took 1.3 billion years for the waves to arrive at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). It's a large-scale physics experiment designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves. These waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime caused by massive cosmic events like the merging of black holes or neutron stars. LIGO detector in the USA, where India (in particular scientists from IUCAA) played a very crucial role. Secondly, the workshop will address Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) onboard the Aditya-L1 mission. The SUIT is the first space observatory of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) dedicated to solar observations. Finally, the physics of Compact stars provide a unique laboratory to study the structure of matter under extreme conditions, in which all known forces - gravitation, electromagnetism, weak and strong interactions - play a role. Hence, understanding their properties was of paramount importance for both astrophysicist and fundamental physicist. Finally this workshop served as an invaluable educational platform, inspiring the aspirations of students and early-career researchers, thereby nurturing the next generation of scientists. The workshop equipped the participants with comprehensive knowledge and technical skills. A key highlight of the CIAA-2024 workshop is the opportunity for students and researchers to interact directly with experts in the field.

Participants of the Workshop: The total number of registered participants of CIAA-2024 worshop was 130. The number of undergraduate, postgraduate studens (from all over India) registered officially and attended were aproximately 90. The number of research scholar (local and all over India) participated officially were approrximately 15 and the number of faculties together with the guest lecturers were 25.

The workshop features participants from various prestigious institutes across the country, including BITS Pilani, Hyderabad; Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat; Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University, Madhepura, Bihar; Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, Jharkhand; Burdwan University, West Bengal; Gujarat University; Tiruvarur University, Tamil Nadu; Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded; Willingdon College, Sangli; R. P. Gogate College of Arts and Science, Ratnagiri; Punyashlok Ahilya Devi Holkar Solapur University; Smt. Kasturbai Walchand College, Sangli; Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University; Shivprasad Sadanand Jaiswal College, Gondia; D. Y. Patil International University, Pune; Dr. Patangrao Kadam College, Sangli; Nutan College, Selu, Parbhani; Parul University, Vadodara; KBP College, Vashi, Navi Mumbai; Dr. Vishwanath Karad MIT-World Peace University, Kothrud, Pune; Kisan Veer College, Wai; Fergusson College, Pune; Rajaram College, Kolhapur; Lal Bahadur Shastri College, Satara; Maharashtra College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Mumbai; Vivekananda College, Kolhapur; Miraj College, Miraj; Dattajirao Kadam College of Arts, Science, and Commerce, Ichalkaranji; Jaisingpur College, Jaysingpur, and many others.

Visit to IIG-Kolhapur Radar Centre and Panhala Space Centre: On 14th September after lunch we visited the IIG-Kolhapur Radar centre facilities for one hour and then we travelled to Panhala Space Centre with all the participants of the workshop. For advancemnets of Panhala Space Centre, Prof. A. N. Ramprakash suggested how to improve the upper atmosphere (also can be used for lower atmosphere) analysis using these three instruments: CCD-based Multi-wavelength Airglow Photometer (CMAP), PRL Airglow InfraRed Spectrograph (PAIRS) and Multiwavelength imaging spectrograph (MISE). Prof. Ramprakash suggested about filters used in those insruments to study different emission lines of Oxygen, Nitrogen and Hydroxyl ions. The Department of Physics is advancing for further strengthening the tie-ups with IUCAA, Pune by executing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and a few technical help will be extended by IUCAA, Pune to strengthen the facilities available at Panhala Space Centre. A few research scholar and M.Sc. Students will be sent to IUCAA, Pune for further understanding of astrophysics activities.