National Conference on Astronomy, Astrophysics Begins at PPC

By Hemanath Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network—Udupi (RD/CN)

Udupi, Jan 7: “The main agenda of future astronomy is the study of gravitational waves which is not possible for the astrophysicists to digest the inflow of sea-load of information being gathered by the instruments. In this direction it is very much relevant that amateur astronomers join hands to understand this universe better,” said Dr Vinay Kashyap, renowned astrophysicist from Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, USA.

In his keynote address at the inauguration of the UGC sponsored three-day ‘National Conference on Astronomy and Astrophysics’, jointly organized by Poorna Prajna College (PPC) and Association of Physics Teachers of Mangalore University, he said that Astronomy is a pure science, driven by human curiosity. “As such it has no use, nevertheless, the techniques used in astronomy to understand the universe are very helpful to every branch of science,” said Dr Kashyap.

He said that we are still not in a position to understand the Sun. “The inner core of the Sun and its dynamics are being understood to some extent. But the outer cover called corona is very complex. The neutrino particle ejection, the ‘eleven year cycle’ of the solar flare and the dark spots and the magnetic ejection from this region are very complicated.  In 2010, the flare cycle had minimum ejection and the peak may be in 2013. We have very complex electronic gadgets and sophisticated technological system like mobile communication network now which may get disturbed by the solar peak flare,” he said.

Dr Kashyap said that in the history of mankind, the Voyager-1 made an experimental record on the Sun by conducting a survey at very close quarters. “It is learnt that there are nearly 421 Suns which are similar to our solar system. In a few months, the number may reach 1,000 Suns because of the ability of the telescopes used in artificial satellites which can observe the stares from very close quarters,” he said.

“We came to know about the galaxies from Harshle just 150 years ago. Of course, we are still unable to comprehend the origin of the galaxy. Our Sun is at a distance of about 30,000 light years from the centre of our Milky Way galaxy at the centre of which are placed super-massive black-holes,” he added.

Dr Kashyap said that there are very powerful galaxies in the universe, the origin of which is slightly understood from the big-bang theory which is based on microwave background radiation. “As we understand now, the visible known matter and energy is only 40 per cent. We have 25 percent dark matter and 70 percent dark energy. Dark energy is responsible for expansion of this universe which began 13.7 billion (1,370 crore) years ago,” he said.

He said that so far as future of astronomy is concerned, the study is based on ground as well as space. “We possess powerful telescopes starting from radio waves to gamma rays. Recently, an amateur astronomer without a telescope recognized four moons!” added Dr Kashyap saying that he would appreciate the activities of Poorna Prajna Amateur Astronomers’ Club in kindling interest among the students and the public in and around Udupi in the field of astronomy.

Inaugurating the conference earlier, deputy commissioner (DC) P Hemalata said that astronomy is a fascinating subject and the contribution to the field of astronomy by Indian astronomers like Aryabhata and Bhaskara were most remarkable as they were responsible for discovering many planets and stars in the sky well before the invention of telescope.

DC Hemalata said that our rural masses that were in the habit of sleeping under the open sky could not only identify the stars and planets by gazing at the sky but also calculate the time and period.