INTER-UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS (An Autonomous Institution of the University Grants Commission) Annual Report (April 1, 2006 - March 31, 2007) Editor Design, Typesetting and Layout T. Padmanabhan Manjiri Mahabal e-mail : [email protected] e-mail : [email protected] Postal Address Post Bag 4, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411 007, India Location Meghnad Saha Road, Pune University Campus, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411 007, India Phone (91) (20) 2560 4100 Fax (91) (20) 2560 4699 e-mail [email protected] Universal Resource Locator (URL) http://www.iucaa.ernet.in CONTENTS The Council and the Governing Board ...........................................................................................................................1 The Council The Governing Board Honorary Fellows and Visiting Professors .................................................................................................................................2 Statutory Committees ....................................................................................................................................................3 The Scientific Advisory Committee The Users' Committee The Academic Programmes Committee The Standing Committee for Administration The Finance Committee Members of IUCAA ......................................................................................................................................................5 Visiting Associates of IUCAA .......................................................................................................................................7 Organizational Structure of IUCAA's Academic Programmes ................................................................................ 12 The Director's Report .................................................................................................................................................. 13 Congratulations ........................................................................................................................................................... 14 Welcome and Farewell ..................................................................................................................................................................15 Calendar of Events ........................................................................................................................................................ 16 Academic Programmes ................................................................................................................................................ 17 (I) Research by Resident Members .......................................................................................................................... 17 Quantum Theory and Gravity Classical Gravity Gravitational Waves Cosmology and Structure Formation Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy Observational Cosmology and Extragalactic Astronomy Active Galactic Nuclei, Quasars and Intergalactic Medium Magnetic Fields in Astrophysics High Energy Astrophysics Stars and Interstellar Medium Instrumentation (II) Research by Visiting Associates ......................................................................................................................... 54 (III) IUCAA-NCRA Graduate School.........................................................................................................................................74 (IV) Publications.......................................................................................................................................................... 77 (V) Pedagogical Activities .......................................................................................................................................... 85 (VI) Colloquia, Seminars, etc. ...................................................................................................................................... 87 (VII) Talks at IUCAA Workshops or at Other Institutions ......................................................................................... 89 (VIII) Scientific Meetings and Other Events ................................................................................................................ 96 Public Outreach Programmes ................................................................................................................................... 104 Facilities ..................................................................................................................................................................... 112 (I) Computer Centre (II) Library and Publications (III) Instrumentation Laboratory (IV) The IUCAA Girawali Observatory (V) Virtual Observatory - India (VI) IUCAA Radio-Physics Training and Educational Facility IUCAA Reference Centres (IRCs) ........................................................................................................................... 120 The Eighteenth IUCAA Foundation Day Lecture ................................................................................................... 124 HIGHLIGHTS OF 2006- 2007 This annual report covers the activities of IUCAA during its nineteenth year, April 2006-March 2007. The endeavours of IUCAA span different fronts, as outlined in the pages of this Report. Here is a quick summary and highlights. IUCAA has an academic strength of 16 core faculty members (academic), 15 post-doctoral fellows and 20 research scholars. The core research programmes by these academics span a variety of areas in astronomy and astrophysics. These topics include quantum theory and gravity, classical gravity, gravitational waves, cosmology and structure formation, cosmic microwave background radiation, active galactic nuclei, quasar absorption system, high energy astrophysics, galaxy and interstellar medium, stellar physics, solar physics, and instrumentation. These research activities are summarised in pages 17-53. The publications of the IUCAA members, numbering to about 76 in the current year are listed in pages 77-80. IUCAA members also take part in pedagogical activities like lectures, seminars, popularisation of science, etc., the details of which are given in pages 85-86 of this Report. The extended academic family of IUCAA consists of about 85 Visiting Associates, who have been active in several different fields of research. Pages 54-73 of this report highlight their research contributions The resulting publications, numbering to about 88 are listed in pages 81-84 of this report. A total of about 1265 person-days were spent by Visiting Associates at IUCAA during this year. In addition, IUCAA was acting as host to about 495 visitors through the year. During the current year the Visiting Associates were drawn from over 60 universities and colleges from all over India. The Visitors to IUCAA came from over 100 institutions, universities and colleges, which indicates the extent of participation of the university sector in IUCAA's activities. IUCAA conducts its graduate school jointly with the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune. Among the research scholars, one student has successfully defended her thesis and obtained Ph.D. degree from the University of Pune during the year 2006-2007. Summary of her thesis appears in pages 74 - 76. Apart from these activities, IUCAA conducts several workshops, schools, and conferences each year, both at IUCAA and at different university/college campuses. During this year, there were 7 such events in IUCAA and 6 were held at other universities/colleges under IUCAA sponsorship. Another main component of IUCAA’s activities is its programme for Science Popularisation. On the National Science Day, several special events were organised. There were posters displayed by the academic members of IUCAA, which elaborated on the research work at IUCAA and topics in the field of astronomy. There were public lectures given by the faculty members and programmes for school students consisting of quiz, essay and drawing competitions. During the Open Day, more than 6000 people visited IUCAA. These activities were ably supported by the scientific and technical, and administrative staff (21 and 32 in number respectively) who should get the lion’s share of the credit for the successful running of the programmes of the centre. The scientific staff also looks after the major facilities like library, computer centre, and instrumentation lab. A brief update on these facilities is given on pages 112-119 of this Report. The IUCAA Girawali Observatory was dedicated to astronomy research and education by Professor Yash Pal on May 13, 2006. The Optical Astronomy activity is poised for further strengthening in another front. IUCAA has taken partnership in Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) paying for about 6% of the observing time which translates to about 15 nights a year. This 10 metre class telescope, run by a Consortium of universities and institutes, will help IUCAA to do cutting-edge research in this field. T. Padmanabhan Editor T.R. Kem, S.K. Dube, C.V. Vishveshwara, The Council Secretary, Director, Honorary Director, and the Governing Board University Grants Commission, New Delhi. Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bangalore. Vijay Khole, Ratnakar Gaikwad, The Governing Board Vice-Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, (As on March 31, 2007) The Council University of Mumbai, Mumbai. University of Pune, Pune. (As on March 31, 2007) Chairperson Nagnath Kottapalle, Rajen Harshe, President