PROJECT UPDATE: Documentary series on Astronomy in India – Astroproject.

The project “Documentary Series on Astronomy Research in India” received sanction from International Astronomical union’s office of Astronomy for Development in early January 2014. The Prime objective of the above project is to develop as set of documentary film on the Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space research in India. The project work shall be executed in four phases: Pre Production, Production, Post Production and Popularisation

A) Pre Production: Month: January to March 2014: Status: Completed

During this pre production phase, we contacted several astronomy research institutes in India and sought permission to visit field stations, , campus, laboratories etc. Several Astronomers, , young research were contact via email and checked for availability to discuss the project and interview on their current research interest and astronomy in general. We also developed a brief outline of the story board of the documentary films. Travel and accommodation at field stations were booked according to the permission given by the institutes. A website, hosting the documentary proposal was hosted temporarily for attracting sponsors and to make people aware of the project undertaken. Also a page on social networking media (Facebook) was created that would be giving updated of the project till the end.

B) Production: Month: April to October 2014: Status: Ongoing

We started the production work with a plan to document all the optical and solar facilities in the south of India iniatally and then cover the radio telescopes and interviews of Scientist at the home institutions. This was primarily done as to cover major astronomy installation before the onset of Monsoons in India (June to September). Till date, we have video and photo documented 6 major Optical and Solar facilities covering from the South to the extreme north of India, they being the

1) Kodiakanal Solar , Kodaikannal, Tamil Nadu (16 th to 20 th April 2014 ): The observatory is one of the oldest solar observatories in the world with more than 100 year of solar data. The observatory in under the administration of Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, India. 2) Vainu Bappu observatory, Kavalur, Tamil Nadu (24 th to 27 th April 2014): The observatory is host to the currently Indian largest optical 2.3meter telescope and several other telescopes in 1meter class. The observatory in under the administration of Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, India. 3) Gurushikhar Observatory, Mt Abu, Rajasthan (8th to 11 th May 2014): The observatory house a 1.2meter Optical & Infrared telescope, and is set up on the highest peak of the oldest mountain ranges – the Aravali’s. The observatory in under the administration of Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. 4) Udaipur Solar Observatory, Udaipur, Rajasthan (12 th to 14 th May 2014): The Solar Observatory is built right in the centre of the lake Fate Sagar, and house several solar telescope that continuously monitors the Sun. The observatory in under the administration of Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. 5) National Large Solar Telescope (Proposed site), Marek, Ladakh (24th to 26 th May 2014): A proposed 2 meter class solar telescope site, situated on the banks of the Pangong Lake. The site is close to the Chinese Border and is at a height of more than 11000 ft above MSL. 6) Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO), Hanle, Ladakh (27 th to 30 th May 2014): The IAO has two major national facility installed in the remotest location of Himalayan Mountains. a) Himalayan Chandra telescope: A 2.01meter optical & infrared telescope is the second highest observatory in the world and is situated at a altitude of 14,764 feet above MSL. The observatory in under the administration of Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, India. b) High Altitude Gamma Ray Telescope (HAGAR): A array consisting of 7 telescope with each having 7 mirrors of 1meter dia, is collectively used to detected atmospheric Cerenkov radiations. This facility is a joint collaboration of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore and Tata Institute of Fundamental research, Mumbai.

C) Proposed work in the coming months:

We shall be visiting several other institutes and facilities in the upcoming months; these include several optical, infrared, Radio telescopes. We do plan to visit numerous other institutions like the Inter University centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational (ARIES), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Raman Research Institutes (RRI), Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIAP) and several others.

D) Astroproject on Internet:

A dedicated website has been hosted under the domain of www.astroproject.in and shall host all information related to the project, information of the Astronomy facilities, Gallery (Photo & Video) and other information’s. We are also using the social networking media (facebook, twitter, Flicker) for regularly updated of the project work. The links to the sites are as below. www.astroproject.in www.facebook.com/astroproject https://www.flickr.com/photos/120706234@N07/ https://twitter.com/astroproject14