Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings Volume 54 More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/7395 Wayne Orchiston • Aniket Sule • Mayank Vahia Editors The Growth and Development of Astronomy and Astrophysics in India and the Asia-Pacific Region ICOA-9, Pune, India, 15-18 November 2016 Editors Wayne Orchiston Aniket Sule National Astronomical Research Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education Institute of Thailand Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Chiang Mai, Thailand Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Centre for Astrophysics University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba, QLD, Australia Mayank Vahia School of Mathematical Sciences SVKM’s NMIMS (Deemed to be University) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India This work is a co-publication with Hindustan Book Agency, New Delhi, licensed for sale in all countries in electronic form, in print form only outside of India. Sold and distributed in print within India by Hindustan Book Agency, P-19 Green Park Extension, New Delhi 110016, India. ISBN: 978-93-86279-75-0 © Hindustan Book Agency 2018. ISSN 1570-6591 ISSN 1570-6605 (electronic) Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings ISBN 978-981-13-3644-7 ISBN 978-981-13-3645-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3645-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2019934758 © Hindustan Book Agency 2018 and Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publishers, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. 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The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Preface It was a pleasure and a privilege to organise the Ninth International Conference on Oriental Astronomy, and we are grateful to Professor Tsuko Nakamura and other members of the ICOA Organising Committee for allowing us to organise an ICOA in India. The primary purpose behind the meeting was to help Indian researchers meet international scholars and at the same time expose these international scholars to the richness of India’s astronomical history. We are happy that more than 100 scholars from India and abroad one way or another participated in ICOA-9. The history of astronomy is not a very well-studied subject in India. We, therefore, took advantage of the occasion and invited interested young researchers who had limited knowledge of the history of astronomy to a 3-day workshop just prior to the ICOA-9 conference so that they could become familiar with ideas prevalent in the field before they attended the conference. We are happy to report that more than 20 young researchers with various fields of specialisation participated in the workshop. Several distinguished scholars also agreed to come and give lectures at the workshop and present their work at the conference. We believe that this will have an excellent long-term impact on research in this field in India. We also used the conference as a reason to bring out a book titled History of Indian Astronomy: A Handbook, which was edited by K. Ramasubramanian, Aniket Sule and Mayank Vahia and was distributed free of charge to all participants. This 700-page book contains 21 chapters written by 35 different authors and covers the history of Indian astronomy from the early megalithic cultures to the arrival of the telescope in India and the development of the leading nineteenth-century observa- tories. This book provided international astronomers at the conference with an invaluable overview of Indian astronomy, and it will surely prove to be an excellent resource for any new researcher wishing to enter this field. Another enjoyable feature of the conference was the hospitality of the Indian Institute of Scientific Education and Research (IISER) in Pune. Due to their excellent infrastructure and cooperation, all conference participants could stay together and vii viii Preface discuss topics of mutual interest over breakfast, lunch and dinner. The fact that the IISER was able to organise the conference and accommodation and meals within a single building was a blessing. The conference itself was a delightful experience. With a relatively small but intensely interested group of participants, the meeting generated a lot of ideas and insights, and the presence of a pool of young participants certainly helped in maintaining an environment for discussion and participation. Apart from the formal paper sessions, the conference also included a public lecture on the development of radio astronomy in Asia that was jointly presented by Professor Wayne Orchiston and Professor Govind Swarup and an absorbing musical evening by Ms. Rashmi Sule. During the conference, participants also were able to visit the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at Khodad. There also was a post-conference field trip to Aurangabad, which is close to the meteorite impact crater lake at Lonar and the magnificently sculpted and painted rock art caves of Ajantha and Ellora. The workshop, conference and field trips would have been impossible without generous support from several funding agencies but particularly the Tata Trust and the Infosys Foundation. The conference also benefitted greatly from academic and financial support supplied by the IISER who hosted us, the Tata Institute of Funda- mental Research (Mumbai), the Indian Institute of Technology (Mumbai), the Indian Institute of Technology (Gandhi Nagar), Deccan College (Pune), the Inter- University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (Pune) and the National Centre for Radioastrophysics (also in Pune). Several people played crucial roles in the success of this conference. Professor Narlikar’s support and encouragement and his participation in the entire meeting were a great morale booster for the organisers. Mr. Kishore Menon’s efforts in immaculately planning all the details of the conference helped ensure its success. Professor Sunil Mukhi and staff at the IISER played a pivotal role in organising the conference and the pre-conference workshop, and we are indebted to them for their excellent logistical support. We also thank the staff at the National Centre for Radioastrophysics for hosting our visit to the GMRT. Members of the SOC provided crucial guidance in making the conference and workshop programmes academically exciting, while the LOC ensured that the conference was pleasant and enjoyable for all. Finally, we wish to thank all of the delegates for their enthusiastic participation in this memorable conference. We hope that this book will prove useful to future generations of students and researchers who develop an interest in the exciting field of Asian and circum-Pacific history of astronomy. Toowoomba, QLD, Australia Wayne Orchiston Mumbai, India Aniket Sule Mumbai, India Mayank Vahia Committees Scientific Organising Committee Tsuko NAKAMURA (Chairman – Japan) Mayank VAHIA (Secretary – India) Michel DANINO (India) Shuhrat EHGAMBERDIEV (Uzbekistan) Bambang HIDAYAT (Indonesia) Rajesh KOCHHAR (India) S.P. MEHROTRA (India) Moon-Hyon NAM (South Korea) Jayant NARLIKAR (India) Il-Seong NHA (South Korea) Yukio ÔHASHI (Japan) Wayne ORCHISTON (Thailand) Farhad RAHIMI (Iran) K. RAMASUBRAMANIAN (India) Clive RUGGLES (England) Anand SENGUPTA (India) Yunli SHI (China) Mitsuru SÔMA (Japan) Boonrucksar SOONTHORNTHUM (Thailand) John STEELE (USA) Richard STEPHENSON (England) Richard STROM (Netherlands) Xiaochun SUN (China) Arnold WOLFENDALE (England) ix x Committees National Advisory Committee Jayant NARLIKAR (Chairman) Mayank VAHIA (Secretary) S.M. CHITRE S.K. GHOSH Ajit KEMBHAVI Sunil MUKHI K. RAMASUBRAMANIAN Vasant SHINDE Local Organising Committee Aniket SULE (Chairman) Sanjit MITRA Suhas NAIK SATAM Vijay SATHE Prasad SUBRAMANIAN Mayank VAHIA Yogesh WADADEKAR Nisha YADAV Participants Note: Co-authors of ICOA-9 papers who were unable to attend the Conference are indicated by asterisks. AGARWAL, Pulkit (Singapore)* ANKUSH, Pathania (India) ANSARI, Razaullah (India) ATAOLLAHI, Bentolhoda (Iran) BISWAS, Parikshit (India) CHEUNG, Sze-leung (China) CHIKARA, Ramesh (India)* CHOI, Goeun (South Korea) CHU Longfei (China) DABHADE, Raka (India) DALEE, Hani Muhammad (Qatar) DANDEKAR, Prakash (India) DAS GUPTA, Patrick (India) DÉBARBAT, Suzanne (France)* DEVGUN, C.B. (India)* GADRE, Bhooshann (India) GANESHA, Geetha Kydala (India) GARG, Anurag (India)* GEORGE, Martin (Australia)* GISLÉN, Lars (Sweden)* GONZÁLEZ, Carmen Pérez (Germany) GUPTA,