Search

This paper presents a report on the activities and the proposed action plan of the Education and Public Outreach Working Group (EPO WG) of Square Kilometre Array–India Consortium (SKAIC). Details of a set of flagship programs as well as supporting activities are presented, in consonance with the scale of India's involvement in Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), as well as the educational and science literacy contexts in the country. Ongoing independent EPO activities by some of the member institutions are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Observatory is a next-generation radio astronomy facility that has recently entered into the construction phase, after successful completion of the design and prototyping phases during 2013–2021. Planned to be operational by the end of this decade, the SKA is expected to revolutionise astronomy by allowing cutting edge explorations in an extremely wide range of science areas, while driving the growth of many important new state-of-the-art technologies. There are more than 10 countries currently participating in the international consortium to build this facility, which will be co-located in Australia and South Africa with the global headquarters in the United Kingdom. Indian scientists and engineers have played a significant role since the beginning: from the definition of the SKA concept and its science case, to some important aspects of the design of the instrument and the prototyping activities. India is now getting ready to join the construction phase of the SKA with a well defined proposal for technical activities spanning a few different areas of work. Along with this, Indian astronomers are busy refining their science case for the SKA and preparing in different ways to be ready for front line science with the facility as and when it is commissioned. All these activities are coordinated by the SKA India consortium, which currently has a membership of more than 20 institutions across the country. In this paper, we describe the current status of the SKA project, and focus on India's role—past contributions, ongoing activities and future plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have designed a low-cost radio telescope system named the Bose Horn Antenna Radio Telescope (BHARAT) to detect the 21 cm hydrogen line emission from our Galaxy. The system is being used at the Radio Physics Laboratory (RPL) (Radio Physics Lab, IUCAA NCRA-TIFR, , ), Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), India, for laboratory sessions and training students and teachers. It is also a part of the laboratory curriculum at several universities and colleges. Here, we present the design of a highly efficient, easy to build, and cost-effective dual-mode conical horn used as a radio telescope and describe the calibration procedure. We also present some model observation data acquired using the telescope for facilitating easy incorporation of this experiment in the laboratory curriculum of undergraduate or post-graduate programs. We have named the antenna after Acharya (teacher or an influential mentor) Jagadish Chandra Bose, honoring a pioneer in radio-wave science and an outstanding teacher, who inspired several world renowned scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During a campaign in December 2006, radio spectrum measurements over the frequency range 45-870 MHz were carried out at the Gauribidanur observatory, located about 100 km north of Bangalore. The spectrometer used for the above purpose was subsequently configured for radio spectral observations of the solar corona. This paper describes, (i) radio frequency interference over some of the frequency bands 'protected' for radio astronomy; and (ii) 'first' solar radio burst observation and the above instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]