Expert: Jayendra Upadhye - 8/26/2007

Question
sir,
      we are students of iit india and we are planning to include astronomy as a part of our annual technical fest. but since we are conducting this for the first time, we are not sure as how to organize an astronomy based event. it should preferably include some events which test the knowledge of the participants other than of course popular lectures. could you please guide us by giving us advice and ideas on an astronomy fest?

Answer
Hi,
Vinit, I sincerely hope you arent pulling my leg here!
Afterall IITians are supposed to be very knowledgeable themselves.

But here is a list of things you could do depending on resources at your disposal.

Audio-Visuals:-
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Audio visual medium being what it is, You could set up a small projection area (outdoors or indoors), with
a) - Slide show of the Hubble images (courtesy Hubble heritage site on the web), and take the participants on a journey from earth to the very extremities of the universe, (Abell cluster red shift 7).
b) - Play out for the audience, wonderful Movie clips about near earth objects (asteroids), or the saturn flypast of the nasa spacecraft, discuss gravitational slingshots, etc.
c) - Play out the moon landing and Challenger disaster videos, and make out how challenging the field of astronautics is.


Cutting edge:
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1) - Present the Reusable Launch Vehicle RLV (India's own and NASA's Shuttle), and discuss the problems involved, discus ablatives and how they help form heat shields for ICBM's and RLVs.
Discuss carbon composites such as kevlar and other elastomers, and their uses in space suits and Heat shields, as well as in military aerospace vehicles (Tejas, the LCA).

Science:
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1) - Discuss the Abell cluster and gravitational lensing associated with it.
Also point out how over time, a supernova progressively lights up the shells of gas its progenitor had expelled, as it catches up with them. Thus demonstrating the finite speed of light.
2) - Discuss galactic center in sagittarius, and the monster black hole associated with spiral galaxies centers.
explain galactic rotation curves and how that leads to assumptions about "dark matter".
3) - Discuss local group, how it is speeding towards the Virgo cluster. Also discuss The Big bang and fluctuations in the CMB that help us understand the large scale structure of the universe.
4) - Discuss How the milky way will collide with the andromeda galaxy (M31) and form a giant elliptical galaxy.
5) - Discuss the role and distribution of globular clusters in the galactic halo.
6) - Discuss teh Neutron Gamma reaction and the mystery why the sun is "dim" in its neutrino flux.
7) - Discuss supernova 1987a, and how underground mines in Japan and elsewhere, were the first to detect by triangulation, the position of the supernova, based on the first neutrino burst from it!!

8) - Discus the indian space program, various PSLVE and GSLV CONFIGURATIONS, THE vIKAS engine, and how India uses the worlds largest single case solid rocket booster!

9) - Cryogenic fuels and engines.
10) - Seti, extra terrestrial intelligence / Arecibo / Very large array radio telescopes, etc.

Guess that should be quite a platefull even for IITians.
Jayen