Open Day at Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bengaluru on March 2

The Open Day will have stalls by external amateur astronomy and science popularisation groups, and for the first time, stalls by astronomy entrepreneurs, and book sellers as well.

The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) will celebrate National Science Day as IIA Open Day on March 2, from 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. at its campus in Koramangala, Bengaluru.

This event is open to the general public, is free of charge, and there is no prior registration required.

The institute will showcase astronomy and astrophysics through talks, demonstrations, stalls, as well as posters and models.

Visitors can expect to see a tethered balloon carrying instruments, tour of the optics lab, and sunspot and solar spectrum viewing, many new experiments on gravitational lensing, exoplanets, atmospheric seeing, adaptive optics, gravitational waves, infrared astronomy, liquid Nitrogen. There will be models of GSLV Mark III and an Outer Space Corridor for visitors to experience and learn from.

The Open Day will have stalls by external amateur astronomy and science popularisation groups, and for the first time, stalls by astronomy entrepreneurs, and book sellers as well.

In addition, the visitors will have an opportunity to take part in games, quizzes, and sketching. IIA Archives will exhibit important scientific artefacts from the institute’s history of more than 230 years.

There will be a public talk on ‘Astrophotography and Night Skies from the Himalayas’ by Dorje Angchuk at 4 p.m., a talk on careers in astronomy at IIA at 2 p.m., and a talk in Kannada by B.S. Shubha on Indian astronomy at 12 noon.