A reference document on the workshop

Talk summaries, action items, & useful links.

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THIS WORKSHOP IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF

DR. RATHNASREE NANDIVADA

(1963-2021)

Introduction 3

Video recordings 4

Key points and useful URLs 5

Learnings 14

Action items from the two discussion sessions 16

Program Schedule 17

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INTRODUCTION A national workshop titled ‘Public Engagement in Astronomy in the Pandemic Era’ was organised between 2-4 August 2021 in a fully online mode. This workshop was organised by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics along with the Public Outreach and Education Committee (POEC) of the Astronomical Society of India (ASI), and the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, and was also a part of the ‘Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations at IIA.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the community of science educators have had to adapt to the loss of personal interactions. Many organisations took to the format of online webinars, but this depends on good quality access to internet We are now realising that normalcy, as we knew it, is not going to come soon. This, coupled with ‘zoom fatigue’, necessitates a reimagining of the methods many of us have been adopting so far. Astronomy outreach, in particular, suffers greatly from the absence of sky observing sessions with telescopes, since it is the visual appeal of looking through an eyepiece that enthuses young students. Many astronomy and science popularisers have, over the last year, come up with innovative methods of interacting with the public outside of the webinar mode. This workshop was meant to bring together the outreach community in astronomy and related fields, to share our ideas on possible ways of engagement, as well as have a discussion on the path ahead.

We had over 150 registered participants, and the workshop featured 44 talks and 2 discussion sessions over three days. The speakers included science communicators, planetarium and science centres, amateur astronomers, high school teachers, and institutional outreach personnel. These talks covered a range of topics like using new methods of communication, hybrid models that combine online and offline methods, social media usage, working with local communities, enabling hands-on experiments at home, live webcasts of the night sky, etc. We also organised two discussion sessions, one in English and for the first time, one in Kannada as well. These discussions were fruitful, leading to concrete action items for the future. We also formed a whatsapp group of all participants to carry the work forward. This document collects the action items, learnings, summaries and useful links gleaned from the workshop. The key points for some of the talks was sent to us by the speakers, which are presented in the order of the program schedule.

The video recordings of all the sessions are uploaded at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHt_sZ2bz_ox4GTROjln4TvY-WLVJM17o

The playlist can also be found at https://www.youtube.com/c/IIABengaluru

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VIDEO RECORDINGS Day 1, Session 1 and 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPnu9EdTf1w

Day 1, Session 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aoKvc5MY5A

Day 2, Sessions 4 and 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNanC6avv1Q

Day 2, Session 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXCoDJr1h8c

Day 3, Session 7 and Discussion in English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRAh5B_19T0

Day 3, Discussion in Kannada https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-BnFPjAk50

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KEY POINTS AND USEFUL URLS

Priya Hasan (Maulana Azad National Urdu University) Shristi@Home: Astronomy Education and Outreach during the pandemic

• Online medium has a very good reach and can be recorded for further use. • Astronomy from Archival Data & AstroSprint were two good ways to engage the youth in

astronomy-based research activity. • Many issues with online classes in schools and colleges need to be addressed. Remedial

classes required. URLs https://shristiastro.com/ https://www.astrosprint2021.com/

Understanding the shapes of the moon: Connecting cultural festivals with calendars Arvind Kudla, Govt. H.P. School, Moodambailu, & BGVS Karnataka

• Observing day to day astronomical events like moon rise, its position, its shape and the angle that it makes with the sun at the point of observer.

• Connecting this with the lunar calendar followed in the locality. • Taking up a study of festivals, agricultural practices and food culture based on this lunar

calendar. All these are done by giving observation sheets and self learning materials and project work with children of upper primary and secondary level. Then encourage then to study different kinds of calendars followed around the world like the Gregorian calendar that we use.

Non formal Science educational activities during the Pandemic Era Lakshmi BR, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bengaluru

• Designing the workshops with easily available materials.Sending the day wise list and photos of the materials required. And also suggesting alternative materials whenever required

• Creating a whatsapp group of students for each workshop to interact informally with them. • Being bilingual during the classes to break the language barrier. • Sharing the videos of all the activities by the end of each day of the workshop for the benefit

of students who used to have network problems.

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Scientists as citizens: lessons from the pandemic R. Ramanujam, TamilNadu Science Forum and visitor, Azim Premji University

• Science communication as mandate of S&T institutions. • From online education to online platforms connecting academia and the general public. • Scientists' sense of social responsibility deepens with public engagement.

URL: http://indscicov.in/

Challenge into opportunity: astronomy communication during the pandemic, a case study T.V. Venkateswaran, Vigyan Prasar

The talk elucidates how during the pandemic period, social media was leveraged and online interaction were used for popularising astronomy and organising astronomy public outreach programmes. Astronomy communication products like e-poster, e-books and social media AV were produced and distributed by Vigyan Prasar.

Pedagogical package for interdisciplinary projects for students & Using old media in new ways – a case for the radio Indulekha Kavila, Mahatma Gandhi University

• Mentors + teachers + students - working online - on even simple projects - students Learning Apply Knowledge

• All India Radio as well as India Post has excellent coverage. • Physical material via post + well designed audio modules delivered by radio can be effectively

used for single teacher schools as well as for outreach

URL: www.edc.org

Chasing the Sun around the Globe Atharva Pathak, Jyotirvidya Parisanstha

• Some Key Points and links relevant to the talk can be: • A simple, worldwide, and coordinated event can be arranged where people from various time

zones and continents can collaborate with each other, online and arrange an activity as a "Global View of the Sun"(Show simultaneous Sunrise or Sunset and explain associated concepts) or "Global View of the Moon"(observe the change in appearance/orientation of Moon, etc)

• Tutorial to use a Cell phone to live stream on YouTube channel without needing 1000 subscribers. Credits: IUCAA SciPOP.

• The Presentation takeaway is:

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◦ Networking with people across the world by means of popular events can help set up the groundwork for planning future coordinated observational astronomy events.

◦ Streaming, allows an increase in reach, and people are motivated to get involved as an amateur astronomers, or simply look up to the sky and think

◦ Encourage people and show them how they can enjoy observing day-to-day astronomy events and help eradicate misconceptions.

URLS: A step-by-step guide to set up and use OBS Studio for Streaming: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E_bRDa90C-p9JkRewS4FHKNMmJ8NHv3jyv4eNiGaefs/

Link to PPT of the talk: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vT8bI1zw1A4k8LOiiGk45u8rmFXSBa10onYm3xdhaCUndFCrlyj6_qNViGqQnwj1y2p4nBo2gpUyY6z/pub

Astronomy outreach: a multilingual approach Siva Shakthi & Roopkatha Bhattacharya, No Nonsense Science Club

• multilingual outreach to reach more people • to inculcate scientific temper among as many citizens as possible • people prefer bite-sized content and since they actively use platforms like FB and Insta, easier

to reach them

URL: https://nononsensescience.com/ Twitter: NoNonsenseS1 Email: a.sivashakthi@gmail.com

Using social media to engage with students Rashmi Sheoran, Indian Science Communication Society

• When in person discussions are not possible, sending regular updates via social media can help in keeping that enthusiasm alive especially for beginners.

• Misinformation spreads from social media, so communicating about celestial events on the same platform itself with the scientific accurate information informs people who might be left confused otherwise or misinformed.

• Not all people can attend 30-45 mins long webinars and conferences because of time constraints, so making short and concise videos with key points helps. Also, these videos are easy to share so the information reaches more people.

• Our work can be recognised internationally with the power of social media which can create a sense of diverse community.

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URLs: Social Media Platforms https://www.instagram.com/astro_roxy/ https://twitter.com/astro_roxy https://www.facebook.com/astro.roxy/ https://youtube.com/c/AstroRoxy Email: rashmisheoran@gmail.com

My experiences with astronomy outreaches through school visits, online zoom sessions and e-magazines Sandeep Kataria, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

• Amalgamation of e-magazine/print magazine along with online zoom sessions will connect with school students efficiently. Frequent online sessions will provide feedback for upcoming magazine content.

• Print magazines (in regional languages) are necessary channels to reach students lacking access to smartphones/laptops.

URLs: • DOOT E-magazine: https://www.iiap.res.in/?q=e_magazine • Recorded zoom session of Astronomy Overview sessions for BSc+ MSc students organized

during the pandemic time: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYINdY80sBwtIiuXUZid6YA

• Repository of answers to most general questions asked during these zoom sessions: https://sites.google.com/view/letstalkastronomy/faq

The Musings Sushan Konar, formerly Visiting Scientist, NCRA-TIFR

Mode of engagement - weekly blog Main advantages -

• easy access to the material, • easy access to the resource person, • conversational nature

URL : https://sushan-konar-musings.blogspot.com/

Understanding geography and astronomy through shadow observations P. Varuni, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences

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With simple measurements and diagrams, students can connect changes in shadow length to concepts of rotation, tilt and revolution of the earth. Keywords / tags: #ZeroShadowDay #ZSD #shadows

URLs: Unit 3: https://badal.hbcse.tifr.res.in/index.php/s/nYEb3i3EDLRkQ3K, ZSD app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alokm.zsd&hl=en_IN&gl=US

Creating a new generation of Astronomy Ambassadors: an astronomy outreach workshop for high school students Kenath Arun, Christ University

• Ambassadors of astronomy• High-school outreach• Extended workshop • Hands-on workshop• Design DIY astronomy tools• Outreach magazine

Taking Astronomy to public - e-Activities and Initiatives by PAAC Atul Bhat, A.P. Bhat, Poornaprajna College, Udupi

• The Club releases realistic Astronomy Calendars every month, Digital Posters of Full Moon and Astronomy Events along with Infographics.

• The Club also makes Guide to the Night Sky every month and releases the video on YouTube and the Audio of the guide on Spotify for people to explore the night sky. We also release Skymaps every month.

• The Club makes Astronomy Crosswords for students to learn and solve the hints from Astronomy.

• The Club has transformed Connect the dots exercise into Connect with the Stars, making students and kids work out the various constellation shapes along with information to spot them(Released every month)

• The club also has released Kannada Starlore for stellarium and all of the content is made available in Kannada with the hashtag #KannadaAstronomy on social media.

URLs: Club Website: https://paac.ppc.ac.in Club Social Links: https://paac.ppc.ac.in/social Club Contact: paac@ppc.ac.in

Learning astronomy during the pandemic Apoorva Prakash (Young Innovators Educational Services Pvt Ltd)

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We are here to share our ideas of approach towards in-directive and experiential based learning methods in Astronomy, inculcate curiosity in young minds and to make the learners think, visualize and bring the visualization into reality. We are proud to say that we are also the record holders in Assembling 100 telescope in just 1 hour. Please find enclosed below the link of our website and social media.

URL's to be shared : www.younginnovators.in https://www.facebook.com/YoungInnovators https://www.youtube.com/c/YoungInnovatorsChannel

Geo Science Club Activities Pravin Shinde, Teacher, Govt school

• Scientific temperament • Low-cost Science learning material • Astronomy Clubs • Digital Repository for Science • Online Activities • Lab in Hand • Talk with Gyan

URL of Video series https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRnFJt1c1NhR_x52Y15Qlcwtl4XisF4-w

D. Aravindaraja (Artchouna Soupraya Naikar Govt High School) Role of Astronomy in the fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Learning Astronomy through Photography• Counting Sunspots on an Image of the Sun• Silhouettes during Sunrise and Sunset• Explore Moon with Astroreality

Fun of learning: shift from offline to online mode during pandemic Mamta Gulati, Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology

• Hands-on(line) • e-treasurehunt & e-learning.

URL: Youtube videos of the events

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https://youtube.com/channel/UCn3L-wvn-BjSHnn-URDX0cQ

Astronomy through virtual learning aids for students, teachers, and public Krishna Kumar Kowshik, MP Birla Institute of Fundamental Research

• Virtual Astronomy, Citizen Science, Sky and Data visualization. • Observational Astronomy at a young age teaches patience, • Engineering mathematics useful for data modeling

URLs: JMARS Downloads | JMARS - Java Mission-planning and Analysis for Remote Sensing (asu.edu), AAS WorldWide Telescope: WWT Downloads, TOPCAT (bris.ac.uk), Aladin Sky Atlas (u-strasbg.fr), PROJECT CLEA: THE VIRTUAL EDUCATIONAL OBSERVATORY (gettysburg.edu), Projects — Zooniverse

Samir Dhurde (Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics) Reaching out while staying distanced: some positive ideas

• Telescope Making (Virtual as well as Social distanced): Socially distanced events, where we enable people to make their own telescopes locally

• BRING YOUR OWN BINOCULARS(BYOB): Use your own optics and enjoy star watching with us

• USE OF RADIO: Make use of All India Radio and Local FM Stations for disseminating interesting content and for effective outreach.

• Make Use of and widely share the IAU, ASI, and Local Institute Resources to add quality to our work

• A Network of Easily-accessible Scientists and Astronomers should be in place to arrange collaborative events, competitions, as well as generation of open resources to train and help astronomers in their work.

• The use of Tools for Streaming, Recording, and Post-production is vital and tutorials need to be in place for people to set up these tools and use them. (from workshop organization as well as astronomy perspective)

URLS: • Presentation slides at • https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/

2PACX-1vSxM9oKB0NbCUKJFms4ULBbm7fFz4K1hTNykVRegX11YpjicbZUnZgi5uVmnXMLjqaLApGK1oN5eTBa/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000

• Tutorial to use a Cell phone to live stream on YouTube channel without needing 1000 subscribers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq-i6JnxPaw

• A step-by-step guide to set up and use OBS Studio for Streaming: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E_bRDa90C-p9JkRewS4FHKNMmJ8NHv3jyv4eNiGaefs/edit?usp=sharing

• IUCAA SciPOP Website: http://scipop.iucaa.in/ • IUCAA SciPOP YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/IUCAASciPOP

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• IUCAA SciPOP Twitter Channel: https://twitter.com/IUCAAScipop • IUCAA SciPOP Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/IUCAASciPOP/ • IUCAA SciPOP Email ID: scipop@gmail.com

Disha Sawant (Pune Knowledge Cluster) Citizen Science with Pune Knowledge Cluster

Pune Knowledge Cluster's (PKC) Citizen Science projects: • Big data (from any scientific streams) can be offered to the general public for basic filtering,

eyeballing and categorizing which can eventually be served to AI/ ML as a training dataset. • Using training sessions and feedback surveys, introducing the citizens to the basic

methodologies scientists follow will help us inculcate scientific temper and also build confidence.

• Unique discoveries, robust scientific research and socio-intellectual profiling of the citizens can be churned out from such practices.

Pune Knowledge Cluster's website: https://www.pkc.org.in/ Email to get in touch: citizen.science@pkc.org.in

Use of Apps and Video series for effective Astronomy Outreach and Pro-Am Engagement Shivani Pethe and Atharva Pathak

• The use of a hybrid model (pre-recorded video uploaded to YouTube as well as live, summary-based-interaction) was found most effective during the time of the pandemic.

• Uploading the videos on YouTube enables easy access and can save bandwidth by adjusting streaming quality, especially for people with limited data packs or poor internet access.

• Development and Usage of Customized apps can be an excellent resource for Students to Learn, measure and experiment offline with simple smartphones.

• A dedicated channel for Professional and Amateur Astronomers should be in place for the exchange of requirements and data, as well as providing opportunities for amateur astronomers to collaborate with Astronomers and institutes in an academic capacity.

• Universities, institutes can include students in designing and curating the resources for training and data processing for effective astronomy activities, citizen science activities, and local, multi-lingual outreach.

URL of presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSq9oiOx7b5AapqmAETWPcXku9igJgTxn4lILYm14XzGBSZjYZfLeqNgvcgmYDtVoABIZzZ049lM_36/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000

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Harnessing technology for activities based astronomy outreach Azgar Ali, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bengaluru

Digital Universe Atlas, Augmented Reality, ZSD, Data Visualization, URL: https://www.openspaceproject.com/

Kodaikanal Observatory - a virtual tour Ebenezer Chellasamy, Indian Institute of Astrophysics

• Virtual tour to Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, Different varieties of telescopes and its usage. • Still operational during pandemic for the public (School & College students) through virtual

platform. No Charges - Free URL: https://kso.iiap.res.in/new

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LEARNINGS

PRINCIPLES

• Need structural solutions for collaboration between scientists, people’s science movements and other stakeholderss including the govt.

• Social media can be utilised in many novel ways these days and these need to be exploited far more than we have so far, and systematically as well.

• We badly need more material in regional languages. These need to be in an informal register rather than formal sounding language

• Need tech help for science communicators on the ground, but also critically assess the effect of using a technology.

• Many children have had their education almost completely disrupted, with little support available. Designing outreach programs need to keep this in mind.

• Need to make science-informed material on societal issues as well.

TOOLS AND PRACTICES

• Convincing local cable tv channels / radio stations to carry live coverage of local outreach events is a great idea.

• A physical science (news)paper that can be posted or sent to students is useful. Make it 2-way by enclosing a return envelope.

• Connecting people at various longitudes can demonstrate the effects of Earth's rotation, sunrise/sunset, time zones etc.

• Planetaria, science centres, and observatories can organise virtual walk-throughs. • Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality is now being experimented with by a few groups, and

many need training. • There are a number of simple android apps in astronomy that can be used and need to be

collated together. • Watching the Moon from home and noting its appearance and position at different times of

night is a great astronomy at home exercise • Live streaming of celestial events can be done with a phone, as well as with a telescope from

a dark site. • Making simple night sky videos using Stellarium etc in regional languages, adding eg

Kannada starlore to Stellarium. • Podcasts are very useful tools these days. • A simple shortest shadow being marked everyday in school is a fantastic educational tool.

ZSD is becoming increasingly popular and we need to further expand its reach.

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METHODOLOGIES

• Send kits by post to students’ houses (directly or through schools), followed by online sessions on using them. This has been done by quite a few groups successfully.

• Send worksheets to large number of students, especially curricular • Residential associations have the infrastructure, support, and a motivated crowd for outreach

activities. How do we take this beyond gated communities? • Radio programs are a great way to reach the public at home, especially for night sky viewing. • A hybrid model where online interactions and home experiments feedback into each other

works very well. • Another hybrid model is when students use a limited time in a place with good internet,

followed by offline work. • Empower students to lead the teaching of their peers through a structured program • A science festival (NSD) can be conducted through carefully designed online tools like an

app (NCRA NSD) • Need to provide a media package that can be used by journalists to create their own material. • Nation-wide simultaneous experiments like Eratosthenes are doable even in the pandemic.

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ACTION ITEMS FROM THE TWO DISCUSSION SESSIONS

• We have formed a WA group. We also need an online forum. • Plan a pan-Indian campaign to measure shadow lengths on a particular day and time. • Work on an astronomy elective module for high school students – HBCSE has started this

project, OAE NAEC can also step in. • Need to plan a central repository of outreach material - educators can use resources created

by each other by giving due acknowledgements. • Need to make this kind of workshop an annual event, including sessions and talks in various

languages. The POEC can take this forward. • Have better connection with media, and form a media watch cell for pseudo science. • Connect with non-astro science communication people • Organise workshops for science communicators as well as on sci comm for scientists. • Is it possible to work on astronomy dictionaries in various languages? Complex issue. • Skill exchange among astronomy educators • Utilising other modes of communication like folk songs, theatre, sculptures in public places

and puppet shows to popularise astronomy. This will also help in the fight against superstitions • Utilising the national institutes in the vicinity for all outreach activities (interactive

sessions and visits) by schools / colleges • The access for science communicators to resources from the institutes in India for making

short videos, reports on the research carried out by Indians • Introducing star names in regional languages in apps like Stellarium as has already been done

in Kannada

The video recordings of all the sessions are uploaded at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHt_sZ2bz_ox4GTROjln4TvY-WLVJM17o

The playlist can also be found at https://www.youtube.com/c/IIABengaluru

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PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Day 1 2 Aug

Session 1: Astronomy from your home (Chair: Aniket Sule)

9.45-10.10 Welcome by Director & Dean, IIA and President, ASI, Introduction to the workshop

10.10-10.30 Geeta Mahashabde (Navnirmiti Learning Foundation) Day Time Astronomy for Public Engagement (invited)

10.30-10.40 Sagar Gokhale (Jyotirvidya Parisanstha) Nationwide experiment to estimate size of earth using Eratosthenes’s method

10.40-10.50 Priya Hasan (Maulana Azad National Urdu University) Shristi@Home: Astronomy Education and Outreach during the pandemic

10.50-11.00 Arvind Kudla (Govt. H.P. School, Moodambailu, & BGVS Karnataka) Understanding the shapes of the moon: Connecting cultural festivals with calendars

11.00-11.10 VSS Sastry Astronomy engagement through residential associations

11.10-11.15 Lakshmi BR (Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bengaluru) Non formal Science educational activities during the Pandemic Era (lightning talk)

11.15-11.20 Seema Pooranchand A window of Astronomy in the gated communities (lightning talk)

11.20-11.30 Questions and discussion

Day 1 2 Aug

Session 2: Large scale programs (Chair: Prajval Shastri)

11.45-12.05 R. Ramanujam (TamilNadu Science Forum & visitor at Azim Premji University) Scientists as citizens: Lessons from the pandemic (invited)

12.05-12.25 T.V. Venkateswaran (Vigyan Prasar) Challenge into opportunity: astronomy communication during the pandemic, a case study (invited talk)

12.25-12.35 Subhankar Chakraborty (Indian Institute of Science & BGVS Karnataka) Learn to learn: Addressing learning and engaging with science during the inequity of access

12.35-12.45 Questions and discussion

Day 1 2 Aug

Session 3: Using media in novel ways (Chair: Samir Dhurde)

2.00-2.10 Indulekha Kavila (Mahatma Gandhi University) (1) Pedagogical package for interdisciplinary projects for students (2) Using old media in new ways – a case for the radio

2.10-2.20 Atharva Pathak (Jyotirvidya Parisanstha) Chasing the Sun around the globe

2.20-2.30 A. Manikkavelan (Galileo Science Centre, Madurai) Cosmic Voyages in the times of the pandemic

2.30-2.40 Asmita Redij (Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education) A paper (news)letter

2.40-2.50 Siva Shakthi (IISER Trivandrum & No Nonsense Science Club) Astronomy outreach: a multilingual approach

2.50-3.00 Rashmi Sheoran (Indian Science Communication Society) Using social media to engage with students

3.00-3.10 Sandeep Kataria (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) My experiences with astronomy outreaches through school visits, online zoom sessions and e-magazines

3.10-3.15 Sushan Konar (former Visiting Scientist, NCRA) The Musings (lightning talk)

3.15-3.25 Questions and discussion

Day 2 3 Aug

Session 4: Targetting school students (Chair: Ravinder Banyal)

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10.00-10.20 P. Varuni (Institute of Mathematical Sciences) Understanding geography and astronomy through shadow observations (invited talk)

10.20-10.30 Anand MY (Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium) Astronomy educational activities at JNP during COVID19

10.30-10.35 Sindhu Kariappa (CLT India) Introducing astronomy into CLTe-Patashale Digital Library (lightning talk)

10.35-10.40 Kenath Arun (Christ University) Creating a new generation of Astronomy Ambassadors: an astronomy outreach workshop for high school students (lightning talk)

10.40-10.45 MJ Rajeevagowda (Govt HP School Cheemangala, BGVS Karnataka) Sundial observers: how children designed experiments to understand the Earth’s rotation (lightning talk)

10.45-10.55 Questions and discussion

Day 2 3 Aug

Session 5: Promoting amateur astronomy (Chair: Chrisphin Karthick)

11.15-11.25 Ajay Talwar (Amateur Astronomers Association Delhi) Night sky ‘Live” in your home screens (location and instrumentation

11.25-11.35 Atul (Poornaprajna College, Udupi)) Taking Astronomy to public - e-Activities and Initiatives by PAAC

11.35-11.45 Apoorva Prakash (Young Innovators Educational Services Pvt Ltd) Learning astronomy during the pandemic

11.45-11.55 Pravin Shinde (Teacher, Govt School) Geo-Science Club activities

11.55-12.05 D. Aravindaraja (Artchouna Soupraya Naikar Govt High School) Role of Astronomy in the fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic

12.05-12.10 Mamta Gulati (Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology) Fun of learning: shift from offline to online mode during pandemic (lightning talk)

12.10-12.15 Jasjeet Bagla (IISER Mohali) Sky watching over zoom (lightning talk)

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12.15-12.20Krishna Kumar Kowshik (MP Birla Institute of Fundamental Research) Astronomy through virtual learning aids for the students, teachers and public (lightning talk)

12.20-12.30 Questions and discussion

Day 2 3 Aug

Session 6: Adapting online methodologies (Chair: Niruj Mohan Ramanujam)

2.00-2.20 Samir Dhurde (Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics) Reaching out while staying distanced: some positive ideas (invited talk)

2.20-2.30 Madhusudan H.R. (Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bengaluru) Teaching Science Effectively through online means

2.30-2.40 Disha Sawant (Pune Knowledge Cluster) Citizen Science with Pune Knowledge Cluster

2.40-2.50 Jayant Ganguly (Regional Science Centre and Planetarium, Calicut) Astro Museospaces and Stargazing thru Audio Cast

2.50-3.00 Atharva Pathak (Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics) Use of Apps and Video series for effective Astronomy Outreach and Pro-Am Engagement

3.00-3.05 Hari Om Vats (Space Education and Research Foundation) Activities of Space Education and Research Foundation (lightning talk)

3.05-3.10 Azgar Ali (Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bengaluru) Harnessing technology for activities based astronomy outreach (lightning talk)

3.10-3.20 Questions and discussion

Day 3 4 Aug

Session 7: Institutional experience (Chair: Harvinder Kaur Jassal)

10.00-10.10 J.K. Solanki (National Centre for Radio Astrophysics) Going beyond the normal boundaries of outreach activities in pandemic era

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10.10-10.20 Sonal Thorve (Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics) Stimulating Individual and Vernacular Engagement by Utilizing Online Tools

10.20-10.30 Virendra Yadav (Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Sciences) Outreach Activities at ARIES during the Pandemic: Some Insights for Future

10.30-10.40 Rohan Louis (Udaipur Solar Observatory) Outreach Activity at Udaipur Solar Observatory in the wake of CoVid-19

10.40-10.50 Ebenezer Chellasamy (Indian Institute of Astrophysics) Kodaikanal Observatory - a virtual tour

10.50-10.55 Soumen Ghosh (Regional Science Centre, Bhubaneswar) Pandemic broke glass ceiling to restrict astronomy outreach within local community, opens opportunity to science centre engage millions digitally (lightning talk)

10.55-11.05 Questions and discussion

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Day 3 4 Aug

Session 8: Open discussion (Moderators: Aniket Sule and Niruj Mohan Ramanujam)

11.30-1.00 Discussion with introductory talks by Sabyasachi Chatterjee and R. Ramanujam

Day 3 4 Aug

Session 9: Discussion in Kannada (Moderators: BS Shylaja and Kollegala Sharma)

2.30-4.00 Discussion with an introductory talk by Prajval Shastri

For any questions, please contact outreach@iiap.res.in