Intro to Astrophysics

Astronomy is often referred to as the oldest science. Interestingly it is still one of the most exciting fields of science and it captures the imagination of scientists as well as young students.

In this course, we will choose topics carefully that will give a deep insight into the subject without the need for much prior knowledge in Physics and Mathematics. We will focus on three things: 

1. Stars and Galaxies in our universe - How do we know about them, their distances, the amount of light that they emit and so on. We will discuss in detail, the birth and death of stars, and introduce tools such as the Hertzsprung–Russell (H-R) diagram and how to use it. 
2. Introduction to the night sky using a software: the major Constellations,the most important stars and what their life stores are, nearby Galaxies
3. Brief introduction to Cosmology : Why Big Bang Theory? How may the universe end? Why do we talk about dark matter and dark energy?

We may end the workshop with some fun estimates and wild open questions like- How many planets are out there with life forms? Is there more than one universe?

Please note that this WILL NOT BE A workshop on black holes. The exposition will be at the level of 12th standard science in any standard curriculum.

Learn more about this course through the course facilitator's blog post.