India's Astronomy Olympiad training camp concludes at IISER Mohali

The Hindu

2 days ago

The Astronomy Olympiad Orientation Cum Selection Camp (OCSC) is being held at IISER Mohali. The camp aims to provide training to bright students selected through national-level exams and also test their understanding of concepts and techniques in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
A total of 54 students were selected for Astronomy OCSC from among the nearly 500 students who took the Indian National Astronomy Olympiad and ranked among the top in their respective groups. Group A consisted of students in Class 12, group B consisted of students in class 10 or 11. The selection is based on rank and subject preferences for students.
Of these, 37 students from different parts of India are participating in the OCSC, a team of five students will represent the country in at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2025 (IOAA), which is to be held in Mumbai, India in August 2025.
The OCSC consists of lectures, tutorials, telescope setup and handling sessions and sky observation sessions. Normally the Astronomy OCSC is organised by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, a centre of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai (HBCSE-TIFR).
However, this year, as HBCSE is hosting the IOAA, the task of selecting and training the Indian team was given to IISER Mohali. A team of astronomers from Central University, Haryana, Mahendargarh, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, IIT Kanpur, Ashoka University, Sonepat, Central University, Himachal Shahpur, and IISER Mohali worked together to do the groundwork and conduct the OCSC.
Sessions in the training program were anchored by resource persons from these institutes as well as scientists from Raman Research Institute Bangalore, Indian Institute of Astrophysics Bangalore, National Institute for Science Education and Research Bhubaneswar and the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, etc. Some members from the core group will accompany the students as team leaders and scientific observers to the IOAA.
The selection of the final team was announced during the valedictory function held at IISER Mohali on June 11, 2025. There was a special lecture by Professor Dipankar Bhattacharya from Ashoka University. He spoke about imaging in different wavebands in Astronomy. This was followed by distribution of certificates and medals from the Indian Association of Physics Teachers, announcement of best performers in the OCSC and also the final team that will represent India in IOAA-2025.
The medals were distributed by Professor Kulinder Pal SIngh from IISER Mohali and certificates were given by Professor Dipankar Bhattacharya. The selected team is: Aarush Mishra, Sumant Gupta, Banibrata Majee, Panini, and, Akshat Srivastava. Aarush Misra also got the C L Bhat memorial award for best performance in OCSC. This awarded is given by the Indian Physics Association and was instituted by Arnold Wolfendale. Sumant Gupta got the best performance in observational test award. Akshat Srivastava bagged the two awards for best performance in theory, and, data analysis.
The team leaders and scientific observers who will accompany the team were also introduced to students :Professor Jasjeet Singh Bagla and Dr Harvinder Kaur Jassal are the team leaders given their long association with the astronomy olympiad activity. Drs. Kinjalk Lochan, Pankaj Kushwaha, Jaswant Yadav, Central University Haryana; and Mamta Gulati Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala are the scientific observers who will accompany the team for IOAA-2025.