Other links:
Other links:
How do stars form? How do stars die? How hot does a star need to get to become a star? Why are stars different colors? What do black holes look like? What happened in the early universe? What will the future of the universe look like? When you look at a star you see how it looked in the past. Through stars, we learn not just about the past but also about the future of our universe.
When we look up at the clear night sky, we are treated to a view of numerous bright stars. Indeed stars are the dominant source of all visible light in the universe. From one day to the next, and even over centuries, we see the same stars, practically immutable and unvarying in brightness. But the stars do have a life cycle. Over many millions of years, stars take birth, live their luminous life and then die. In death, stars not only produce exotic objects like Black Holes but also widely scatter the ashes from which a new generation of stars and planets are born. This fascinating stellar lifecycle is intimately connected with, and greatly impacts the evolution of the universe as a whole. These processes are also responsible for generating almost all the elements we see around us, and the origin of life itself.
Stars. Stardust and Us is a live interactive course that takes you through the exploration of stars, black holes and the universe. This course will cover the story of the stellar life cycle and its impact, in a series of lectures and hands-on project activities aimed at the school level. The intended learning outcome is an appreciation of this important process that is the backbone of Astrophysics and is also deeply connected to our origins. This exploration not only deepens your understanding of astrophysics but also highlights India’s significant role in space missions and cosmic discoveries.
This course will present some of the most fascinating recent discoveries and relate how every aspect of the vast universe is connected with our existence. The course will also introduce the technological drivers and methods of inference that have applications far beyond the confines of Astronomy, in every branch of human endeavour.
What’s more? As part of your capstone project, you will learn and practice techniques to work on astronomical data from online databases, and use coding (in Python) to analyse this data. By the end of the course, you will develop a familiarity with different types of plots (line, scatter, and histogram) and how these plots can provide visual clues to real patterns present in data.
Are you ready to explore the fascinating world of stars and beyond?
Enroll Now Existing User? Log InThe course is suitable for high schoolers curious about space, the universe and beyond. It opens the door to astrophysics, astronomy and space research for students interested in pursuing related careers.
Prerequisites: High proficiency in written & spoken English. You will be required to submit your latest mark sheet in the application form. Additionally, the project modules will be conducted in Python. Although no prior knowledge of Python is required, an eagerness to learn is desirable.
By the end of the course, the students will:
| Week | Lecture Module | Project Module |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Stellar glow
|
Celestial cataloguing & graphing with Python
Techniques taught: Reading and writing data to files, plotting data, and using these plots to determine trends and patterns. Working with scatter plots |
| Week 2 | Nuclear sunset
|
Stars & their properties
Techniques taught: Making selections (or “cuts”) of data and analysing them separately. Manipulating large arrays of data. Introducing and developing a familiarity with histogram plots |
| Week 3 | Starry perspectives
|
Pulsars
Techniques taught: More training in using histograms to analyse data. How does one draw scientific conclusions from graphs? |
| Week 4 | Chronicles of stars
|
Exoplanets
Techniques taught: Learning to use online databases to query astronomical data. More training in using graphs to draw scientific conclusions. |
| Week 5 | Counseling:
Production of elements in stars and the connection to our world and life. – The birth of stars and planets and their grand connection to the Universe You are encouraged to ask questions to the faculty about the following aspects:
|
Mentoring:
You are encouraged to ask questions to the mentor around the following aspects:
|
As your capstone project, you will study star evolution with astronomical data, predict lifetimes and carbon’s role in life’s origins and estimate supernova explosions across galaxies. You will obtain astronomical data from online databases, and show how to use coding (in Python) to analyse this data. By the end of the course, you will develop a familiarity with different types of plots (line, scatter, and histogram) and how these plots can provide visual clues to real patterns present in data.
Prof Dipankar Bhattacharya is the Sunanda and Santimay Basu Chair Professor in Astrophysics at Ashoka University. Prior to joining Ashoka he was the Dean, Core Academic Programmes at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA).
He received his Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees in Physics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. He carried out post-doctoral research at the University of Amsterdam and the University of California, Santa Barbara and was a member of the faculty at the Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru before moving to IUCAA.
His research interests cover both theoretical astrophysics and observational astronomy, with particular emphasis on High Energy Astrophysics including compact stars, black holes and cosmic explosions. He is closely associated with the Indian space astronomy mission AstroSat and is the chair of its Science Working Group.
All Ashoka Horizons courses offer a certificate on satisfactory completion of the programme.
Class participation will be assessed based on your active engagement in live sessions, contributions to discussion forums, and involvement in Teaching Fellow-led activities.
Achieve More…with Horizons:
*For select students, subject to discretion of the faculty
This course is administered through an online platform. Students are expected to have a foundational understanding of computer usage, including but not limited to sending emails and conducting Internet searches. Consistent access to the Internet and a computer that aligns with the recommended minimum specifications are also requisite for participation in the course.
Previously, coding did not seem very interesting to me. However, after these classes i am eager to learn more about python and coding. It has also enhanced my knowledge about many astrophysics concepts, i have learnt some new ones and corrected some previous ones. This course has also made me more comfortable with equations of astrophysics.
I believe that the course will greatly help in my college applications. Apart from the obvious strengthening of my portfolio, the knowledge goes beyond what was taught in my classroom, and has helped me gain a deeper knowledge on the subject. Moreover, the course has helped me realize where my interests lie currently
Alok Bhattacharya
Head of the Department, Biology, Professor of Biology, Ashoka University
Ph.D. Jawaharlal Nehru University
Sandeep Ameta
Assistant Professor of Biology, Ashoka University
(PhD, Heidelberg University)
Schedule:
May 17, 2025 (Saturday) – June 14, 2025 (Saturday)*
Simantini Ghosh
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Ashoka University
Ph.D. University of Rochester
Schedule:
May 17, 2025 (Saturday) – June 14, 2025 (Saturday)*
Prof Debayan Gupta
Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Ashoka University
PhD, Yale University
Schedule:May 17, 2025 (Saturday) – June 14, 2025 (Saturday)*
