An interactive session was held on the 25th January 2020 for the students of classes 8th and 9th by one of Goa’s leading Indian astrophysicist Dr. Vithal Tilvi.
Dr. Vithal Tilvi with a team of astronomers from NASA discovered the farthest group of galaxies in the universe to have ever been sighted naming it “EGS77”. It is a trio of galaxies, which is thirteen billion years away from Earth. The discovery of EGS77 is significant as it assisted the researchers to study the birth of the Universe by identifying the chemicals present in the newly found group of galaxies.
Dr. Vithal Tilvi was given a warm welcome by our student Salil Bishnoi and with a pot of flowers by the principal of the secondary school followed by a vibrant introduction by our student Tanishq Haladkar.
Dr. Tilvi began his interaction on a very amusing note drawing the attention of students towards the concept he was to introduce. He took us on a wondrous journey of the outer space comparing our existence and significance in the vast universe consisting of galaxies and stars. The following topics were dealt by him with sheer brilliance and wit: How big is the Universe? The distant galaxy; observatory above the clouds; black hole; Sun: solar flares, Hubble Space Shuttle and Mars: recent researches and discoveries conducted by NASA, ISRO and their future projects; life of an astronaut in space; Chandrayaan II; discovering new things and how it feels through a short snap-shot that cast a laughter spell among all, concluded the informative rich session.
Dr. Vithal Tilvi took up questions asked by students on their future career choices in astronomy; clarified a variety of myths concerning our universe and astronauts who travel into space, their life in a space shuttle and researches conducted. Dr. Tilvi asked the students to pay attention if they wish to become a researcher. It is very important to focus and realize what ones likes and dislikes are to make the right future choices.
Our student Krish Borkar shared his experience and delivered the vote of thanks. He said, “as he is planning to be an aeronautical engineer, the session opened his mind to various options especially astrophysics, astrobiology and wishes to give a good thought before his final plunge”. He thanked Dr. Vithal Tilvi for accepting our invitation and for the informative session had.
