3rd Meeting on Star Formation
Star Formation Studies in the Context of NIR Instruments on 3.6m DOT
(Funded by ARIES, Nainital and TIFR, Mumbai)
May 04 - 07, 2022 (OFFLINE MODE only)
Welcome
The ASI will be completing 50 years of existence in 2022. To celebrate this landmark (ASI-50) and to commemorate "75 years of India's Independence: Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav", we are organizing a 4-day conference / workshop on “Star formation studies in the context of NIR instruments on 3.6m DOT”.
This conference / workshop will be organized jointly by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai at ARIES, Nainital during 4 - 7 May, 2022. With focus on the star formation studies, this conference / workshop will cover following topics:
i) The Embedded Star Clusters, Stellar Initial Mass Function, Early Stages in the lives of Stars, Protoplanetary Disks and Planet Formation, Molecular Clouds and Interstellar Medium.
ii) Introduction / Tutorials on the near infrared (NIR) instruments (TIRCAM2 and TANSPEC) of 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) and Data Reduction Sessions.
iii) Future Science Projects and relevant new NIR Instrumentation for the 3.6m DOT.
Purpose
In the recent past, two state-of-art NIR focal plane instruments have been commissioned on the 3.6m DOT, ARIES, Nainital, India, in collaboration with TIFR, Mumbai. These instruments are TIFR-ARIES Near Infrared Spectrometer (TANSPEC) and TIFR Near Infrared Imaging Camera-II (TIRCAM2).
TANSPEC is a medium resolution spectrograph (dual mode, R~2750, R~150-350) cum imager having sensitivity in the wavelength range from 0.55 to 2.5 micron. It is a unique instrument which provides simultaneous wavelength coverage from optical to NIR bands.
TIRCAM2 is a closed-cycle Helium cryo-cooled imaging camera equipped with a Raytheon 512 × 512 pixels InSb Aladdin III Quadrant focal plane array having sensitivity to photons in the 1-5 μm wavelength band. This instrument has a capability of imaging in the 1.0 to 3.6 micron NIR bands (J, H, K, L). This, along with the capability of very fast imaging at a speed of 10 ms makes this instrument a very unique facility in India.
More details on these instruments can be found at the 3.6m DOT instrument page.
These, along with other NIR instruments in India, such as TIFR Near Infrared Imager and Spectrometer (TIRSPEC) on the 2 meter Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT), Hanle (Ladakh), and NICS on PRL’s 1.2 metre Mt. Abu telescope, have led to a large amount of observing time in the NIR bands (1 - 3.6 microns) being made available to the Indian astronomers. NIR observing capabilities have a significant role in the research related to star formation as most of star formation activities are found deeply embedded in the molecular clouds and dust material. Our goal is to bring together researchers working in the field of Interstellar Medium, Star Formation, Young Stellar Clusters and related instrumentation projects and create a vibrant program showcasing the results and opportunities, and initiating collaborations.
The meeting will have presentations and discussions on NIR Instrumentation, Data Reduction techniques as well as the Science possible using these instruments. This meeting will also be a continuation of the previous gathering of researchers working in the field of star formation which was held in 2016 at IIST, Thiruvananthapuram. This meeting will hold sessions/tutorials to familiarize faculty, post-docs and Ph. D students of astronomy in the various research institutes and universities of India, on these new instruments and the techniques for analysis of NIR Spectroscopic and Imaging data.
Demo Data For Hands On Session
