Professor Ashit Sanyal, recently inducted into the ranks of full-time Capitol College faculty, represented the college at the 27th International Astronomical Union General Assembly in Rio de Janiero, Brazil from August 3-14, 2009, participating in two panels for Commissions 27 (Variable Stars) and 42 (Close Binary Stars). Upon returning from the Assembly, the Professor shared his thoughts about the enormous gathering of scientists and the amazing advancements in astronomy discussed during the two-week event:
“The most important thing for our students to take away from this year’s meeting is to note the initiatives going on – there are some gigantic projects that are being worked on, mostly in Europe and here in the United States, in terms of physics and astrology. These projects are using highly sophisticated systems requiring lots of engineers and engineering knowledge – like control systems, sophisticated software, technology instruments, etc.”
“Progress in astronomy has been made mostly by engineering – especially computer engineering – an example being the progression of the telescope. Telescopes were made larger and larger until a wall was hit when the largest telescope in the world was made; the Russians attempted to make a bigger one, but lack of technology caused it to be a piece of junk – the glass was too heavy and the contraption too big to have any kind of stability and usefulness. However, there is a project being worked on now that uses the advances we’ve made with computers and mechanisms and instruments to build a telescope that uses many smaller mirrors instead of one large piece of glass – these kinds of projects could change physics as we know it.”
“We are on the cusp of a tremendous evolution in technology as related to astronomy and physics – how that will happen, no one knows. Evidence is piling up that says that we know very little about the universe and about ourselves, and I would agree. New technology will break the barriers previously set, and there needs to be a big effort by the future generation and our students to pioneer the advances in technology that will take us there – CC students are well situated and are learning this stuff right now.”
“Ultimately, our students can make great advances in this area because they are being prepared to accept the challenge of engineering new technology, but they will find that they must get an advanced degree – this will help them to find new ways of doing things, innovative ways previously not thought possible.”
- Professor Sanyal
Read more about the IAU General Assembly through Professor Sanyal’s reflection on the event - IAU2009SanyalImpressions.doc