Noted cosmologist Hamsa Padmanabhan has said the growing affinity among the people in Kerala towards astronomy augurs well for the State’s scientific development.
Dr. Padmanabhan, the daughter of the late theoretical physicist and cosmologist Thanu Padmanabhan, was speaking while inaugurating a two-day workshop on cosmology and astronomy at the Astronomical Observatory here on Thursday. She is currently principal investigator at the University of Geneva.
The first light images from the Observatory, which were recently published by the Nature Astronomy journal, and those of Orion Nebula (a nebula in the Milky Way) and Venus were formally released on the occasion.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Dr. Padmanabhan stressed on the heightened interest in the State fueled by research in such areas of study. She added Europe has surpassed the United States in terms of investments in cosmology research to emerge as the leaders in the subject.
She also pledged support for the proposed Thanu Padmanabhan Centre of Excellence in Astronomy and Astrophysics which is being established under Kerala University.
Syndicate member Gopchandran K. said the observatory, being the oldest scientific institute in the State, held a special place among the scientific community owing to its academic contributions through its early magnetic meridian studies.
Internal Quality Assurance Cell director Gabriel Simon Thattil, Head of the Department of Physics V. Biju and Honorary Director of the Astronomical Observatory R. Jayakrishnan also spoke on the occasion.
