Diamonds in the Sky
Our earth is enriched with a huge dosage of carbon. Where does this carbon come from? The sky is a vast storehouse of elements, of which carbon is a significant part. This lecture traced the carbon in stars and other celestial bodies. Astrophysicist B S Shylaja shared the ingenious methods through which every dot in the sky produces carbon. She also drew upon her research to share how we identify, study and examine the carbon above us—an introduction to the huge diamonds in the sky.
About the Astrophysicist
B S Shylaja joined the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium (JNP) as Educator in 1994. Her research includes the history of astronomy, astrophysics, and science education. She has been involved in the preparation of planetarium programmes. She initiated teaching astronomy at different levels with 5 day and 3 day workshops called “Universe in the classroom”, “Introduction to the night sky” for students, teachers and lay persons. Under the aegis of the REAP for B. Sc. students which was formalised in 2000, she taught basics of astronomy and astrophysics till her retirement (2017). Shylaja became the Senior Scientific Officer, then Deputy Director and took charge as Director of JNP in 2012. Shylaja obtained her M. Sc. in Physics from the Bangalore University and PhD from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics working on Wolf-Rayet binary stars. Her subjects of interest include comets, peculiar stars and novae. She has more than 120 publications in refereed journals and 17 books. She is currently working on stone inscriptions, translation and analysis of manuscripts of the 17th century and astronomical aspects of temples, monuments and artworks.