The Annular Solar Eclipse – 2019: Observation camp at the University of Jaffna

National Annular Solar Eclipse Observation camps were established at the premises of the University of Jaffna in Thirunelveli and Kilinochchi with financial support from the Ministry of Technology and Innovation and the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo.  The program has aimed to foster an interest in science and mathematics, particularly astronomy, among students, highlighting the importance of rational thinking and the dangers of superstition, promote north–south scientific dialogue, and initiate astronomical research in Sri Lanka.

Unexpected clearing of the sky in the morning invigorated everyone. The outreach programme was successfully organised by the University of Jaffna in collaboration with the University of Colombo and Western Norway University of Applied Science. At both premises of the University of Jaffna, up to 5,000 students
and the public actively participated and witnessed the rare event through solar eclipse glasses and high-end astronomical telescopes provided by the Department of Physics, University of West Georgia, and the Departments of Physics, University of Colombo and Peradeniya. Physics Professors Kirthi Tennnakone and Adjith de
Alwis conducted experimentation designed to measure solar spectral irradiance, solar intensity, and atmospheric ozone variation during the eclipse. Professors Kirthi Tennnakone, Kathirgamanathan Kandasamy, Sivakolundu Srisatkunarajah, Chanda Jayaratna, Punniamoorthy Ravirajan, and Adjith de Alwis gave technical presentations about the Annual Solar Eclipse. The Astronomical Society of the University of Colombo also provided astronomical telescopes and eclipse projecting instruments. Media unit of the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, and several media groups enthusiastically covered the event internationally. The Physics Society of the University of Jaffna sold custom-designed T-shirts among the participants. Several students from the Universities of Jaffna, Colombo, Peradeniya, and the National Institute of Fundamental Studies volunteered to help, attending work connected with the program and were exposed to the research and technical components of the activity.

An article titled “Historical Solar Eclipses “written by Prof. Kirthi Tennakone for the purpose, which appeared in Island Newspaper (http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article ), received much attention, motivating students and the general public. Before this event, members of the Clean Energy Research Laboratory, Dept. of Physics, University of Jaffna and the Astronomical Society, Dept. of Physics, University of Colombo jointly conducted an awareness programme nationwide with the assistance of Science and Technology officers attached to Vidatha Resource centres attached to each divisional secretariat. Quiz examination related to Eclipse and Astronomy, General Science and Mathematics was also conducted in schools nationwide for creating awareness on the Annual Solar Eclipse. Top performers in each divisional secretariat of the country were honoured by the State Minister and the Secretary of Technology and Innovation, and the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, who graced the occasion, emphasising the high-level commitment to promotion of astronomical studies in the country. An informative note on activities in Jaffna during the eclipse will be presented at the Proceedings of the Georgia Academy of Sciences, United States, and plans are underway to publish the results of measurements.

No. Task Outcomes
1. Training 200 school teachers and undergraduates about the Annular Solar Eclipse and safety observation issues. Over 200 undergraduates, school teachers, RAs, and Science & Technology Officers (STOs) attached to divisional secretariats were trained by the two teams headed by Prof.P.Ravirajan and Prof.Chanda Jayaratne from the Universities of Jaffna and Colombo, respectively.
2. Conducting a quiz examination in schools nationwide to create awareness on the solar Eclipse and also select student participants for the observation camps. Examination conducted nationwide with assistance from teachers and STOs. 25,000 exam papers were distributed through STOs (100 per officer). Before having the exam, information sessions on solar eclipses were conducted by RAs and/or STOs at the schools. Top performers in each divisional secretariat were honoured at the National Annular Solar Eclipse Observation camp.
3. Providing awareness among the school students and the public on safety issues to be taken by them during the solar eclipse. A website (event.jfn.ac.lk/eclipse/) was created for uploading the instructions about solar eclipse observation, safety issues and articles relevant to eclipses. We conducted several Publicity and awareness activities through Newspaper articles, TV and Radio.
4. Conducting observation camps to cater to about 3,000 participants (including undergraduates, teachers, and school students) at the university premises. More than 5,000 participants participated in National Annular Solar Eclipse Observation camps arranged at Thirunelveli and Kilinochchi premises of the University of Jaffna.
5. Lectures and eclipse activities were live-telecasted/webcasted throughout the country. Successfully live-streamed the event internationally with the assistance of Media Units of the University of Colombo and other private media.

           

Examination to select students for the Observation camp in Jaffna and Kilinochchi

Application form and Flyer 

Northern Sri Lanka will witness an annular eclipse on 26th December 2019. Ancients feared solar eclipses and considered them a sign of evil to come. Yet some philosophers of antiquity and Panchangam (Hindu Calendar) understood that solar eclipses happen when the moon obscures the sun. Modern science enabled the calculation of the dates and times of eclipse occurrences to the utmost precision. Measurements conducted during solar eclipses had also unravelled many physical phenomena. A total or an annular eclipse appearing in the skies above the land you live in is regarded as a blessing. These awesome celestial events arouse curiosity and masses watching the display, who feel that “all are humbly united in front of the sun and moon”. The appearance of a total or annular solar eclipse is a rare opportunity to cultivate scientific inquisitiveness and human unity. University of Jaffna, in collaboration with University of Colombo and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, plans to organise an eclipse observing camp in Jaffna and Killinochchi, mainly for students and conduct lectures on related astronomical topics. Plans are also made to conduct scientific measurements for research during the eclipse. These activities are co-sponsored by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research, Sri Lanka and the HRNCET project (http://project.jfn.ac.lk/hrncet/).

Organising committee (http://event.jfn.ac.lk/eclipse/index.php/organizing-committee/) of the Solar Eclipse Program – 2019 made arrangements to conduct a written examination (questions will be related to Eclipse and Astronomy in general) on December 13, 2019 (Friday) among school students (Grade 8-10). Before this examination, an informative video session on the Solar Eclipse will be displayed at the examination centre to create awareness and train a few hundred school students about the Annular Solar Eclipse and safety observation issues.

·     For more details of the eclipse, please visit  https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/sri-lanka/jaffna.

·     For registration to sit the examination, please visit http://event.jfn.ac.lk/eclipse/

·     Applicant can also register by filling out a hard copy of the application available at their DS office. The application form can be photocopied.

·     Deadline for submission (online/via DS office) of the application: 09.12.2019 (Monday).

·     Date of an informative session on Solar Eclipse and Examination: 13.12.2019 (Friday)

· Details of the examination centres and other detail of the solar eclipse will be updated at  http://event.jfn.ac.lk/eclipse/.

Educational Training on Clean Energy Technologies for School Students in Jaffna District

This programme was organized in collaboration with the Provincial Department of Education, Northern Province. From 6-14 March 2018, an educational training on CETs for 2684 school students from 56 schools in the Jaffna District was conducted. A total of 10 sessions, each of 2.5 hours duration, were organised at 6 different schools. Two sessions were conducted at Vembadi Girls’ High School (Jaffna), Victoria College (Chullipuram), Mahajana College (Tellippalai) and Methodist Girls’ High School (Point Pedro), whereas one session was carried out at Chavakachcheri Hindu College and Velanai Central College.

Target group: Grades 8-11 and G.C.E (A/L) (2019 & 2020 batches of Science and Technology streams)

Main features of the programme:

  • PowerPoint (PPT) presentations about Clean Energy Technologies (wind energy, hydro energy, bio energy and solar energy)
  • Video presentations on Clean Energy Technologies
  • Guided the students to do a demonstration of working models such as solar fan cap, solar car, solar phone charger, solar garden night lamp (with sensor), Solar fan, solar table lamp, Solar controller
  • Hands on experience in building smaller-sized solar panels using solar cells (Short video coverage of the event)
  • Written quiz examination on CETs. Find thelist of students selected for further training at the University of Jaffna
  • Summary of students’ evaluationof the programme

65 students, who scored above 80 % in the written quiz examination on CETs, were selected for a one-day workshop and final round of quiz competition on CETs to be held in April 2018.

Resource persons:

  • Professors: P. Ravirajan, A. Atputharajah and Meena Senthilnanthanan
  • Senior Lecturers: Dr. B. Ketheesan, Dr. A. Thevakaran, Dr. A. Anbruvel and Dr. R. Shivatharsiny
  • Lecturer: Ms.S.Vinothini
  • Postgraduate students and Technical officers of the University of Jaffna
  • Science graduates trained at the Training of Trainers (TOT) prorammes conducted in November 2017

Detailed report of the ten sessions conducted in the Jaffna District

Media report (Tamil)

Reported by General Secretary/JSA

PDF copy of the PowerPoint slides can be found from the following link: CET – March 2018 – All slides-Final-2018-03-05
Training of Trainers (TOT) programme on Clean Energy Technologies  

The Jaffna Science Association and Provincial Department of Education, Northern Province in collaboration with University of Jaffna and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences conducted  TOT programmes on November 18 & 19, 2017 to Science and Technology stream teachers, junior academics and final year undergraduates for providing educational training on Clean Energy Technologies to the school students in the Jaffna District.

Applications were invited in September 2017 from eligible school teachers, who teach Engineering Technology/Physics/Chemistry at 1AB schools in the Jaffna District and junior academics and final year undergraduates from the departments of Physics, Chemistry, Electrical Engineering and Engineering Technology to serve as resource persons in this initiative. Thirty teachers, including Assistant Zonal Directors of Education (Science) and In-Service Advisers (Science) and more than forty junior academics and final year undergraduates attendedthe  Training of Trainers (TOT) programme on clean energy technologies (solar, wind, hydro and bioenergy technologies, etc.)  on November 18 & 19, 2017.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jaffna, Assistant Director of Education (Science), Northern Province and President of Jaffna Science Association delivered Chief Guest and Guest of Honour addresses, respectively. Certificates were issued to all participants who completed the training session.

This activity was mainly funded by  the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sri Lanka under the ‘Capacity Building and Establishment of a Research Consortium (CBERC) in Nanomaterials for Clean Energy Technologies’ project.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

Solar energy awareness programmes for school students 
– conducted at Jaffna Hindu College on 09.11.2017

                

Solar energy awareness programmes for school students 
– conducted at Chavakachcheri Hindu College on 10.11.2017

Promoting Science Education – Motivational speech (in Tamil) by Professor Dhayalan

Expert’s talks

No    Date Title of the talk Speaker & Affiliation  Qualifications
01 September 15, 2017 Computational modelling of Nanomaterials for Solar cell applications Rasukkannu Murugesan, PhD student and Research associate, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences BE(Eng. Hons)(Anna University), MSc(Newcastle, UK), PhD(reading)
02 February 01, 2018 Enhanced performance of Dye-sensitised Solar Cells using metal oxide-based nanomaterials M. R. Venkatraman, Final year PhD student in Physics, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, India BSc, MSc (Physics, Bharathidasan), MPhil (Physics, Alagappa), PhD(reading)
03 March 2, 2018 Effect of Doping on Binary Oxide Nanomaterials N. Rajamanickam, SERB – Postdoctoral Fellow, Nanostructure Laboratory, Dept. of Physics, Gandhigram Rural University, Gandhigram, Dindigul, TN, India BSc (Alagappa), MSc,  PhD  (Madurai Kamaraj )
04 March 21, 2018 Quantitative determination of calcium hydroxide in concrete by near-infrared spectroscopy Alfred A. Christy, Professor of Chemistry, Dept. of Science, Faculty of Engineering and Science, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway BSc (Pera), PhD (Bergen, Norway)
05 March 22, 2018 Operational Principles of Spectroscopic Techniques Alfred A. Christy, Professor of Chemistry, Dept. of Science, Faculty of Engineering and Science, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway BSc (Pera), PhD (Bergen, Norway)
06 July 10, 2018 An Introduction to the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Sutharsan Vivekananthan, Study Manager / Senior Project Engineer, Citec Norway MEng (Chemical Engineering, Imperial College, London), Chartered Chemical Engineer (CEng) – UK
07 July 20, 2018 Electrical Engineering according to the International Standard Sivakumaran sundaram, Senior engineer Norwegian public Road Administration –
08 August 14, 2018 Bimetallic nanostructured electrodes for photocapacitors Dr.Akila Yuvapragasam, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Physics, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu- India PhD degree in the (Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India)
09  March 21, 2019 Material Characterization Techniques Professor Gamini Rajapakse, Senior Professor of Chemistry and Coordinator of the MSc Course in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (PGIS), University of Peradeniya BSc Hons (Chemistry, Peradeniya), Ph.D. (Imperial College) and DIC, FNASSL
10 March 22, 2019 How to write a scientific article? Professor Gamini Rajapakse, Senior Professor of Chemistry and Coordinator of the MSc Course in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (PGIS), University of Peradeniya BSc Hons (Chemistry, Peradeniya), PhD (Imperial College) and DIC, FNASSL
11 April 01, 2019 Magneto-transport in graphene devices: Fundamentals and applications Dr. Piranavan Kumaravadivel
Research Associate, Condensed Matter Physics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester		 BSc Hons (Physics, Peradeniya), MA (Stony Brook, USA), PhD (Stony Brook, USA)