This project supports five U.S. astronomers to attend a workshop on astronomical instrumentation to be held December 10-13, 1989, at the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune, India. The Indian organizer is Dr. Jayant Narlikar, Director of the IUCAA. The workshop is aimed at crystallizing a viable instrumentation program which would be carried out by the IUCAA in collaboration with the various research groups in Indian universities and institutions. Among the activities to be considered are: focal plane instrumentation for optical, IR, and UV telescopes; payload for space missions; image processing; and fabrication of detectors and interferometers. The instrumentation program would enable the IUCAA and scientists from Indian universities to use the extensive facilities for research in astronomy in India, including optical, solar, infrared, millemeter-wave, radio, and space astronomy. It is hoped that the result will also enable Indian astronomers to work with similar facilities in the U.S. and other countries, and to participate in some of the major gravity wave detector programs. Scope: Although India has a strong record of scientific research in astronomy, the recent establishment of the IUCAA represents a major effort by India to accelerate the state of astronomy and astrophysics research to levels attained by more advanced countries. This will enable Indian scientists to interact and collaborate more effectively with scientists from these countries. The results of the workshop would further these objectives and greatly increase the potential for Indo-U.S. collaboration in astronomy. The U.S. P.I. and the Indian counterpart are world renowned in the field and are most capable of conducting the workshop.
