Abstract

The primary aim of the workshop is to train scientists in the middle and south East Asian region in using AstroSat-s multiwavelength spectral and timing capabilities and teach them how to use these capabilities in conjunction with data from Chandra and XMM-Newton. AstroSat was successfully launched on September 28th 2015. It is a complex mission consisting of four co-pointing instruments and an all sky monitor. The Ultra-violet imaging telescope (UVIT) can observe in three bands and has a wide field of view (~28-) and an angular resolution of ~1.5--. The Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) provides energy spectra information in the 0.3 – 7.0 keV band. The Large Area X-ray Proportional Counters (LAXPC) are able to do fast timing (10 microseconds) analysis and moderate spectral analysis of X-rays in the 3-80 keV band. The Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) give good spectral information in the 25 to 100 keV band. The workshop will be attended by around 40 young scientists from the Asian/Middle East region who will be given lectures and demonstrations by experts on data analysis of all the instruments on board AstroSat, Chandra and XMM-Newton, as well as the science that can be extracted. The participants will also do a small project involving more than one instrument with the help of experts. Chandra and XMM-Newton are well-established missions, and hence data are already available, instrument calibration is mature, and analysis software is available. We expect that, by the time of the workshop, the instruments on board AstroSat will be well characterized and the data analysis and the corresponding software would be streamlined. The aim will be to build the foundation for optimal use of AstroSat data by the regional community.