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Chat with Women in Astronomy 2026
Did you know that Annie Cannon (1863-1941) was the creator of the current stellar classification, OBAFGKM, based on the stellar spectra? Or that Jocelyn Bell (1943- ) discovered a strange radio signal -which she called "Little Green Men"- that turned out to be rapidly rotating compact stars that emit very regular pulses of radiation, or pulsars? During past times there were exceptional and lucky women that could follow their passion and study Astronomy. Yet, quite often their work was kept behind the scenes. Lucky us, times change!
That's why we would like to celebrate with all of you the International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
And what better way to celebrate this special day than to bring together female professional Astronomers working in the Czech Republic and to put their knowledge and experiences within reach of everyone? That is Chat s astronomkou (Chat with Women in Astronomy), a series of activities taking place from 16 February to 13 March, inspired by the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February) and the International Women's Day (8 March).
What activities will be organised?
- Chat s Astronomkou - classical edition. On Friday, 13 March from 5 to 8 p.m. a chat box will be available on this website, where you will be able to chat with one of our Astronomers. The topic of the chat is entirely up to you. It can be a follow-up of some of the podcasts or more specific questions. Below you can find a brief description of the participants so you can get to know them before the chat and think about your questions. Please, be aware that, as international as science is, there will be Czech and foreign astronomers online. This activity was inspired by "Chatea con una Astrónoma", organised by the Spanish Astronomical Society.
- Chat s Astronomkou - school edition. Teachers are welcome to contact us to arrange a private written chat with their class, to be held between 16 February and 13 March. Children will join the chat in small groups and the selected Astronomers will be ready to answer their questions. We invite Science and Foreign languages teachers to get in touch with us. Moreover, if the chat piques their interest, we can also agree on a face-to-face talk at your school! For more details, please contact jana.kasparova@asu.cas.cz.
- Chat s Astronomkou - edition for after-school or astronomical clubs. After-school or astronomical clubs are welcome to contact us to arrange a private written chat for children's groups. These chats can be held between 16 February and 13 March and last about 30 min in the afternoon. We recommend discussing the topics with the children before the chat. For more details, please contact jana.kasparova@asu.cas.cz.
We are looking forward to chatting with you!!
Aashiya Anitha Shaji hails from Kerala (India) but has done most of her schooling in Doha, Qatar (yes, as in Qatar Airways). After finishing her PhD in Paris Observatory (France), she is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Spořilov, Prague). She can chat in English and a little bit in French as well.
As an observational astrophysicist, she tries to understand the various internal and external processes that regulate the formation of stars in nearby galaxies using multi-wavelength data. Currently she is looking for molecular gas in the tails of jellyfish galaxies. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, travelling and learning to do new activities like ice skating, swimming, and growing plants... or you could simply find her reading books in a cafe (preferably surrounded by dogs)!
Zuzana Balkóová is a Slovak astrophysics student currently pursuing her PhD at Charles University in Prague, and also working at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Ondřejov). You can chat with her in Slovak, Czech or English.
Having received her bachelor's degree from physics in her beloved hometown Nitra, Slovakia, and her master's degree from astronomy and astrophysics in the capital, Bratislava, she is currently settled in Prague. Her specialization lies in the field of exoplanetary research, focusing mainly on migration scenarios of hot Jupiters. As a member of the local exoplanetary group, she participates in remote night observing using dedicated telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. Besides astronomy, she enjoys nature, animals, books, movies, games and music. While not a keen traveller, she hopes to one day see the northern lights and witness an annular solar eclipse, since these seem more likely than her ever going to space... although that would be great!
Maïmouna Brigitte comes from France. She is a PhD student at Charles University and works at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Spořilov, Prague). You can chat with her in French or English.
She studies X-ray binary systems. These systems are composed of a black hole accreting matter from a companion star. Her favourite system is the first discovered X-ray binary (in 1964) Cygnus X-1 in the Cygnus constellation. She tries to understand the correlation between the strong wind ejected from the star and the accretion disk surrounding the black hole. In her spare time, she loves learning new things and exploring new places through reading, travelling, hiking and languages (Czech not being the easiest one). She also loves horse riding.
Soňa Ehlerová is a Czech astronomer working at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Spořilov, Prague). You can chat with her in Czech or English.
Her research interests include interstellar matter, star formation and galaxies (her favourite galaxy is our Milky Way and her favourite phase of the interstellar medium is the neutral hydrogen). Soňa likes to discuss astronomy and science (by giving talks, participating in Science Fairs, organizing hands-on activities during the open door days at the Institute). In her spare time she enjoys role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons!
Marta García Rivas comes from Salamanca (Spain) and she is a postdoctoral researcher at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Ondřejov). You can chat with her in Spanish or English.
Her work focuses on the Sun. She analyses magnetic fields on the surface of the Sun and tries to understand how the magnetic fields affect inner convection to form dark structures as pores or sunspots. Datasets from satellites are always available but she also likes to go to observe to Canary islands to run her studies. She likes to do outreach activities, like giving popular talks or participating in events like the Spanish version of 'Chat s Astronomkou' or Famelab CZ. In her free time she enjoys hiking, running with her dog, doing jigsaws and, she especially enjoys struggling to learn Czech and getting to know Czech Republic!
Suryani Guha is from Kolkata, India. She is currently pursuing PhD at Charles University and is also affiliated with the Stellar Department of the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. She is fluent in English and happy to chat in that language.
Her research focuses on massive stars, particularly blue supergiants. These stars are complex and fascinating objects, which exhibit strong stellar winds, episodes of mass loss, and pulsations. Suryani studies their pulsations, which provide valuable insights into the stars’ internal structure and evolutionary state. Alongside her theoretical work, she is actively involved in spectroscopic observations using the PEREK 2-meter telescope at the Ondřejov Observatory. Outside of her research, she enjoys painting in her spare time.
Supriya Hebbur Dayananda comes from Bengaluru, India, and she is currently a MERIT post-doctoral fellow at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Ondřejov). You can chat with her in English.
Her field is solar physics, and her research focuses on studying the Sun's magnetic fields using spectropolarimetry. She uses theoretical methods to model and understand how light from the solar corona carries information about these magnetic fields. Her current work focuses on applying these methods to different solar observations, helping to identify the best ways to measure coronal magnetic fields and improve modelling based on real data. In her spare time, she likes playing badminton, hiking, and watching movies.
Maitrayee Gupta is a postdoctoral fellow at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Spořilov, Prague). You can chat with her in English.
She received her Ph.D. under Prof. Marek Sikora at the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre in Poland and at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the US. Maitrayee works on high-energy astrophysics, active galactic nuclei, and X-ray astronomy. She has studied how jets are formed in black holes by examining their radiative properties, and also developed software to help orbital telescopes identify faint objects in space. Her current work is focused on studying galaxy clustering by comparing galaxies over a range of masses and star-formation rates. She is also studying the coronal properties of black holes. She hopes that the insights gained from these studies will provide more information on the conditions in the close vicinity of black holes, where jets are formed. In her spare time she enjoys skiing, surfing, and reading murder mystery novels.
Her research focuses on data analysis and modelling of optical and X-ray solar flare emission. She talks about astronomy and astrophysics with her friends, sometimes at public events, or educates students in the frame of Open Science Programme. She likes the outdoors, spending time with her family, reading and the music.
Julieta Sánchez Arias is from Argentina and she works at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Ondřejov). You can chat with Julieta in Spanish or English.
Her main research field is the study of stellar pulsations to explore the interiors of massive stars. These stars experience dramatic changes during their evolution due to mass loss processes triggered by rotation and stellar winds, and her goal is to understand how stellar pulsations are linked to these phenomena and what asteroseismology can tell us about the evolution of these fascinating objects. She uses data collected by space missions such as TESS and Kepler, and she regularly observes with the Perek 2m telescope. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and exploring the Czech Republic and its surroundings.
Alena Zemanová comes from Slovakia and works at the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Ondřejov. You can chat with her in Slovak, Czech or English.
Her research focuses on the study of solar flares. She studies how and why the flares/eruptions occur, or what processes in the flare produce rare types of radio bursts. She is also the head of the Solar Patrol Service. You can meet her every year at the Open Door Days of the Observatory, where she will be happy to introduce you to the solar activity and its influence on the space weather. She enjoys to spend her free time with her family, and she likes volleyball. Because of her dog, now she is 'sniffing around' cynology.
