As part of the National Space Day celebrations, Dr. Sarita Vig, IIST, was invited as the Chief Guest at IIT Jammu, where she delivered an insightful talk titled “Finding Our Place Among Stars” on 23 August 2026. The talk explored Earth’s and the Sun’s place within the vast cosmic landscape and provided an overview of our position in the Milky Way, a galaxy containing hundreds of billions of stars. 

Dr. Vig explained how observations and measurements of stars and nebulae, together with an understanding of galactic dynamics, have contributed to our present knowledge of the structure and extent of the Milky Way. The session offered participants a deeper understanding of our cosmic neighbourhood and the scientific approaches used to study the structure and evolution of our Galaxy.