Solar, Solar Wind and Solar Radio Studies :
My research covers a wide range of interests from radio studies of the sun and the solarwind,
with emphasis on "Space Weather" studies using observations of Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS)
and meter wavelength solar imaging observations. Aditionally, I have an interest in studies
of solar photospheric magnetic fields, radio observations of comets, experimental studies of
astrochemical ices, shock processing of molecules, and exo-planets. Over the past decade I have
been involved in scentific payload development for solar studies and led the development, as
Principal Investigator (PI), of the Aditya
Solarwind
Particle
Experiment
(ASPEX) payload onboard India's first
observatory-class Mission ADITYA-L1 to study the sun from the L1 Lagrangian Point of
the sun-earth system. ADITYA-L1 was launched on on 02 September 2023.
In recent times, I have been persuing a detailed study of solar magnetic fields and solar wind
micro-turbulence levels. Both of these have been steadily decreasing from around the early to
mid nineties. Our studies strongly suggests that we are probably headed for another
Maunder like solar minimum beyond solar cycle 25. I have also been
involved in Solar Radio Astronomical studies via meter wavelength solar
imaging observations carried out using a new technique of combining visibilities from the
Giant Meterwave Radiotelescope (GMRT) facility at NCRA,TIFR, Pune and the Nancay Radio Heliograph
in France.
Awards:
-
Chandrayaan-2 CLASS and XSM payload teams
were awarded the ASI Zubin-Kembhavi Award
in 2024 for Observational and Instrumentation work in Astronomy. The award,instituted by
the Astronomical Society of India (ASI), and given annually, carries a cash prize of one lakh
rupees and a plaque.
-
Was elected as a Fellow of the
Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in 2019.
-
Awarded the -
ISRO Merit Award - 2015.
The award is conferred for outstanding performance and high productivity.
The award comprising a medal, a citation and a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh is given annually.
-
Awarded the -
Vikram Sarabhai Research Award in Space Sciences for the year 2003. The award comprising of a
medal plus a cash prize of Rupees Fifty Thousand is given bi-annually.
-
Awarded the Alexander Von Humboldt Research Fellowship
in Astrophysics for the year 1996 by the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany.
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Was selected as a "Young Astronomer" in 1988 for the award of a National Science Foundation (NSF, U.S.A.)
grant to attend the Twentieth General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union.
International Collaborations:
A Study of rms Electron Density Fluctuations in Cometary Ion Tails - In collaboration with the Australia
Telescope National Facility, Australia.
Detection of Ammonia and Water in Comet Hale-Bopp - In collaboration with the Radioastronomisches
Institute, Bonn, Germany.
Coronal Velocity Measurements using the Ulysses Spacecraft - In collaboration with the
Radioastronomisches Institute, Bonn, Germany.
A Study of the acceleration Regime of the Solar Wind using Ulysses - In collaboration with the
Radioastronomisches Institute, Bonn, Germany.
Detection of Extremely High Velocity Disturbances Launched by Solar Flares using the VLA - In
collaboration with the University of Maryland, USA.
A Study of Solar Wind Disappearance Events - In collaboration with the Solar Terrestrial
Environmental Laboratory, Nagoya University, Japan.
Understanding the Cause of Very Low Density Solar Wind Flows at 1 AU - In
collaboration with the University of Cambridge, UK.
Callibrating the Brazillian Decametric Array using GPS Signals - In collaboration with the
Institute for Space Physics (Instituto Nacional de PesquisasEspaciais, INPE), Brazil.
A Study of Solar Magnetic Fields over the Past three Solar Cycles - In collaboration with the
Institute Space-Earth Environment (ISEE), Research, Nagoya University, Japan.
High Dynamic Range and High Resolution Solar Imaging Studies using the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope
and The Nancay Radio Heliograph - In collaboration with the Observatoire de Paris, France.
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Scientific Reports and News Reports:
- An article on our work was featured in Times
of India entitled “ Sunspots point to Looming Little Ice Age.
Times of India - April 2016
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