The Pioneer of Radio Astronomy
Radio
Astronomy- The branch of astronomy concerned with radio emissions from
celestial objects. We are blessed to have a pioneer in this subject amongst us.
Born in 1929 in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Prof. Govind Swarup has obtained
his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science from Allahabad University post
which he went all the way to California to complete his PhD. Along with this he has also received a Doctorate
of Engineering and a Doctorate of Science. He has worked in different places
along the globe and has different amazing experiences.
Honorable
Govind Swarup has given his time, energy and knowledge in making of the Ooty
Radio Telescope (ORT) in Muthorai and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope
(GMRT) near Pune. These telescopes are amongst the largest in the world. This
has made us reach a different level of research standards thus making ORT to be
one of the most sensitive radio telescopes in the world. This telescope has
made possible a different level of discoveries in the solar system. While on
the other hand GMRT was the world's largest interferometry array at the
time it was built offering a baseline of up to 25 kilometers. These facilities
are used by the Scientists from different parts of the world thus making it one
of the important facilities on this planet. India has built a strong group in
radio astrophysics at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research under the guidance
of Prof. Govind Swarup which is one of the best in the world. He is the pioneer
in developing the Type U' solar radio bursts along with the Gyro-radiation
model. He has also developed a round trip transmission technique for phase
measurements. This technique is used in almost all the radio interferometers in
the world.
Needless
to say he has excelled as a Professor, Researcher, Project director and in many
more professions holding membership of large number of professional Societies. For
his great contribution he has received about 20 awards including a Padma Shri
as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Department of Atomic
Energy. Recently our beloved Honorable Govind Swarup turned 90. On this
occasion the Giant metre
wave radio telescope was upgraded as uGMRT. We wish you a healthy life and many
more revolutions around the Sun.
Ketaki M
Kardile
