Indian astronomy is undergoing a transformative change - worth being excited about
Attending a conference on astronomy can sometimes be overwhelming. One can hear about the expanding universe, planets, galaxies, exoplanets, black holes and extra-terrestrial life even at dinner table conversations and tea breaks. The excitement at the week-long annual meeting of the Astronomical Society of India in Jaipur last week was unmistakable. The crème of Indian astronomy community met at a time when astronomy is undergoing transformative changes in India and globally.
Indian astronomers are making new discoveries; they are planning bigger and better telescopes, and participating in international mega-science projects such as building gravitational waves detectors. India has also entered the era of space-based astronomy with its own space observatory — Astrosat — which was launched in September 2015.
The instruments on-board this satellite have begun to yield data about cosmic events and objects — star forming galaxies, globular clusters, planetary nebulae, exoplanets, star clusters, galaxy clusters and deep fields. Another satellite — Aditya — designed solely for studying the sun is slated for launch in 2018.
Indians are also actively participating in the search for exoplanets — planets orbiting stars outside the solar planetary system. It was revealed at the conference that data from Himalayan Chandra Telescope at Hanle in Ladakh partly contributed to the biggest exoplanet discovery — that of earth-sized planetary system — by American space agency NASA recently.
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| India’s participation in Big Science projects would also result in technological spin-offs and experience which could be useful for industry and others. |
Some Indian groups are hunting for exoplanets on their own. Dozens of young astronomers participated in a boot camp on exoplanet discovery organised on the sidelines of the Jaipur meeting.
Big science projects such as building gravitational wave detectors and large telescopes need not only huge investments but also high calibre human resources in science, engineering and technology. Take for instance, Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), which will be one of the largest telescopes when built in 2020s.
India is a key member of the TMT consortium along with China, Japan, Canada and America. India’s contribution will be in the form of key telescope hardware and software, under development at various research institutions in collaboration with local industry. Hardware includes mirror segments, segment support assemblies, edge sensors, actuators, telescope control system, observatory control system and coating plants. Of 492 mirror segments that will make up the mirror dish of 30m diameter at TMT, 88 will be supplied by India.
The accuracy level required for these mirrors is 20 nanometres — less than one-1,000th of a human hair. Such technical challenges apart, the human resources need is massive. “We will need 300 or so active professional astronomers to use TMT. At the current rate of PhD intake, we will fall short by a factor of two,” pointed out AN Ramaprakash, co-chair of TMT India.
Similar or higher number of astrophysicists will be required for other such international projects and new telescopes India is building. ASI president Sheo Kumar Pandey estimates the requirement of professional astronomers at about 5,000 in near future, as against about 700 now.
India’s participation in big science projects would also result in technological spin-offs and experience which could be useful for industry and others. Therefore, they need all the material and other support required for success.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)