National Centre for Radio Astrophysics

On June 7th, the Yuva Sangam delegates from Andhra Pradesh experienced an unforgettable visit to the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). They got an exclusive, firsthand look at cutting-edge radio astronomy and India’s incredible contributions to global scientific research.

A massive thank you to the team who made it happen: Senior engineers Kaushal Buch & Sougata Chatterjee for showing the delegates the massive antennas and the central square; Manthan Thombare for an inside look at the GMRT control room; and Sushma Kurapati for seamlessly coordinating the NCRA side of the visit.

A truly memorable experience that sparked curiosity and learning!

IISER Pune Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati - IIT Tirupati

We recently had the pleasure of hosting students from the Vigyan Vidhushi Programme at the observatory.

Vigyan Vidhushi is an advanced summer school for first-year MSc Physics women students across the country, jointly conducted by TIFR India and Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education,TIFR. The visit offered students an opportunity to experience a major research facility firsthand and learn how radio telescopes are used to explore the Universe.
Guided by engineers Kaushal Buch and Sougata Chatterjee, they visited the antenna and the central square, while Shriram Ramane introduced them to live telescope operations in the GMRT control room. The visit was coordinated by Preeti Kharb and Bhaswati Mookerjea, along with members from , , and .


Photo credit: HBCSE-TIFR

As part of NCRA's Visiting Students' Research Programme (VSRP), students had the opportunity to visit the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT).

For students spending the summer working on research projects, the visit offered a chance to see how questions are translated into observations and data, thus providing a broader perspective on how scientific research is carried out.

Guided by the GMRT team, they explored the antennas, receiver systems, control room operations and engineering labs that power cutting-edge radio astronomy.


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Photo credit: Ayan Biswas

Software developers from India joined the SKAO Program Increment (PI) Planning meeting from 1st to 5th June, some in person in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and others online.

Held every quarter, PI Planning Meetings bring together teams working on different aspects of the SKA Observatory to align priorities, coordinate activities, and map out the next phase of development. As part of this collaborative effort, our team members contributed to discussions and planning, alongside our collaborators from around the world.

Building the Square Kilometre Array Observatory is a global effort, and meetings like this highlight the close international coordination required to design the future of radio astronomy.

SKA India Consortium

As part of the "Foundations of Gravitational Waves: Theory, Sources, and Detection" course hosted by Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics and the Astronomy Centre for Educators, a group of PhD students from various institutions including IIT Bombay, IIA, IISER Kolkata and IUCAA visited .

GMRT, a premier low-frequency radio interferometric array, contributes to several areas of research, including gravitational-wave science. Through projects such as the Indian Pulsar Timing International Pulsar Timing Array, researchers use observations of pulsars to explore the possibility of detecting nanohertz gravitational waves. The visit offered students an opportunity to learn about these connections between radio astronomy, gravitational-wave science and multi-messenger astronomy.

Guided by NCRA senior PhD student Jyotirmoy Das and GMRT engineers Anjan Nandi and Sanjeet Rai, the participants toured the facility, including a visit to one of the antennas, the central square array, the control room and the correlator room, learning about the scientific and engineering foundations of the telescope.

conducted a talk and stargazing session for 400 NCC cadets of the 2 Maharashtra Infantry Battalion and their instructors at Aundh Military Station. These young women, drawn from across Maharashtra, spent their evening exploring the universe, and for many, this was their first time looking through a telescope.

Shriram Ramane from GMRT delivered a talk titled "How Telescopes Changed Our Understanding of the Universe", followed by a stargazing session led by NCRA volunteers. Cadets observed Jupiter and its moons, as well as our Moon.

The enthusiasm of the participants, coupled with a flood of questions, made for a memorable outreach evening. We thank Colonel Kiran Rahul and the 2 Maharashtra Infantry Battalion for organising the programme.

, in collaboration with Guwahati Planetarium, ASI POEC and Indian Institute of Astrophysics भारतीय खगोलभौतिकी संस्थान, facilitated a Teacher Training Workshop on Basics of Observational Astronomy.

The day-long workshop brought together teachers from various high schools across Guwahati for talks and hands-on activities. Through sessions on the scale of the Solar System, light, spectroscopy, and more, teachers explored engaging and low-cost ways of introducing astronomy in classrooms.

contributed to outreach activities in the North-East through ASI POEC at .

Prof. Divya Oberoi and Prof. Yogesh Wadadekar delivered public talks, 'The Invisible Sun' and 'Galaxies at the Dawn of Time with JWST', at the Guwahati Planetarium, sharing recent developments and discoveries in astronomy with a wider audience.

NCRA faculty also extended these outreach efforts to schools across Guwahati. Dr. Barnali Das delivered talks in Assamese at Dharapur Higher Secondary School and Sonaram Higher Secondary School, and Dr. Surajit Mondal delivered a talk in Bengali at Bidyamandir Higher Secondary School, as part of an effort to promote astronomy through regional language outreach.

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Several NCRA members presented posters at this year's conference, showcasing their ongoing research and highlighting recent developments at the and , alongside NCRA's contributions to the .

A big congratulations to our presenters: Amina Thekkoth, Ankita Ghosh, Hardik Medhi, Jalak Mehta, Jyotirmoy Das, Kaushal Buch, Keerthi K. Prabhu Shirodkar, Salmoli Ghosh, Sapan Kumar Sahoo, Sridhar Gajendran, and Tanmay Das.

ASI POEC IIT Guwahati

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Several NCRA members delivered talks at this year's conference. Presenters included Rashi Jain (Research Scholar), Ayan Biswas, Janakee Raste, and Shaswata Choudhury (Post-docs), and faculty members Barnali Das, Jayanta Roy, M. A. Krishnakumar, Subhashis Roy, Sushma Kurapati, Visweshwar Ram Marthi, and Yogesh Wadadekar.