Published 20:51 IST, September 9th 2020
Professor Govind Swarup, man behind largest GMRT, passes away at 92
Professor Govind Swarup had passed away at the age of 92. He is one of the precious gems of the India radio astronomy field who has created the largest GMRT.
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Professor Govind Swarup is known for his exceptional contribution in the field of Radio Astronomy. He has been a significant personality who drove India's forward in this astronomy field while setting up pillars at the same time. However, the genius passed away on Monday i.e. September 7, 2020, at the age of 92.
Radio astronomy pioneer Prof Govind Swarup dies at 92
Prof Govind Swarup passed away at the age of 92 at the Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune on Monday. The cause of death is said to be due to weakness and other health complications due to old age. The news was first given by Yashwant Gupta, the Director of National Centre for Radio Astrophysics. The NCRA shared a social media post about the same as well, where they appreciated him for the legacy that he left behind and his immense contributions to science.
It is with a heavy heart that we report the passing away of the doyen of Indian radio astronomy Prof. Govind Swarup in Pune. His legacy will live on in the form of the fine telescopes that he built (#ORT and #GMRT) and the generations of scientists and engineers he trained. pic.twitter.com/1lMLzR1d9v
— NCRA Public Outreach (@NCRA_Outreach) September 7, 2020
More about Prof Govind Swarup
The renown radio astronomer Prof Swarup completed his BSc degree in the year 1948 and then he pursued Masters in Physics till 1950. The genius later when to Stanford University in the US and completed his PhD in the year 1961. In the year 1987, late Govind Swarup was awarded Doctor of Science from Banaras Hindu University and Doctor of Engineering from the University of Roorkee.
He has been a part of various prestigious organisations including CSIRO, Harvard University, Stanford University, National Physical Laboratory and more. He is the man behind creating a radio astronomy group called the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. However, he came back to India by the request of Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha to join TIFR. The group later designed and created the largest Radio telescope in the world.
Swarup's telescope is a massive 500-metre radio telescope. This radio telescope is located in Ooty, South India. The telescope helps to track celestial radio sources, providing high-resolution angular data. This telescope, developed by Prof Swarup and his group, has made crucial contributions in the fields of solar radio emission, interplanetary scintillations, pulsars, radio galaxies, quasars and cosmology.
20:51 IST, September 9th 2020