Media coverage

Gold Star Telescopes

The GROWTH-India Telescope and STAR Lab were featured in the cover story of the IIT Madras Tech Magazine Shaastra.

Zee Yuva Sanman

Varun Bhalerao was awarded the Zee Yuva Sanman award in the "Science and Technology" () for his work in astrophysics. Watch a short video on Facebook.

Caught in the act: Indian Astronomers study a Rare Luminous Jet Spewed by a Supermassive Black Hole

The GROWTH-India team obtained key data that helped in the identification and study of a rare, relativistic jetted tidal disruption event.

• IITB Press release - Caught in the act: Indian Astronomers study a Rare Luminous Jet Spewed by Supermassive Black Hole

• Hindustan Times - International team of astronomers studies rare Tidal Destruction Event (archived)

• India Today - Indian telescope observes cosmic violence as dying star comes close to a black hole (archived)

• Deccan Herald - Ladakh telescope, Indian astronomers play key role in rare Black Hole discovery  (archived)

• The Verge - A black hole ripped apart a star and brought together astronomers from around the world (archived)

• Dainik Bhasker - स्पेस में मरते तारे और ब्लैक होल की भिड़ंत:अंतरिक्ष में हो रही हिंसा को भारतीय टेलिस्कोप ने कैद किया (archived)

•  The Sputnik - India's First Robotic Optical Telescope Observes 'Cosmic Violence  (archived)

• NDTV - Mysterious Bright Sky Flash Was A Black Hole Pointing Straight At Earth, Scientists Say (archived)

• MSN - Indian telescope observes cosmic violence as dying star comes close to a black hole (archived)

• Republic Bharat -  Indian Telescope Observes A Powerful Flash In Sky As Dying Star Comes Near black Hole (archived)

•  Janta Se Rishta - भारतीय टेलीस्कोप ब्रह्मांडीय हिंसा का अवलोकन करता है क्योंकि मरने वाला तारा ब्लैक होल के करीब आता है (archived)

• Samachar Nama - अंतरिक्ष में हिंसा! मरते हुए तारे और ब्‍लैक होल के बीच हुई भिड़ंत, भारतीय टेलिस्‍कोप ने जुटाई जानकारी (archived)

• Mind Stick - As a fading star approaches a black hole, an Indian telescope witnesses cosmic carnage (archived)

• Gadjets360 - अंतरिक्ष में हिंसा! मरते हुए तारे और ब्‍लैक होल के बीच हुई भिड़ंत, भारतीय टेलिस्‍कोप ने जुटाई जानकारी  (archived)

• One India - Dying Star: तारे का मरते दम तक संघर्ष, ब्‍लैक होल से लिया 'पंगा'! जानिए फिर क्या हुआ अंजाम? 

• GsGkofficial - Telescope GROWTH - This telescope studied dying stars and super massive black holes (archived)

• India Times - Explained: How Did GROWTH India Discover The Black Hole? (archived)

• Telegraph India - Big Boss of the sky (archived)

2 satellites in Mission Daksha for 360-degree watch of skies

An article in the Times of India talks about how the Daksha mission will revolutionize the study of explosive transients across the cosmos.

Cold desert, warm stars: Inside Indian Astronomical Observatory!

An article in India Today covers the Indian Astronomical Observatory at Hanle, Ladakh - including the GROWTH-India Telescope.

Black Hole Bonanaza!

AstroSat detects it's 500th Gamma Ray Burst - each event marking the birth of a black hole. IIT Bombay team plays the lead role in CZTI GRB search and analysis.

• Animation showing all 500 GRBs

• Press release from IUCAA [ Original Link | Web Archive ] 

• Space telescope records dying moments of a massive star – Nature, 22 June [ Original link | Web Archive ]

• India's Astrosat witnesses black hole birth for 500th time in space, records 'mini big bangs' – India Today, 21 May [ Original link | Web Archive ]

• Indigenously built space telescope 'Astrosat' witnesses birth of black holes for five hundredth time - All India Radio, 21 May [ Original link | Web Archive ]

• AstroSat witnesses black hole birth for 500th time – The Print, 21 May [ Original link | Web Archive ]

• ISRO's AstroSat mission observes 500th black hole birth with its X-ray instrument – News 9, 21 May [ Original link | Web Archive ]

• AstroSat witnesses black hole birth for 500th time – The Week, 21 May [ Original link | Web Archive ]

• एस्ट्रोसैट ने ब्लैकहोल का 500वीं बार निर्माण होने का पता लगाया – (Hindi) Navbharat Times, 21 May [ Original link | Web Archive ]

• Indigenously built space telescope 'Astrosat' witnesses birth of black holes for 500th time – One India, 21 May [ Original link | Web Archive ]

• कृष्णविवर जन्माच्या ५०० घटनांची नोंद; भारतीय अॅस्ट्रोसॅटची कामगिरी – (Marathi) Maharashtra Times, 21 May [ Original link | Web Archive ]

• एस्ट्रोसैट ने ब्लैकहोल का 500वीं बार निर्माण होने का पता लगाया – (Hindi) IBC 24, 21 May  [ Original link | Web Archive ]

• Astrosat witnesses black hole birth for 500th time – WION, 22 May [ Original link | Web Archive ]

• India’s space telescope 'Astrosat' spots black hole birth for 500th time as stars form mysterious object in space – DNA India, 22 May [ Original link | Web Archive ]

• India’s AstroSat witnesses black hole birth for the 500th time – Times of India, 24 May [ Original link ]

Good morning, Starshine!

As telescopes gets smarter and space voyages more adventurous, take a look at the best recent views of worlds beyond our own, and what it takes to create them (article in Hindustan Times).

IIT Bombay students discover closest known asteroid to fly by Earth

On August 16, an SUV-sized asteroid soared just 2950 km above the surface of Earth. IIT Bombay students Kunal Deshmukh and Kritti Sharma, working on a research project, discovered this object just hours later using data from the robotic Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) in California. Designated 2020 QG, it is the closest known asteroid to fly by Earth without impacting the planet. The previous known record-holder is asteroid 2011 CQ1, discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey in 2011, which passed above Earth about 1,550 miles (2,500 kilometers) higher than 2020 QG.

• Press release from IITB

• Press release from Caltech

• "Our Planet Protected Us. Earth ‘Bends’ An Asteroid Just 1,830 Miles Out, The Closest Flyby On Record" - Forbes magazine

Ask Me Anything

Students of the Department Academic Mentorship Program (DAMP) of the Department of Physics, IIT Bombay had some questions for me - see the answers on their blog.

LIGO offers clues to black hole physics

Coverage in The Hindu on a neutron star merger candidate announced by LIGO.

Chandrayaan 2 launch

I was called as an expert for coverage of the Chandrayaan 2 launch by the "ABP Maza" news channel. Some clips from the interview are available on youtube. Note that I am not involved in the Chandrayaan 2 mission in any way.

Why do space research?

"Forays into deep space fuel interest in physics, maths, and astronomy" - an article in the Times of India.

GROWTH-India telescope’s first science observation

We started scientific observations with the GROWTH-India telescope, and got some coverage in The Hindu.

Once deemed impossible, IITs and IISc are ushering in changes

I was interviewed about why I returned to India, to IIT Bombay, and my experiences in the process.

Black Hole Spotted by Indian Scientists

The Deccan Herald talks about our paper on GW170104, where we conclusively proved that it is unassociated with the GRB170105A.

NuSTAR measures magnetic field of a Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient

I led the NuSTAR team in studying IGRJ17544-2619, a "Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient". We detected a X-ray cyclotron line, and thus obtained the first measurements of the magnetic fields in such objects — a long-sought breakthrough. Here are some links to the press coverage: 

• "City scientist leads international team in demystifying cosmic phenomenon", The Times of India, 2 Dec 2014. [ Original link ] 

• "Why stars feast and fast partly resolved", The Hindu, 22 Jan 2015. [ Original link | PDF copy ] 

• (Italian): "Spazio: la coppia di stelle poco magnetiche", Globalist, 26 Nov 2014. [ Original link | PDF copy | English PDF (translated by Google) ]

• "Reaching for the stars", Pune Mirror, 4 Jan 2015. [ Original link | PDF copy ]

• "IUCAA astronomer sheds new light on our understanding of binary neutron stars", interview at Spacetime Rocks, 18 Dec 2014. [ Original link ] 

• (Marathi): "Yugul taryanchya prakashmanatet honarya badalanche kode ulgadnyat yash", Loksatta, 3 Dec 2014. [ Original link | JPG copy ] 

• (Marathi): "Dwaiti taryanchya X-ray che rahasya ata ulgadnaar", Maharashtra Times, 2 Dec 2024 [ IUCAA library link ]

Mangalyaan reaches Mars

I was not directly involved in any aspect of Mangalyaan. As I have worked on a NASA mission and an ISRO mission, I was interviewed by France 24 news channel, seeking my response on India's maiden, highly successful Mars mission. Here's the link to the video. My interview starts around 2:55, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks around 1:30.