National Centre for Radio Astrophysics

19/08/2026

On August 13th, members Ayan Biswas, Ayushi Shrivastava, Devesh Yadav, Esha Sajjanhar, Jalak Mehta, and Pulak Mohapatra conducted an exciting astronomy session for around 300 cadets from 3 MAH AIR SQN. The event featured a talk introducing astronomy, followed by multiple demo sessions, an interactive "Ask an Astronomer" session, and a fun space quiz!

A huge thanks to everyone who joined.

11/08/2026

A decade ago, the TGSS survey with India's GMRT found a distant radio galaxy candidate. Now, JWST has revealed it's actually a protocluster of at least six galaxies from when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old — one of the earliest known dense structures! These galaxies are merging, and EVN (European VLBI Network) radio observations show the black hole's jet is young and still growing. The research was carried out by an international team of astronomers at Oxford & Leiden University.

01/08/2026

Professors Yashwant Gupta, Yogesh Wadadekar, and Divya Oberoi from presented at the second India Training School at IIT Kanpur.

Prof. Gupta conducted an engaging session titled 'GMRT and the future of radio astronomy in India'. He discussed the role of the in paving the way for projects like the SKA and furthering Indian radio astronomy. Prof. Wadadekar led a session titled 'Application of AI/ML in radio astronomy'. He highlighted the areas in which these tools can bolster progress in astronomy. Prof. Divya Oberoi conducted a session titled 'Calibration techniques in interferometric observations'. He emphasised the importance of correctly quantifying instrumental and observational effects that affect measurements made by radio telescopes.

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
SKA India Consortium
Yashwant Gupta Yogesh Wadadekar

Image Credit: SPASE IITK

30/07/2026

28/07/2026

On July 19–21, 2026, the IEEE Space, Aerospace and Defence (SPACE) 2026 conference was held at the Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel & Convention Center in Bengaluru, India. SPACE is a premier interdisciplinary forum for space, aerospace, and defence experts, engineers, and researchers to come together to discuss the latest developments in designated technologies.

During the event, GMRT Senior Engineer Kaushal Buch () presented key developments in radio astronomy instrumentation across two specialized technical sessions:

"Towards Statistical and Deep Learning Approach for Automated Powerline RFI Mitigation at GMRT" — Focusing on real-time Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) mitigation techniques for next-generation GMRT systems.

"System-Level Simulation of Experimental Prototype Aperture Array Beamformer for the Expanded GMRT" — Highlighting ongoing proposal work for prototype multi-element, multi-beam beamformers under the Expanded GMRT (eGMRT) initiative.

Kaushal Buch and his co-authors were awarded the Best Paper Award for their work titled "System-Level Simulation of Experimental Prototype Aperture Array Beamformer for the Expanded GMRT" within the conference's Next Generation Radio Astronomy track.

24/07/2026

In a new study led by Andrea Botteon from the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF - IRA in Bologna), India’s upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) played a pivotal role in revealing the secrets of a striking cosmic structure nicknamed the "Treble Clef". By observing the target at higher radio frequencies (400 MHz and 650 MHz), the uGMRT provided crucial data that allowed researchers to map how the energy within this "radio phoenix" is rapidly fading away across its thin, intricate filaments. Crucially, the uGMRT's sensitive observations also uncovered a faint, giant glow embedding the source - a candidate "radio halo" - that provides strong evidence that the Treble Clef sits in a turbulent environment created by a violent collision between galaxy clusters, which is likely responsible for its unusual morphology.

Did the uGMRT or ORT play a major role in your latest research? Contact us, and we'll help you share your science with the world!

19/07/2026

On July 10th, members Banshi Lal, Hardik Medhi, Jalak Mehta, Pulak Mohapatra, and Yash Bhusare conducted an interactive astronomy session for over 435 students of 3 MAH AIR SQN. We loved seeing the students' curiosity spark through a talk on Multiwavelength Astronomy and hands-on experiments exploring how light travels!

A huge thanks to everyone who joined us. Want to host a similar session? Contact us to learn more!

03/07/2026

Using the uGMRT, a team led by NCRA-TIFR PhD student Jyotirmoy Das discovered 5 new millisecond pulsars in the globular clusters Messier 69 (M69) & Messier 70 (M70), marking the first-ever detection of pulsars in these clusters.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal, the discovery was made as part of the Globular Clusters GMRT Pulsar Search (GCGPS), an international collaboration to study hidden pulsars in some of the oldest stellar systems in our Galaxy.

These newly discovered pulsars will serve as valuable probes of the structure, evolution and internal dynamics of their host clusters.

Jyotirmoy Das

02/07/2026

What does it take to build and operate a world-class radio telescope?

This question lies at the heart of the GMRT Radio Physics Laboratory (RPL) Summer School on Radio Astronomical Engineering, held from 15th to 19th June, which brought together nearly 35 students from across India. This school, designed primarily for third- and final-year B.Tech. & first-year M.Tech. students, introduces aspiring engineers to the multidisciplinary world of radio astronomy instrumentation.

Over five days, students attended lectures by experts from NCRA-TIFR, followed by hands-on lab work, demonstrations, and live observations, with guest sessions from Tata Communications and PRL Ahmedabad rounding out the week.

One of the few astronomy schools in the country designed specifically for engineering students, the RPL Summer School aims every year to equip students with the skills needed to contribute to future radio astronomy facilities.

01/07/2026

The SKA-related activities in India are overseen by a consortium of educational and research organisations, formally known as the SKA-India Consortium (SKAIC). The consortium is coordinated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics in Pune.

Together, these institutes contribute their expertise and innovation to help build the Square Kilometer Array.
SKA Observatory

More about SKAIC: https://skaindia.ncra.tifr.res.in/

Department of Atomic Energy, India ASI POEC TIFR India