Dr Somak Raychaudhury is known for his work on stellar mass black holes and supermassive black holes. His significant contributions include those in the fields of gravitational lensing, galaxy dynamics and large-scale motions in the Universe, including the Great Attractor. Dr Somak Raychaudhury became the fourth Director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune India, in September 2015. He was Professor and Head of Physics at Presidency University, Kolkata, where he was also the Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences till August 2015. He remains affiliated to the Astrophysics and Space Research group, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, where he used to be the director of the Wast Hills Observatory from 2003 to 2012. Prior to this, he was a member of the faculty at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, India. He was a staff member at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in Cambridge, Massachusetts,USA, working for the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Before this, Dr Somak Raychaudhury was a Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and a tutor at Lowell House, Harvard University. Following his PhD at the University of Cambridge, UK, he was a SERC (Science and Engineering Research Council) Research Fellow at the Institute of Astronomy there and a resident Junior Research fellow at St. Edmund’s College.
Raychaudhury’s research interests lie in the study of the evolution of galaxies in groups and clusters, and on the supercluster filaments of the cosmic web. He has used optical, X-ray, radio, infrared and ultraviolet observations to understand how the transformations of galaxies are related to their local and global environment. He is involved in developing machine learning algorithms for astronomical data mining. He has published over 80 research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals on these themes. In addition, he leads a substantial outreach programme involving school students, teachers, and the general public. He was one of the key people to start the Indian Astronomy Olympiad, and selected and coached the Indian Olympiad team to top results at the International Astronomy Olympiad in 1999 and 2000. His outreach activities include numerous programmes on radio, television, and collaboration with performing artists.
Shubhobroto chats with Somak:
Shubhobroto Ghosh : Please tell us a little bit about your journey with astronomy and astrophysics, especially how you got interested in these subjects?
Somak Raychaudhury : I was interested in the sky from very early on since my mother used to show me the constellations and tell me stories about the sky. I grew up in Kolkata where the skies are light-polluted but I often used to go to visit my mother’s parents in Midnapore where the sky was clear and exquisite. My mother practiced astrology, but I never believed in it a bit – this set up a lot of debates and made me read a lot about Astronomy. Some of the earliest books I read were by Jayant Vishnu Narlikar- the ‘Structure of the Universe’, for example. Then I watched Carl Sagan’s Cosmos at the American Library (USIS) in Kolkata- most episodes shown as they first arrived, projected from VHS. This must have been early 1981, and I was a first-year student at Presidency College, where I was being taught Physics by the famous cosmologist Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri. Cosmos changed my life completely. The perspective of observationally studying the Universe, the music by Vangelis, the historical episode that talked about Tycho and Kepler, the prospect of life on other planets, and Carl Sagan looking up at the “billions and billions” of stars were awe-inspiring. The following year I got the chance to visit the Raman Institute in Bangalore on a trip organized by JBNSTS (Jagadish Bose National Science Talent Search), where I met the late V Radhakrishnan (C V Raman’s son and one of India’s most famous Astronomers) and his colleague G Srinivasan- they worked on pulsars and were my first mentors.
Cosmos changed my life completely
Shubhobroto Ghosh : Please tell us a little bit about the kind of work done by IUCAA (Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics)?
Somak Raychaudhury : IUCAA has a hundred practising astronomers including students and young researchers and supports another 500 astronomers at all levels at Indian Universities, working in all areas of the subject. It was created in 1988 by the University Grants Commission to help the subject grow for research and teaching in universities at a time when the subject was not really taught in universities and just after Cosmos created a huge interest in India. Aptly, the person who introduced Cosmos on Indian TV (Jayant Vishnu Narlikar) was chosen as the first Director. Now it connects research in Indian Universities to international facilities. We are also (partially) in charge of India’s participation in a lot of international projects- leading roles in LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory)-India and the TMT (Thirty-meter Telescope) and important role in SKA (Square Kilometer Array)-India.
Shubhobroto Ghosh : What is the importance of astronomy and astrophysics in science and technology?
Somak Raychaudhury : This is a hard question to answer- one can write a book on it. It is one of the most fundamental sciences, and addresses some of the biggest and most fundamental questions. Many sciences have come from astronomical questions. Physics as we know it now comes from Newton trying to figure out why Halley’s comet comes back. Much of mathematics was created to understand celestial motions. Now Astrophysics pushes technology to its limits. The digital camera, lasers, CT scans, radio communications and telephony, a lot of these have started from astrophysical challenges.
Shubhobroto Ghosh : What kind of work is IUCAA doing to popularize astronomy and astrophysics?
Somak Raychaudhury : We have an immense outreach programme for school students and school teachers. Apart from public events all through the year (which are broadcast to the world on YouTube), we have programmes to enrich science teaching for teachers all over India. Specifically, we work with 300 schools in urban and rural Maharashtra, and we lead the Education and Public Outreach projects connected with the Mega initiatives like LIGO, TMT, SKA. You can find more information on scipop.iucaa.in.
Shubhobroto Ghosh : How did you find the first ‘Cosmos’ in 1980 and the Indian broadcast as presented by Jayant Vishnu Narlikar in 1985?
Somak Raychaudhury : I’ve answered above- I saw Cosmos at the USIS Calcutta when it first came out. I did not watch it on Doordarshan- we did not have a TV at home, and I was studying at Oxford when Doordarshan showed it. I saw it again and again on British TV, possessed VHS/DVDs of it and heard Carl Sagan’s lectures live. I was one of those fans who followed him around like fans of rock stars.
Shubhobroto Ghosh : What do you think has been the impact of Carl Sagan on science and scientific thinking?
Somak Raychaudhury : Epic. Sagan was the first true superstar of science outreach and still remains at the top. In my opinion, no individual has achieved the kind of impact Sagan had on the public. Whether he affected scientific thinking I cannot say, but he did bring a lot of the top scientists of my generation into science just by getting them interested. The parents of these students also watched the series or read his books and got interested, which enabled us to take up scientific careers without actively defying our parents.
Sagan was the first true superstar of science outreach
Shubhobroto Ghosh : Some episodes of the first ‘Cosmos’ were shot in India, including the one on the cosmic dance of Nataraja. What did you think about the Indian references in the first ‘Cosmos?’
Somak Raychaudhury : The Indian settings worked very well in the various episodes, and it was also a time when a lot of the world was getting interested in India, and so it attracted, for example, the boomer generation in the USA. The Pongal ceremony in the segment on calendar and festivals, the discussion on time in the Hindu religions, gorgeous shots of south Indian temples. The segment on Nataraja appealed to people who had read Fritjof Capra’s book, ‘The Tao of Physics’ and must have contributed to India donating the Nataraja statue to CERN later. Above all, the question of Hindu cosmology provided an interesting context to the discussion of the Big Bang, and this must have attracted Jayant Vishnu Narlikar to it since he has been a proponent of infinite-time cosmologies e.g. the steady state.
Shubhobroto Ghosh : Please tell us a little bit about the major studies in astronomy and astrophysics today and how these subjects have evolved since the broadcast of the first ‘Cosmos’ in 1980.
Somak Raychaudhury : Again, this would take a long time to answer. Astronomy has moved on a lot since 1980. Even Stephen Hawking’s book ‘A Brief History of Time’ written in 1986 is half-obsolete. There is no doubt of the Big bang with the (CMB) Cosmic Microwave Background studied so closely. Planets around other stars have been discovered and are being studied in detail- SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) is no longer the only way we hope to find extraterrestrial life. We now know dark matter makes up most of the matter and the Universe is mostly made of Dark energy, something that was discovered after Sagan passed away. Space based astronomy has changed a lot of the way we see the Universe- the Hubble Space Telescope launched in 1990 was the first of these big missions. In 1980, we knew the age of the Universe was between 8-16 billion years ago- now we know it is 13.7 plus/minus 0.2 billion years old. So much more.
Shubhobroto Ghosh : What do you think of the work of Neil deGrasse Tyson and the second and third seasons of ‘Cosmos?’
Somak Raychaudhury : I think Neil is an excellent presenter and popularizer. I met him several times when he was a practising astronomer, working at observatories in Chile with him for instance. Ever since I have followed his work on popularization and have seen his shows at the American Museum of Natural History. His second season was brilliant. I haven’t seen the third season.
Shubhobroto Ghosh : Today there is a visible conflict between science and religion. However, Carl Sagan stated that there could be an alliance between science and spirituality and even had a dialogue with the Dalai Lama on this subject. What do you think of the relationship between science and religion?
Somak Raychaudhury : I see no conflict- they address different questions. Father Lemaitre, the Jesuit priest who was the discoverer of the Big Bang theory, and various frontline scientists have written eloquently on the subject. I participated in a dialogue with the Dalai Lama in Delhi in 2015 and learnt a lot. Science cannot provide answers to a lot of questions related to Perception and Consciousness, and about the purpose of the Universe. It is also true that religion does not and cannot answers to the how and what of things, which is the domain of science. I think it was most apt that the original Cosmos discussed some of this.
Shubhobroto Ghosh : Please tell us your views on the Chandrayaan mission?
Somak Raychaudhury : It is very important for Indian science and technology, as it shows what can be achieved. The current mission is also providing a lot of insight into the formation and composition of the Moon.
Shubhobroto Ghosh : Please tell us about India’s major contributions to astronomy and astrophysics.
Somak Raychaudhury : Worth a whole book. Traditionally- a lot of the mathematical background- Aryabhata, Bhaskara II, Madhava. In the current era, Helium was discovered in an astronomical observation in India. The Madras observatory made important discoveries about the Sun. Meghnad Saha’s work was fundamental in understanding stars. Chandrasekhar is virtually the father of modern astrophysics. General relativity- fundamental work done by N R Sen and A K Raychaudhuri- the Raychaudhuri equation led to Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose’s work on the singularity. Viswesvara and Dhurandhar’s work on gravitational waves. Radhakrishnan and the low frequency telescope at Gauribidanur. Govind Swarup and the GMRT (Giant Metre-wave Radio Telescope).
Shubhobroto Ghosh : What would you like to say to the producers of ‘Cosmos’ season 3?
Somak Raychaudhury : Good luck. Sagan’s act of the heady mix of history, fable, aesthetics and science is a hard one to follow. On the other hand, astronomy is such a fast-moving field that there are many stories to tell. I hope they do it well.
Author:
Shubhobroto Ghosh is a former journalist with the Telegraph newspaper whose work has also been published in The Statesman, New York Times, The Hindu , Montreal Serai, BBC, Sanctuary Asia, Saevus, Down To Earth and Nature India online. He is the former coordinator of the Indian Zoo Inquiry project sponsored by Zoocheck Canada and has attended the Principles and Practice Training course at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. He did his Masters thesis on British zoos at the University of Westminster. He has worked at the Wildlife Trust of India, TRAFFIC India and is currently Wildlife Research Manager in India for World Animal Protection. He has contributed to several books, including ‘The Jane Effect’, a biographical tribute to Jane Goodall by Marc Bekoff and Dale Peterson and ‘Indira Gandhi : A Life In Nature’ by Jairam Ramesh. He is the author of the book, ‘Dreaming In Calcutta and Channel Islands’ published in 2015.
Editors:
Saurja Dasgupta is originally from Kolkata, India. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, where he studied the structure, function, and evolution of catalytic RNA. He is currently doing his postdoctoral research at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, where he is trying to understand the biochemical milieu that could have given birth to life on earth (and elsewhere) and reconstruct primitive cells. One of his scientific dreams is to observe the spontaneous emergence of Darwinian evolution in a chemical system. When not thinking about science, Saurja pursues his love for the written word through poetry and song-writing (and meditating on Leonard Cohen’s music). His other passions are trying to make science easier to understand, and fighting unreason and pseudoscientific thinking with a mixture of calm compassion and swashbuckling spirit.
Sumbul Jawed Khan is a Ph. D. in Biological Sciences and Bioengineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, where she studied the role of microenvironment in cancer progression and tumor formation. During her post-doctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she investigated the gene regulatory networks that are important for tissue regeneration after damage or wounding. She is committed to science outreach and communication and believes it is essential to inspire young people to apply scientific methods to tackle the challenges faced by humanity. As an editor, her aim is to simplify, translate, and excite people about current advances in science.
Illustrators:
Disha Chauhan did her Ph.D. in IRBLLEIDA, University of Lleida, Spain in Molecular and Developmental Neurobiology. She has post-doctoral experience in Cell Biology of Neurodegenerative diseases and is actively seeking a challenging research position in academia/industry. Apart from Developmental Neurobiology, she is also interested in Oncology. She is passionate about visual art (Illustration, painting, and photography) and storytelling through it. She enjoys reading, traveling, hiking, and is also dedicated to raising scientific awareness about Cancer. Follow her on Instagram.
Saurabh Gayali recently completed his Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology from the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (JNU, New Delhi). Currently, he is DBT RA at IGIB (New Delhi), and his research focuses on finding binding associations of Indian plant metabolites with human pathogen proteins, creating a platform for future plant extract-based drug discovery. He has a keen interest in data analysis, visualization, and database management. He is a skilled 2D/3D designer with a specific interest in scientific illustration. In leisure, Saurabh plays guitar and composes music, does photography, or practices programming. Follow him on Instagram.
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