After Chayan Dutta, a Tezpur University (TU) alumnus who had overseen the launch control operations of the Chandrayaan-3, another Tezpur University student is set to play a crucial role in Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) ambitious Aditya L1 mission.
Janmejoy Sarkar, who is currently doing PhD at Department of Physics, Tezpur University is working at ISRO’s Aditya L1 mission since 2021. He has joined Aditya L1 mission as Senior Research Fellow from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA, Pune). Aditya L1 shall be the first space based Indian mission dedicated to study the Sun. It will study the Sun’s corona (visible and near infrared rays), Sun’s photosphere (soft and hard X-ray), chromosphere (Ultra Violet), solar emissions, solar winds and flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), and will carry out round the-clock imaging of the Sun.
Sarkar, who has earlier completed M.Sc. in Physics from Tezpur University in 2018 is developing IUCAA’s Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) payload on-board Aditya-L1. His responsibility has been the optical and mechanical integration, instrument calibration, qualification and testing of the payload. This project is a part of his PhD, being carried out under the supervision of Prof. Gazi Ahmed of the Department of Physics, TU along with Prof. Durgesh Tripathi and Prof. A.N. Ramaprakash of IUCAA, Pune.
“I always had interest in Solar Physics and Astronomical Instrumentation and Tezpur University has encouraged me to pursue my dreams. I am happy to play a small role in this project of ISRO”, Mr. Sarkar said.
Prof. Shambhu Nath Singh, Vice Chancellor, Tezpur University expressed his happiness and said that such news is testament to Tezpur University’s quality education and research. “It is our quality education and research that has produced resources like Dutta and Sarkar and I trust their success story will inspire and motivate our faculty and students to excel in their professions”, Prof. Singh said.
Aditya-L1 Mission is likely to be launched in September this year.
