Prof Govind Swarup, the pioneer of radio astronomy in India who played an instrumental role in setting up the Ooty radio telescope and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) near Pune passed away on Monday. He was 91.
Former project director of GMRT and former director of the TIFR’s National Centre for Radio Astronomy, Pune, Swarup was the brain behind the design and construction of the world’s biggest metrewave radio telescope that helped unravel some of the long-standing mysteries of the universe.
Between 1963 and 1970, he led the first Indian effort to build a radio telescope at Ooty using an innovative design. The Ooty radio telescope collected a unique set of data for more than 1,000 weak radio sources to help provide independent verification of the Big Bang theory.
Born at Thakurdwara, Uttar Pradesh in 1929, Swarup received his BSc degree in 1948; MSc in Physics in 1950 from the Allahabad University and PhD from Stanford University in 1961.
He began his career at the National Physical Laboratory, Delhi, but at the request of Homi Bhabha, switched to the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai where he mentored many young astrophysicists besides carrying out some of his own research.
"It is with a heavy heart that we report the passing away of the doyen of Indian radio astronomy 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," the institute said in a statement.
"Swarup received several distinctions throughout his career, including the Padma Shri, the Bhatnagar award, and the Grote Reber medal. He was a fellow of many distinguished academies, including Fellowship of the Royal Society," the statement added.