AR_final file_2018-19

To strengthen the astronomical activities, an MoU has been signed withARIES, Nainital. Students of MSc (IV semester) (Dipanjan Bhattacharya, Khushboo Soni, Tarak Chand, Manisha Bandhe, Leena Dili, Chhaya Sahu, and Chandra Prakash Navarange) have visitedARIES to carry out project works. RESEARCHACTIVITIES Mahendra Verma has been working for his PhD thesis entitled, “Central Region of Lenticular Galaxies”, under the supervision of SheoKumar Pandey , and Sudhanshu Barway (IIA, Bengaluru). Nand Kumar Chakradhari (Senior Assistant Professor) has been collaborating with G. C. Anupama, and Devendra Kumar Sahu (both from IIA, Bengaluru) on Supernovae. An extensive study of type Ia supernovae SN 2009ig and SN 2012cg has been carried out. Optical photometric data obtained using 2-m Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT), and UV- optical photometric data of these events archived from Swift-UVOT were analyzed. A series of optical spectra obtained using HCT were also analyzed. Both SN 2009ig and SN 2012cg exhibit similar properties. They are relatively slow decliner and luminous event. Their early spectra show high velocity features in Si II and Ca II lines. The strong Fe III, Si III, and weak Si II λ5972 lines during pre-maximum phase are indicative of hot photosphere. The post-maximum velocity evolution shows a plateau like phase. Both events show spectral evolution similar to normal SNe Ia, and the observed spectra could be well reproduced by synthetic spectra. Priyanjali Patel has been selected for PhD programme at the Department of Astronomy, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile. Kalyani Bagri has submitted her PhD thesis entitled, “Study of Accretion Process and Jets in X-ray Binaries” under the supervision of Jagdish Singh Yadav (TIFR, Mumbai), Sheo Kumar Pandey, and Ranjeev Misra (IUCAA). The work is focused on the spectral and timing analysis of Black Hole X-ray Binaries (BHXBs). RXTE observations of GX339-4 from the four outbursts during 2002 - 2011 were analyzed. The system was found to be in the hard state and showed a broad Fe line. The model fit shows that the reflection component does not completely explain the puzzle of existence of broad Fe line. Detailed monitoring of GRS 1915+105 in its delta class was done using theAstroSat during September 25 - 27, 2016. Simultaneous spectral fitting of LAXPC and SXT data shows that the spectrum fits well with a thermal Comptonization component along with the disk blackbody component. The photon index is very steep, indicating that the source is in the soft state. The timing properties of the source indicate a state transition within the delta class. Ranjeev Misra, Gulab C. Dewangan, Samir Dhurde, Sonali Sachdeva (all from IUCAA), Nandita Srivastava (Udaipur Solar Observatory), Jeewan Chand Pandey, Amitesh Omar (both from ARIES, Nainital), Poshak Gandhi (University of Southampton, UK), Devendra Kumar Sahu, Sudhanshu Barway (both from IIA, Bengaluru), Naba K. Mondal (Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata), Bipash Das Gupta (Birla Planetarium, Kolkata), Rajiv Gavai (TIFR, Mumbai), Parijat Thakur (GGU, Bilaspur), and Sudhanwa Patra (IIT, Bhilai). VISITORS Following Eminent Scientists visited the School and interacted with Students/Faculty members: SCHOOL OF STUDIES IN PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS PT. RAVISHANKAR SHUKLA UNIVERSITY, RAIPUR Coordinator: Sheo Kumar Pandey ( 257 )