Did you always know that you wanted to be an Observational Astrophysicist?
When I was a young kid, my maternal grandfather used to take me to the roof of our house in Kalyani, India, and we used to stargaze together. He had a small telescope (which I still have back in India) and showed me the Moon, planets (like Jupiter, Saturn), stars (like Sirius, Betelgeuse, Castor and Pollux), and star clusters (like Pleiades and Hyades) through the telescope. That is when I fell in love with the Cosmos. When I was in high school, I became intrigued by Mathematics and Physics which led me to enroll as a Physics major student for my undergraduate studies at the IISER-Kolkata. It was in IISER-Kolkata where I came to learn about the subject of Astrophysics and found a way to express my love for the cosmos through the rigorous logical structure of Physics.
My passion for astrophysics grew over time (through various courses at IISER-Kolkata as well as summer internships) and culminated in me enrolling in the PhD program at the Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman. During my PhD program, I started working extensively with astronomical data from various telescopes like Gaia, Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It is during my PhD journey that I matured to become an observational astrophysicist.
So, while it was not very certain from the onset of my academic career that I would become an observational astrophysicist, the seed of today’s growth was first planted when I was a little kid.
One of the best days of my academic career. This is the day where I got hooded by my PhD advisor at the WSU, Pullman. I am fortunate that I could have my mom by my side on this day. It was on this day that I realized my academic career entered a new era, and the world of astrophysics research and education was waiting for me with all its glory and surprises.
What is your research focus?
Being an observational astrophysicist, there was a plethora of options on which I could have focused my research. My PhD advisor, Dr. Guy Worthey, played a major role in inspiring me to pursue my current research interest. Broadly speaking, I investigate how galaxies formed and evolve over time. One of the major questions that human beings still do not know the answer to is “How did we get here?”. My research tries to answer that question from a galaxy’s point of view. Just like Darwin’s theory of evolution tries to explain how today’s human evolved from primitive lifeforms, the theory of galaxy evolution tries to answer how our galaxy (as we see it today) came into existence.
In order to answer the question in hand, I specifically use spectroscopic data from distant galaxies. There are billions of galaxies which are observed by powerful telescopes like Hubble, JWST, and Roman (upcoming). The light from these galaxies holds clues on the presence or absence of many important chemical elements that played a crucial role in the evolution of a galaxy. By analyzing these chemical spectral signatures from the galaxies, we could unveil its formation and metal enrichment history. I mostly focus on galaxies that have an elliptical shape and are currently quiescent, undergoing little to no star formation. These data are used in conjunction with computer models (specifically called Stellar Population Synthesis model) to further our understanding of the stellar populations found within these galaxies. I work at the interface between real world data and computer simulations to help answer the question, “How did we get here?”.
This is what my daily workday looks like. For my research, I mostly need a computer and some good computing resources. In the background screen, you can see the picture of the Roman H4RG detector array that is the main data collector for the Roman space telescope. I am actively working on characterizing various optical effects of this detector.
What is one space mission that you are particularly excited about, and why?
Whenever there is any new space mission, it always opens a door for exploring the unknowns. For that reason, I get very excited whenever there is an announcement for a new mission, be it for human space exploration (like the Artemis program) or science and observations (like Hubble or JWST). However, there is one specific space mission that I am particularly excited about now: the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission (in short, Roman). Roman is scheduled to launch in September 2026, and it is going to revolutionize the way we look at the Cosmos. Roman has the capability to observe 100 times the area on sky at one go when compared to Hubble, all while having very similar observational strength. The data from Roman will not have any proprietary period, and it will be made freely available to the astronomy community all over the world as soon as observations are completed. It will soon pave the way for discovery in different fields in astronomy and astrophysics including (but not limited to) exoplanet detection, cosmic expansion studies, galaxy evolution studies, and galaxy clustering studies.
I believe the enthusiasm is little personal as well. I was awarded the NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellowship, for which my proposal was based on using the observational capabilities of the Roman to investigate major open questions regarding galaxy evolution. From February 2025, I have been working with the Roman Project Science (PS) team at the NASA GSFC on various aspects of the mission. I work on simulating various observational data that can be used for galaxy as well as stellar (related to stars) evolution studies. Apart from that, I also work with various ground test data to characterize some of the noise and artefacts that might hinder achieving Roman’s science goals. Once these effects are properly characterized, they can be essentially removed from the raw data, enhancing Roman’s scientific output.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman in short) in the NASA GSFC clean room. My current research revolves around simulating the capabilities of Roman to study galaxy evolution. Roman is scheduled for launch in September 2026, where it will observe the Universe in the infrared (higher wavelength compared to our visible light spectrum). Roman will enable a plethora of science interests including exoplanet detection, cosmic expansion studies, and galaxy evolution studies.
What aspect of your work excites you the most?
The most exciting part of my research work is the part where I work with real world data. It bewilders me to think how data (in any format) coming from someplace billions and billions of miles away from Earth could be used to uncover the mysteries of the Universe. These data are a representation of what is out there in the vast expanse of the space, where no human has ever set foot! Since these galaxies are billions of miles away from us, it will probably not be possible to get there and see for ourselves what is out there any time soon! So, all we are left with are these data. Careful analysis of these data can provide both direct and indirect evidence to support theoretical predictions as well as validate computer simulations.
Another exciting part of my work is working in a collaborative environment with lots of other people in the world. The challenge posed by the Universe to investigate its mysteries is too intricate to be solved by one person or small group. It needs an army of scientifically motivated people to detangle the mysteries of the Universe. I communicate and work with people around the globe on a daily basis. Each person provides a unique perspective to our understanding of the Universe, and they help me make sure my own research goes smoothly.
It was a great honor to present my research at the 2023 American Physical Society March meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. This conference gave me the opportunity to meet physicists from all over the world from different disciplines of Physics research (not just Astrophysics). I was astonished by the sheer size of the conference where around 12,000 people joined the largest yearly conference on Physics in the world.
Tell us about one project of yours that has been particularly impactful in your field.
Throughout my academic career I have been associated with several projects that I am proud of. One project that stands out is my last project from my PhD journey. For this project, I used one of the recently developed techniques to investigate galaxy evolution, called radial gradient study. This technique uses spatially resolved spectral data via an integral field unit (IFU) spectrograph, which allows us to see how spectral features change throughout the galaxy. I used this technique with data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to infer how the concentration of different elements changes throughout a galaxy as we move from the center of the galaxy to the outskirts. This study was conducted with a statistically significant sample of galaxies (around 2500) and opened a new door for exploring galaxy evolution using this newly developed radial gradient technique. The results of this study were recently (in 2026) published in one of the most prestigious journals in the field of astronomy and astrophysics (ApJS). The publication can be accessed through the following link: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/ae1f95/meta
Where do you see yourself in the near future?
I am currently in my second year of NPP at the NASA GSFC, and I am hoping to stay here for my third year as well. Beyond that I would love to keep working as an astrophysics researcher. Studying galaxy evolution is one of my favorite research activities in the field of astrophysics, but that won’t hold me back from exploring other interesting domains in astrophysics like stellar evolution, black hole formation and feedback, heliophysics, and others.
I would also love to give back to the community by becoming an educator. I see myself as a professor at a university not too far into the future. Spreading knowledge about the Universe is just as important as gathering that knowledge through research. I could see myself working as a researcher in a university or college where teaching the younger generation plays a pivotal role within my daily work.
Friends become your support system 8,000 miles away from home! They become your family away from home. In this photo, we are celebrating the Indian festival of Holi wearing our traditional Indian outfits.
Tell us about a unique or interesting component of your work-life balance.
I personally believe it is of utmost importance that one takes care of their personal self besides doing great research. Surely working at NASA center as a researcher is a challenging job. However, if you are in love with the work that you are doing, it doesn’t seem very taxing on a day-to-day basis. Another very important component of my work-life balance is having friends that will stick around through thick and thin. I have been fortunate to have such people in my life right from the beginning of my PhD journey here in the US. It is not always an easy task to leave your family 8,000 miles away and start a new life in a new country. But having people who become your family away from home makes it much easier. It is my regular weekly routine to spend quality time with my friends here in DMV area and indulge in good food, good music, and lots of nicely crafted trivia game nights. It is also important to take a break sometime. I regularly explore mountains and beaches here in US along with my friends. A breeze of fresh mountain air is sometimes all it takes to wash off the work fatigue and start afresh.
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Hometown:
Kalyani, West Bengal, India
Undergraduate Degree:
BS-MS in Physics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Post-graduate Degree:
PhD in Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University (WSU), Pullman, Washington, USA