Govind Swarup. 23 March 1929—7 September 2020

Abstract

Professor Govind Swarup was a distinguished radio astronomer who drove the development of the field in India. Over a long career he built the Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT) and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), which are world-class facilities. Swarup was born in North India, had his undergraduate and post-graduate education at the University of Allahabad and then joined the National Physical Laboratory at New Delhi. He then travelled on a fellowship to Australia, to work on radio astronomy under J. L. Pawsey (FRS 1954). Later, in the USA, he completed his PhD with Ronald N. Bracewell at Stanford. Govind then accepted an offer made by Homi Bhabha FRS to begin radio astronomy work at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TFIR). At TIFR, Govind conceived and built a novel, low cost, equatorially mounted cylindrical radio telescope, the ORT. The ORT was a versatile instrument and fuelled the growth of radio astronomy in India. In the late 1980s he conceived and led the construction of the GMRT, which again was based on a pioneering design. The GMRT is a remarkably successful instrument used by radio astronomers across the world. Govind Swarup has left behind a large group of radio astronomers who have continued his work and are finding new directions.