Related papers: Space Astronomy at TIFR: From Balloons to Satellit…

The infrared astronomy group of Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research has been pursuing astronomical instrumentation activities since its inception. The group has been routinely involved in…

X-ray astronomy is a mature area of observational astronomy. After the discovery of the first non-solar X-ray source in 1962, X-ray astronomy proliferated during the Apollo era's space race. Then, it matured as an established area of…

High altitude scientific balloons offer unique opportunities to carry scientific payloads to stratospheric altitudes at a cost several orders of magnitude lower than corresponding satellite missions. Balloon-borne payloads are easy to…

AstroSat is India's first Ultra-violet (UV) and X-ray astronomy observatory in space. The satellite was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on 28 September 2015 from Sriharikota Range north…

AstroSat is a multi-wavelength astronomy satellite, launched on 2015 September 28. It carries a suite of scientific instruments for multi-wavelength observations of astronomical sources. It is a major Indian effort in space astronomy and…

The Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) aboard the $AstroSat$ satellite is the first Indian X-ray telescope in space. It is a modest size X-ray telescope with a charge coupled device (CCD) camera in the focal plane, which provides X-ray images in…

I will discuss the interactions of a number of individuals that played major roles in the formation of radio astronomy in India in the period 1952-1962, particularly Dr. Joseph L. Pawsey. The story began in 1953-1954: Pawsey brought Govind…

AstroSat is India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 28 September 2015. After launch, the AstroSat Science Support Cell (ASSC) was set up as a joint venture of…

The discovery of X-ray emission from cosmic sources in the 1960s has opened a new powerful observing window on the Universe. In fact, the exploration of the X-ray sky during the 70s-90s has established X-ray astronomy as a fundamental field…

We have initiated the High-Altitude Ballooning programme at Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, in the year 2011 with the primary purpose of developing and flying low-cost scientific payloads on a balloon-borne platform. The main…

During some thirty years, 1980-2010, technical studies of optical interferometry from instruments in space were pursued as promising for higher spatial resolution and for higher astrometric accuracy. Nulling interferometry was studied for…

India reached a major milestone in the area of space astronomy with the successful launch and post-launch operations of its first space observatory, AstroSat. The success of this space observatory and the lessons learned must be utilized…

We have begun a program of high altitude ballooning at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore. Recent advances in balloons as well as in electronics have made possible scientific payloads at costs accessible to university…

Astrophysical compact objects, viz., white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes, are the remnants of stellar deaths at the end of their life cycles. They are ideal testbeds for various fundamental physical processes under extreme…

Binary stars are crucial laboratories for stellar physics, so have been photometric targets for space missions beginning with the very first orbiting telescope (OAO-2) launched in 1968. This review traces the binary stars observed and the…

Ever since its inception four decades back, Balloon Facility of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Hyderabad has been functioning with the needs of its user scientists at its focus. During the early nineties, when the X-ray…

We present a short history of the TAUVEX instrument, conceived to provide multi-band wide-field imaging in the ultraviolet, emphasizing the lack of sufficient and aggressive support on the part of the different space agencies that dealt…

Indian Centre for Space Physics is engaged in pioneering balloon borne experiments with typical payloads less than ~ 3.5kg. Low cost rubber balloons are used to fly them to a height of about 40km. In a double balloon system, the booster…

More than a decade ago the IRAS satellite opened the realm of external galaxies for studies in the 10 to 100 micron band and discovered emission from tens of thousands of normal and active galaxies. With the 1995-1998 mission of the…

ASTROSAT is India's first satellite fully devoted to astronomical observations covering a wide spectral band from optical to hard X-rays by a complement of 4 co-aligned instruments and a Scanning Sky X-ray Monitor. One of the instruments is…