Astronomical Society of India
Encyclopedia
The Astronomical Society of India (ASI) is an Indian society of professional astronomer
s and other professionals from related disciplines. It was founded in 1972, with Vainu Bappu
being the founder President of the Society, and as of 2010 has a membership of approximately 1000. Its registered office is at the Astronomy Department, Osmania University
, Hyderabad, India. Its primary objective is the promotion of Astronomy and related branches of science. It organises meetings, supports and tries to popularise Astronomy and related subjects and publishes the Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India
.
Prof. Rajaram Nityananda of the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Ganeshkhind,
Pune is the Society's President.
The Society makes a series of awards, the most prestigious of which is the Prof. M. K. Vainu Bappu Gold Medal awarded once every two years to "honour exceptional contributions to Astronomy and Astrophysics by young scientists anywhere in the world." Previous award winners include:
The Society also runs two prestigious lecutres; the Modali Endowment Lecture and the R. C. Gupta Endowment Lecture.
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
s and other professionals from related disciplines. It was founded in 1972, with Vainu Bappu
Vainu Bappu
Manali Kallat Vainu Bappu was an Indian astronomer and president of the International Astronomical Union. Bappu helped establish several astronomical institutions in India——including the Vainu Bappu Observatory named after him—and also contributed to the establishment of the modern Indian...
being the founder President of the Society, and as of 2010 has a membership of approximately 1000. Its registered office is at the Astronomy Department, Osmania University
Osmania University
Osmania University , , since 1918, is a public university located in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established and named after the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. It is one of the oldest modern universities in India. It is the first Indian University to have Urdu and...
, Hyderabad, India. Its primary objective is the promotion of Astronomy and related branches of science. It organises meetings, supports and tries to popularise Astronomy and related subjects and publishes the Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India
Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India
The Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India is the official quarterly journal of the Astronomical Society of India established in 1973...
.
Prof. Rajaram Nityananda of the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Ganeshkhind,
Pune is the Society's President.
The Society makes a series of awards, the most prestigious of which is the Prof. M. K. Vainu Bappu Gold Medal awarded once every two years to "honour exceptional contributions to Astronomy and Astrophysics by young scientists anywhere in the world." Previous award winners include:
- 1986 Y. Fukui
- 1988 G.P. Efstathiou and Srinivas R. Kulkarni
- 1990 D.J. Saikia and D. Bhattacharya
- 1992 Pawan KumarPawan KumarPawan Kumar is a Kannada film director, actor and screenwriter. He is well known for the movies Manasaare, Pancharangi and his latest directorial debut Lifeu Ishtene...
- 1994 Mathew Colless
- 1996 Sarbani Basu
- 1998 Peter Martinez
- 2000 Biswajit Paul (astronomer) and Alycia J. WeinbergerAlycia J. WeinbergerAlycia J. Weinberger is currently a staff member at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. She is the 2000 winner of the Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy and the Vainu Bappu Gold Medal of Astronomical Society of India for 2000 ....
- 2002 Brian P. SchmidtBrian SchmidtBrian L. Schmidt is a music composer for various video games and pinball games. He began in the video game music and sound industry in 1987 as a composer/sound designer and programmer for Williams Electronic Games in Chicago writing music and creating sound effects for pinball machines and coin...
- 2004 R. Srianand and Ray JayawardhanaRay JayawardhanaRay Jayawardhana is an astronomer at the University of Toronto, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics, and an award-winning science writer...
- 2006 Banibrata Mukhopadhyay
The Society also runs two prestigious lecutres; the Modali Endowment Lecture and the R. C. Gupta Endowment Lecture.