Ashish Kumar
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Email: ashish [at] ncra.tifr.res.in
Phone: 020-2571 9269
Extn: 9269
Office: F218B
National Centre for Radio Astrophysics
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Savitribai Phule Pune University Campus,
Pune 411 007
Maharashtra, INDIA
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Savitribai Phule Pune University Campus,
Pune 411 007
Maharashtra, INDIA
Main Research Areas: Very Long Baseline Interferometry; Time-Domain Radio Astronomy; Radio Astronomy Instrumentation; Pulsars; Long Period Transients.
Biography:
Ashish completed his B.Sc. from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, in 2017. He then joined the M.Sc.–Ph.D. dual degree programme at IIT Kanpur, where he obtained his Master’s degree in 2019 and completed his Ph.D. in 2025. His doctoral thesis is titled “Pulsar Studies Using VLBI: Astrometry and Instrumentation.” He joined NCRA-TIFR as a Postdoctoral Fellow in July 2025.Research description:
My research so far focuses on high-precision astrometry using very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) and its applications to pulsar science, along with the development and deployment of radio astronomy instrumentation. The milliarcsecond angular resolution provided by VLBI enables direct measurements of precise positions, distances, and proper motions of pulsars, which are essential for studies of pulsar kinematics, the Galactic electron density distribution, and the interstellar medium. I have used Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) pulsar astrometric observations and developed a modular calibration and imaging pipeline for VLBA astrometric data processing. I have also been closely involved in the Sky Watch Array Network (SWAN) project, leading the installation and commissioning of a SWAN station at IIT Kanpur, one of the network’s observing locations. At NCRA, I am expanding my horizons into time-domain astronomy, with a particular focus on long-period transients using uGMRT and NenuFAR datasets.Selected publications:
1. VLBA astrometry of PSRs B0329+54 and B1133+16: Improved pulsar distances and comparison of global ionospheric models (A. Kumar et al., 2025, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 42, 98)
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