Dr. Dipen Sahu
*Astrophysist * Millimeter astronomer * Astrochemist
I am an Ramanujan Faculty Fellow (prestigious/competitive position) at Physical Research Labory (PRL, Ahmedabad, India). Before joining as a Ramanujan Fellow from August, 2022, I worked as an Academia Sinica (AS) postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA,) Taiwan. Beside my regular research, I served as an ALMA (Atacama Large (sub)Millimeter Array telescope) regional center member (ARC, EA-Taiwan node) and took part in Quality assurance (QA2) of ALMA data, answering user questions on ALMA knowledge base and organising workshops. I am still an proud research collaborator/ member of ASIAA which have a big role discovering in Black Hole (EHT), and part of largest millimeter telescope ALMA and many others significant research present in the international astronomy community.
​
I completed my Ph.D. from University of Calcutta in 2017 and completed my M.Sc from University's science college, popularly known as Rajabazar Science College. Interesting fact that S.N. Bose ('Boson' particle named after him) was a alumnus of the college. Enough of the chit-chats; coming to research expertise and interest - it include astrophysical and astrochemical aspect of low-mass stars (Solar type of stars) starting from very early molecular cloud stage down to protostars and protoplanetary disk. So, it includes observations (mainly mm-wavelength), simple astrophysical modeling, synthetic imaging, line and continuum radiative transfer modeling, kinematical properties such as infall, outflow of protostars etc., protoplanetary disk - planets, and astrochemical modeling (abundance calculation of chemical species under astrophysical conditions). Check the website for further details to follow updates of ongoing projects.
Research Interests
-
Molecular cloud
-
Evolution of low mass cores and star formation
-
Prestellar core, young stellar core/protostars
-
Dynamics and Kinematics of protostars
-
Grain growth and planet formation
-
Astrochemistry
-
Our chemical heritage from molecular cloud down to protoplanetary disk and planetary environments
My research is related to understanding the formation of solar-type protostars (low-mass stars), namely the physical condition and its connection with chemical properties during its evolution from starless cores to protostars to protoplanetary disks. The fundamental motive of my research is to understand how stars like our Sun and planetary systems are formed and what is its connection with our chemical heritage/terrestrial elements. I use mm-submm interferometric and single-dish data analysis, astrochemistry, radiative transfer, and various modeling efforts to facilitate and achieve these research goals.
​
I view my expertise and interests as complementary to the current astrophysics research activities in India and not duplicating existing research expertise. In fact, my vision is to build a long-term research project and human resources for the research motives, especially molecular astronomy. I have already published ground-breaking results in top astrophysics journals like The Astrophysical Journal Letters (ApJL), The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ), Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), etc. Details of press release articles can be found in my CV, and the full list of referred journal articles and other articles can be found in the embedded link.​
Significant research achievements
1. To date, it is not known how multiple systems are born from a prestellar core and how a prestellar core looks just before the formation of protostars. For the first time, we have reported detection of centrally dense core (at a scale of 1000 au) and earliest signatures of protostar multiplicity (Sahu et al. 2021, ApJL). For more than three decades, researchers are studying the physical structure of prestellar cores. However, our results have unveiled a new class of prestellar cores (see the news release articles)
2. In Sahu et al. (2019, ApJ), for the first time we have shown how optically thick emission can hide/affects source physical (e.g., magnetic field, density) and chemical properties (presence of complex organic molecules). Astronomy and Astrochemistry community now started realizing the role of opacity in (sub)millimeter domain (see cited papers)
3. Prebiotic molecules in the interstellar medium may play an important role in the origin of life. Glycine, the simplest amino acid, is a prebiotic molecule detected in meteorites. However, it is yet to be detected in the ISM. Sahu et al. (ApJ, 2020) reported the tentative presence of a glycine isomer, methyl carbamate, toward
protostars (hot corinos)