IIT Roorkee researchers help capture Black Hole symphony

A team of researchers, including from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee was part of the first data release of the Indian Pulsar Timing Array collaboration (InPTA), which helped in capturing the Black Hole symphony after three and a half years of observations.

The InPTA is an Indo-Japanese collaboration with about 40 radio astronomers working with the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA) in order to detect low-frequency gravitational waves.

"This is an important release of our collaboration and will eventually help detect gravity waves in a new window," professor P Arumugam from Department of Physics, IIT Roorkee, said in a statement on Monday.

The InPTA data release is the result of three and a half years of observations with one of the world's largest and most advanced telescopes, the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) operated by NCRA-TIFR (National Centre for Radio Astrophysics - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) near Pune.


The universe is filled with gravitational wave background holding answers to deep secrets of nature.

Researchers are listening to large waves crashing loudly upon the seashore, whereas spacetime is continually brimming with tiny ripples.

These waves are generated by supermassive black hole binary pairs orbiting around each other for millions of years during their courses of collision.


The primary hindrance in their detection is the vast ocean of interstellar medium lying in between. The InPTA data is critical for charting this interstellar weather' and paving the way to the discovery in near future.

"I am glad that IIT Roorkee is part of this global effort using world-class facilities like the uGMRT," said professor Kamal K Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee. - IANS