Affiliation:
AA(#eAstroLab, UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences, Mumbai, India; RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, Mumbai, India), AB(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, Mumbai, India; Amity Institute of Applied Sciences, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, India), AC(Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, India), AD(National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Pune, India), AE(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, Mumbai, India), AF(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, Mumbai, India), AG(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, Mumbai, India), AH(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, Mumbai, India), AI(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, Mumbai, India)
Publication:
Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy
, Volume 37, Issue 4, article id.41, 27 pp.
Publication Date:
12/2016
Keywords:
Galaxies: active, galaxies: evolution, galaxies: individual: Speca, galaxies: individual: NGC 3801, galaxies: individual: NGC 1482, galaxies: individual: NGC 6764, galaxies: jets, galaxies: stellar content, observations, amateur astronomy, crowd-sourcing, citizen-science.
Abstract Copyright:
(c) 2016: Indian Academy of Sciences
ABSTRACT:
We present a review on galaxy black hole co-evolution through merger, star formation and AGN-jet feedback. We highlight results on transitional galaxies (e.g. NGC1482, NGC6764, NGC3801, Speca, RAD-18 etc.) which has data from Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) and other sub-mm, IR, optical, UV and X-ray telescopes. The `smoking gun' relic-evidences of past AGN-jet feedback which is believed to have quenched star formation in transitional galaxies are still missing. Relic radio lobes, as old as a few hundred Myr, can be best detected at low radio frequencies with the GMRT, LOFAR and in future SKA. However, similar relic evidences of quasar activities, known as `Hanny's Voorwerp' discovered by Galaxy Zoo in optical data, are only around a few tens of thousand years old. More discoveries are needed to match these time-scales with time since the decline of star formation in transitional galaxies. Such faint fuzzy relic emissions in optical and angular-scale sensitive radio interferometric images can be discovered most efficiently by citizen-scientists but with a formal training. We describe RAD@home, the only Indian citizen-science research project in astronomy which takes such a modified approach. We present interesting objects, discovered from the TIFR GMRT Sky Survey (TGSS) by 69 trained citizen-scientists or e-astronomers, like relic radio lobes, episodic radio galaxies, jet-galaxy interaction, bent radio galaxy in filament etc.. This model can provide an equal opportunity of academic-growth to people even in the under-developed regions where we always need to establish our optical and radio telescopes. This can expand the research-activity of city-based research-institutes beyond their four brick walls, and alleviate various socio-economic and geo-political constraints on growth of citizens located in remote areas. #RADatHomeIndia #ABCDresearch
Authors:
Hota, Ananda; Croston, Judith H.; Ohyama, Youichi; Stalin, C. S.; Hardcastle, Martin J.; Konar, Chiranjib; Aravind, R. P.; Agarwal, Sheena M.; Dharmik Bhoga, Sai Arun; Dabhade, Pratik; Kamble, Amit A.; Mohanty, Pradeepta K.; Mukherjee, Alok; Pandey, Akansha V.; Patra, Alakananda; Pechetti, Renuka; Raut, Shrishail S.; Sushma, V.; Vaddi, Sravani; Verma, Nishchhal
Affiliation:
AA(UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (CBS), Vidyanagari, Mumbai-98, India; RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AB(School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK) AC(Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taipei-106, Taiwan) AD(Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore 560 034, India) AE(School of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK) AF(Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taipei-106, Taiwan) AG(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AH(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AI(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AJ(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AK(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AL(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AM(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AN(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AO(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AP(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AQ(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AR(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AS(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India) AT(RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India)
Publication:ASI Conference Series, 2014, Vol. 13, pp. 141-145 Edited by J. N. Chengalur & Y. Gupta Publication Date: 00/2014 Keywords: galaxies: active, galaxies: evolution
ABSTRACT:
We present the first report on an innovative new project named "RAD@home", a citizen-science research collaboratory built on free web-services like Facebook, Google, Skype, NASA Skyview, NED, TGSS etc.. This is the first of its kind in India, a zero-funded, zero-infrastructure, human-resource network to educate and directly involve in research, hundreds of science-educated under-graduate population of India, irrespective of their official employment and home-location with in the country. Professional international collaborators are involved in follow up observation and publication of the objects discovered by the collaboratory. We present here ten newly found candidate episodic radio galaxies, already proposed to GMRT, and ten more interesting cases which includes, bent-lobe radio galaxies located in new Mpc-scale filaments, likely tracing cosmological cluster accretion from the cosmic web. Two new Speca-like rare spiral-host large radio galaxies have also been been reported here. Early analyses from our follow up observations with the Subaru and XMM-Newton telescopes have revealed that Speca is likely a new entry to the cluster and is a fast rotating, extremely massive, star forming disk galaxy. Speca-like massive galaxies with giant radio lobes, are possibly remnants of luminous quasars in the early Universe or of first supermassive black holes with in first masssve galaxies. As discoveries of Speca-like galaxies did not require new data from big telescopes, but free archival radio-optical data, these early results demonstrate the discovery potential of RAD@home and how it can help resource-rich professionals, as well as demonstrate a model of academic-growth for resource-poor people in the underdeveloped regions via Internet.
GMRT Observation of Objects Discovered by RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India
GMRT Observation of Objects Discovered by RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India (GOODRAC): Faint Fuzzy TGSS-NVSS sources as tracers of fading AGNs in evolving galaxies
GMRT Observation of Objects Discovered by RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India (GOODRAC): In search of radio phoenix around bent lobe radio galaxies and associated clusters
GMRT Observation of Objects Discovered by RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India (GOODRAC): New Cluster-relics or revived relic-lobes
GMRT Observation of Objects Discovered by RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India (GOODRAC)
ASI 2018
Recent discoveries using GMRT & the growing community of #RADatHomeIndia e-astronomers leveraging Any BSc/BE Can Do research( #ABCDresearch ) approach
1. RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India 2. National Centre for Radio Astrophysics - TIFR, Pune, India 3. Amity University, Noida, India 4. UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Scieces, Mumbai, India
Abstract: Launched in the hyperconnected, big data era with the primary motive of tapping into India’s growing population of STEM undergraduates, graduates and the freely available GMRT online archive, RAD@home (#RADathomeIndia) has emerged as the nation's first successful citizen-science research platform. This zero-funded, zero-infrastructure collaboratory is leveraging various open access tools such as NASA Skyview, NASA NED, ds9, Hubble Archive, VLA Archive, Google and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/RADathome/).Adopting Any BSc/BE Can Do research (#ABCDresearch) using GMRT sitting at home anywhere in India approach, there are over 2400 Indian members in the group comprising of students,employed/unemployed individuals participating in astronomy education and research from home. Since its launching in April 2013, over 100 members have been trained by professionals during RAD@home Discovery Camps (RDC) held across India at various institutes namely Institute of Physics (IOP,Bhubaneshwar), Harishchandra Research Institute (HRI, Allahabad), UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (CEBS, Mumbai), Nehru Planetarium-New Delhi, and Vigyan Prasar-DST. These RDC-trained citizen scientists or e-astronomers continue to participate in nation-wide, inter-university multi-wavelength extragalactic astronomy research through online e-class e-research sessions (3hrs/week). The TIFR GMRT Sky Survey (TGSS) is the primary data from which e-astronomers discover exotic black hole galaxy systems for GMRT to follow up. Under the GOOD-RAC (GMRT Observation of Objects Discovered by RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory) project, the group was awarded observing time by the by GMRT Time Allocation Committee (GTAC), in four different cycles, after going through standard international competition/review process. In GOOD-RAC e-astronomers, as Co-Investigators, collaborate with national/international professional astronomers as a perfect Professional-Amateur (Pro-Am) collaboration. The newly discovered sources, that have been recently imaged by upgraded GMRT, include new Speca-like galaxies, episodic radio galaxies, relic-lobe radio galaxies, a few Z- and X-shaped radio galaxies, intriguing cases of jet-galaxy interaction (labouratory for AGN-feedback), diffuse radio relic/halo in clusters, a few diffuse or bent-lobe radio galaxies tracing cosmic accretion onto clusters through filaments etc. Unlike conventional education programs, those who get involved with RAD@home not only learn but also directly contribute to astronomy research from initial one-week of RDC interaction itself. Over the years, this association has proven to be a powerful catalyst due which over a dozen members of the group have been selected for higher studies in different parts of the world. The wide implications of this innovative citizen-science research collaboratory have been documented in two international publications (Hota et al. 2014, 2016)and multiple national/international conferences. Interested readers can join the Facebook group and participate in foundational e-learning sessions to get selected for the RDC and ODRAW being planned in ICTS-TIFR and IISc, respectively, in Bangalore.
