My primary research interest is Astronomical Instrumentation. I currently work on Astrosat, and X-ray/optical studies of High Mass X-ray Binaries. My thesis consisted of two parts: characterizing the X-ray detectors for NuSTAR, and measuring masses of neutron stars in High Mass X-ray Binaries. Read on for more details.
NuSTAR
NuSTAR, short for Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, is a hard X-ray space telescope scheduled for launch in early 2012. At Caltech, we are building and calibrating the focal plane for NuSTAR. My research involves understanding the behaviour of...Read more...
Masses of Neutron Stars in HMXBs
High mass X-ray binaries consist of a compact object (black hole or a neutron star) with an OB star as the companion. We are measuring radial velocities of the OB stars with optical and IR spectroscopy, to determine the mass function of the neutron...Read more...