Arvind Bhatnagar

Who is Arvind Bhatnagar?

Arvind Bhatnagar made significant contributions to Solar Astronomy, and founded several planetaria across India. He was the founder-director of the Udaipur Solar Observatory, and the founder director of Nehru Planetarium of Bombay.

Prof. Arvind Bhatnagar was known internationally for his significant contributions to Solar Astronomy. He was the founder-director of the Udaipur Solar Observatory. He also took immense interest in popularization of astronomy and helped establishing several planetaria across India. Arvind Bhatnagar was born in Beawar,Rajasthan on 19 November 1936. After completing his MSc in Physics,he joined the UP State Observatory, Nainital, in 1958 and worked there until 1961. He obtained his PhD degree in Solar Physics in 1964 from Agra University while working at the Kodaikanal Observatory under the guidance of Prof. M K. Vainu Bappu.

He was awarded the Carnegie Fellowship to work at Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories, USA, during 1968-70. Afterwards he worked as a Resident Astronomer at the Big Bear Solar Observatory of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA till 1972.

In 1972, Prof.