Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy and Astrophysics is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering theoretical, observational, and instrumental astronomy and astrophysics. It is one of the premier journals for astronomy in the world. The journal is published by EDP Sciences in 16 issues per year. The editor-in-chief is Thierry Forveille (Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble). Previous editors in chief include Claude Bertout, James Lequeux, Michael Grewing, and Catherine Cesarsky.

History

Astronomy and Astrophysics was formed in 1969 by the merging of several national journals of individual European countries into one comprehensive publication. These journals, with their ISSN and date of first publication are as follows:

Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics

The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) is an autonomous institution set up by the University Grants Commission to promote nucleation and growth of active groups in astronomy and astrophysics in Indian universities. IUCAA is located in the University of Pune campus next to the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, which operates the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. IUCAA has a campus designed by Indian architect Charles Correa.

History

After the founding of the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) by Prof. Govind Swarup, a common research facility for astronomy and astrophysics was proposed by Dr. Yash Pal of the planning commission. Working on this idea, astrophysicist Prof. Jayant Narlikar, along with Ajit Kembhavi and Naresh Dadhich set up IUCAA within the Pune University campus in 1988.

In 2002, IUCAA initiated a nationwide campaign to popularize astronomy and astrophysics in colleges and universities. IUCAA arranged visitor programs for universities in Nagpur (Maharashtra), Thiruvalla (Kerala), Siliguri (West Bengal) and others, along with a tie-up with the Ferguson college, Pune.