Assoc. Prof. Ravi Sood Associate Professor BSc PhD Lond., DIC, MIAU, FASA, FAIP School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences UNSW @ ADFA Canberra   ACT   2600 AUSTRALIA Phone: +61 2 6268 8765 Fax: +61 2 6268 8786 Email: r.sood@adfa.edu.au Location: PEMS Sth, Room 110

Research Interests:

Astronomy and Astrophysics - High-energy astrophysics

Biography

Ravi Sood obtained his PhD in Astrophysics from the Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London.  He studied the emission of high energy gamma rays from the Sun and from the Milky Way galaxy using instruments flown from high altitude balloons from locations in four continents. In 1979, he took up a lecturing position at Melbourne University (RAAF Academy) where he carried out investigations into ultra-high energy iron nuclei in cosmic radiation using stratospheric balloons.  He joined UNSW@ADFA in 1986 as a Senior Lecturer and established the High Energy Astrophysics Research Group in the School of Physics.  He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1992, and was the head of the School of Physics from 1995 to 2002.

Ravi Sood is the leading expert in stratospheric scientific ballooning in Australia .

 

Teaching

I have taught Physics at all levels of the undergraduate degree in Australia for 28 years. In addition, I have supervised several PhD and MSc students. I was awarded the UNSW@ADFA Teaching Award for excellence in teaching in 2000. I have recently taught the following courses:

Research Activities

My research interests are in the field of high energy astrophysics, and scientific stratospheric ballooning. I have co-authored over 115 research papers in international refereed journals and refereed conference proceedings. My current research activities include:

• The development of instrumentation for hard X-ray astronomy, for use on space-borne and stratospheric balloon payloads. We are studying the behaviour of proportional counters at very high gas pressures, to produce instruments with high energy resolution and high sensitivity. We have also developed a low background imaging X-ray device using scintillation counters. Collaborators in this work are: Prof. R. Manchanda, (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India), and Dr. G. K. Rochester, Imperial College, London, UK)
  

• The multi-wavelength study of selected neutron star and black-hole X-ray binaries in our Galaxy. These studies are carried out using radio, millimeter, and optical telescopes in Australia, Chile, India and Korea, and via spacecraft-borne and balloon-borne X-ray telescopes. Collaborators in this work are Dr. S. Farrell, Leicester University, UK, and Dr. P. O'Neill, Charles Sturt University, Australia)
  
• Optical observations of Io, one of the moons of Jupiter, to study the interaction of volcanic ejecta from Io with the magnetosphere of Jupiter. These long term observations are being carried out by a remotely controlled telescope located at Alice Springs, and configured as a Schmidt-Cassegrain (F10) system, with a 30-cm mirror and a CCD detector cooled to -75°C. This project is a joint collaboration with Prof. Hiroaki Misawa of Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
  

• I have participated in over 100 stratospheric balloon flights for scientific research from sites in the UK , Zambia , Uganda , Maldive Islands and Australia . For many of these flights, I have taken on various roles such as principle scientific investigator, launch director, campaign manager, and station director. Since 1984, I have provided support to NASA for their Southern Hemisphere scientific balloon campaigns in Australia . Such recent activities include the development of super-pressure balloons for long duration flights lasting up to three months.

Recent Professional Activities

• Director of the Balloon Launching Station, Alice Springs, 1984 to present.
• Member of COSPAR International Panel on Scientific Ballooning.
• Guest Editor for Journal of Advances in Space Research
• Expert witness for Joint Parliamentary Committee on Treaty between USA and Australia on Scientific Ballooning.
• Member of the Australian Defence Force Radiation Safety Council.
• Member of the International Astronomical Union.
• Fellow of the Astronomical Society of Australia.
• Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics.
• Member of the Australian Defence Ionising Radiation Safety Committee.
• Examiner for several MSc and PhD theses in Astronomy.
• Member for Australian Academy of Science National Committee for Space Science, 1992 - 2003.

Recent Publications

1. Manchanda, R.K., Sood, R.K., Grey, D.J. & Isbister, D.J., 2008, Transport and recombination of electrons in a high pressure proportional counter using different gas mixtures, Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research A, 595 (3), 605.
2. Farrell, S.A., Sood, R.K., O'Neill P.M., & Dieters, S., 2008 A detailed study of 2S 0114+650 with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 389 (2), 608.
3. Farrell, S.A., O’Neill, P., Sood, R.K., Dieters, S. & Manchanda, R.K., 2007, A multicoloured view of 2S 0114+650,
   The Multicoloured Landscape of Compact Objects and Their Explosive Origins: Cefalu June 11-24 2006, L. A. Antonelli et al. (eds), Cefalu, Sicily (Italy), US, pp. 885-888.
4. Sood, R.K., Farrell, S.A., O’Neill, P. & Dieters, S., 2007, Super-orbital periods in x-ray binaries, Advances in Space
   Research, 40(10), 1528-1531.
5. Nozawa, H., Misawa, H., Kagitani, M., Tsuchiya, F., Takahashi, S., Morioka , A., Kimura, T., Okano, S., Yamamoto, H., Sood, R., 2006, Implication for the solar wind effect on the Io plasma torus, Geophysical Research Letters, 33(16), L16103.
6. Farrell, S.A., Sood, R.K., O'Neill, P.M., 2006, Super-orbital period in the high-mass X-ray binary 2S 0114+650, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 367(4), 1457.
7. Sood, R., Farrell, S., O'Neill, P., Manchanda, R., Ashok , N.M., 2006, Evolution of the periodicities in 2S 0114+650, Advances in Space Research, 38(12), 2779.
8. Ashok , N.M. , Manchanda, R.K., Banerjee, D.P.K., Farrell, S., Sood R.K., 2006, Near infrared studies of the massive X-ray binary 2S 0114+65, Advances in Space Research, 38(12), 2777.
9. Takahashi, S., Misawa, H., Nozawa, H., Morioka , A., Okano, S., Sood, R., 2005, Dynamic features of Io's extended sodium distributions, Icarus, 178(2), 346.
10. Farrell , S.A. , O'Neill, P.M., Sood, R.K., 2005, Recurrent ~24h Periods in RXTE ASM Data, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 22(3), 267.
11. Nozawa, H., Misawa, H., Takahashi, S., Morioka , A., Okano, S., Sood, R., 2005, Relationship between the Jovian magnetospheric plasma density and Io torus emission, Geophysical Research Letters, 32(11), L11101.
12. Dieters, S., O'Neill, P., Farrell, S., Sood, R., 2005, Long-term periodicities in the flux from low mass X-ray binaries, Advances in Space Research, 35(6), 1185.
13. Nozawa, H., Misawa, H., Takahashi, S., Morioka , A. Okano, S., Sood, R., 2004, Long-term variability of [SII] emissions from the Io plasma torus between 1997 and 2000, Journal of Geophysical Research, 109, A7, 7209.
14. Grey, D.J., Sood, R.K., Manchanda, R.K., 2004, Resolution and spectral characteristics of ultra high pressure proportional counters using various quench gases, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A, 527(3), 493.