Dr Vital Tilvi is a Goan-born astronomer from Texas A&M University, Texas, United States. He is one of three astronomers who recently discovered the farthest galaxy, probably close to the edge of the universe which is one of 100,000 galaxies discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).
The internationally acclaimed astronomer was in Margao recently and delivered a talk at the Gomant Vidya Niketan. The talk was organised by the Marathi Vidyanan Parishad Goa Vibhagh. Delving on the topic ‘Exploring our Universe’, Dr Tilvi, who is also affiliated to the School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, spoke at large on the subject.
It may be recalled that Dr Tilvi made headlines a few years back when he, along with his team of researchers, discovered the furthermost galaxy in the universe at a distance of 13.1 billion light years away.
Because of its extremely large distance, this galaxy is seen as it was 13 billion years ago or when it was only 700 million years old. The current age of the universe is about 13.7 billion years.
The scientists discovered that this galaxy is continuously producing stars, roughly about 300 sun-like stars every year, compared to only about one sun-like star produced in our own Milkyway. It is possible that when the universe was young, galaxies were more active than they are now.
“This finding is a great achievement in astronomy not only because it is the most distant galaxy ever found but also because it gives us clues about the young universe. Our universe was not always this beautiful, glittering with stars and galaxies. In fact, there were no stars and no galaxies in the beginning. How were the first stars and galaxies formed, how did we humans evolve, are some of the biggest questions in astronomy today,” he added.
He said his focus was on finding the most distant galaxies which are over a billion years old. For this, they photographed a small portion of the sky smaller than the disk of the moon in between constellations Ursa Major (Sapta Rishi) and Ursa Minor for over a month by using the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and managed to get the deepest image of the universe.
“When the news was published about an Indian astronomer finding a distant galaxy in the universe, about one crore people visited the site, which was the most enthralling moment of my life,” added Dr Tilvi who was the co-author of the research paper.
He said, “I am basically an explorer. Everything that is found in the universe is present in our body in the form of elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and iron, which are quite abundant in space. We are a part of stars and universe.”
He stressed the need to have telescopes in the sky as observation by ground-based telescopes is hampered by cloud cover. Space telescope helps in year-long observation. But placing a telescope in the sky is a very costly affair, he said. The instrument has to work without flaws as repairs or replacement of instruments can cost billions of dollars. It is an exciting time for astronomers, Dr Tilvi said, while speaking on the new large telescopes like the Giant Magellan Telescope and the Thirty Metre Telescope.
“The future of space research is bright. As of now we have a ground-based Keck Observatory in Hawaii, which has a 10-metre diameter telescope. New 30-metre telescopes are planned. India is also expected to take part in the project which will help us understand the sky better. It is very vital to do research as all development takes place only due to research. Without research one cannot achieve anything in life,” he opined.
Speaking in front of a large audience, mostly young students, he exhorted them to be smarter in life then just using smart phones which make one less smart. Gadgets should be used with caution and only when required, he said.
Replying to a question from a student, Dr Tilvi said, “The quality of education is very important. Our scientists in India are as good as anywhere else in the world but we need more students to take up research in pure sciences instead of only seeking medicine and engineering degrees. In the US there are about 600 good universities whereas in India we just have 100 and that too for 100 million plus population. That is something to worry about,” he felt.
Incidentally Dr Tilvi attended Goa University and also worked at the National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, and at the National Antarctic Research Centre, Vasco.
