Archive · 13 Jan 2026
Indian-Origin Astronomer Wins RAS Gold Medal
Professor Shrinivas Kulkarni, an astronomer from India who now works in the US, has won a very important award called the Gold Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society in London.
This award is given to people who have made big discoveries in space science.
Kulkarni has found many new things in space, like brown dwarfs and special bursts of light called gamma-ray bursts.
He has also built special tools to help study the sky.
One of his biggest discoveries was something called a millisecond pulsar, which he found when he was still a student.
He is very happy to win this award and thanks his team for all their hard work.
Kulkarni has been working at a place called Caltech for over 40 years and is still involved in new projects to explore space.
Professor Shrinivas Kulkarni, an Indian-origin astronomer, has been awarded the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) Gold Medal for his contributions to time-domain astronomy.
Kulkarni is known for discovering brown dwarfs, gamma-ray bursts, and the first millisecond pulsar, which he described as his most fun achievement.
He has led the development of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), which have revolutionized the study of transient astrophysical events.
Kulkarni is currently involved in developing NASA's Ultraviolet Explorer (UVEX) mission and the Z-Shooter spectrometer for the W.M. Keck Observatory.
He has been a professor at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) for over 40 years and received his PhD from UC Berkeley and Master's from IIT Delhi.
- Who
- Professor Shrinivas Kulkarni, an Indian-origin astronomer based in the US
- What
- Awarded the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) Gold Medal for his contributions to time-domain astronomy
- When
- The award was announced recently, with the citation recognizing his sustained innovative contributions
- Where
- The award is given by the Royal Astronomical Society in London
- Why
- For his ground-breaking contributions to multi-wavelength transient astrophysics and the development of advanced astronomical instruments
- Award
- Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medal
- Recipient
- Professor Shrinivas Kulkarni
- Field
- Time-domain astronomy
- Institution
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
- Notable Discoveries
- Brown dwarfs, gamma-ray bursts, millisecond pulsar
- Current Projects
- NASA's Ultraviolet Explorer (UVEX) mission, Z-Shooter spectrometer
- Education
- PhD from UC Berkeley, Master's from IIT Delhi
- Award Year
- 2024