Who is Bibha Chowdhuri? An Indian physicist who studied cosmic rays and named the star

Long before her name was associated with stardom, Bibha Chowdhuri was a young woman who chose to pursue physics at a time when scientific research was largely dominated by men. Born on 3 July 1913 in Calcutta, now Calcutta, she became one of India’s pioneering researchers in the field of high energy and particle physics.

Who is Bibha Chowdhuri?

Her academic journey stood out early. When Chowdhuri completed her master’s degree in physics at the University of Calcutta in 1936, she was reportedly the only woman in a class of 24 students. At a time when opportunities for women in scientific research were limited, she pursued a field that required years of specialized study and experimentation.

According to Down To Earth and the Council of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, Chowdhuri’s education was supported by her progressive family. Her father was a doctor, while her family background was associated with the Brahmo Samaj, a reform movement that promoted education, including for women.

Bibha Chowdhuri’s cosmic ray research and Nature publishing

After completing her master’s degree, Chowdhuri began research under the guidance of physicist Debendra Mohan Bose. At the Bose Institute, the pair studied cosmic rays, high-energy particles that travel through space and interact with Earth’s atmosphere.

Their research involved photographic emulsions that helped scientists identify the tracks left by subatomic particles. Between 1938 and the early 1940s, Chowdhuri and Bose published their findings in Nature, one of the world’s leading scientific journals. Their work contributed to the early investigation of mesons, a family of subatomic particles.

The research was significant, but the team eventually faced a shortage of sensitive photographic plates during World War II, which limited further experiments. Chowdhuri then traveled to the University of Manchester in Britain, where she continued her doctoral studies with physicist Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, who later received the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Her career continued at several major research institutions. In 1949, she became the first female researcher at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), founded by Homi Jehangir Bhabha.

She later worked at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad, where she was involved in cosmic ray research and research involving high-energy particles.

Why was the star named after Bibha Chowdhuri?

Despite her contribution, Chowdhuri received limited recognition during her lifetime. She continued her research until her death on June 2, 1991, leaving behind a body of work that was not much celebrated outside of scientific circles.

That began to change decades later. In 2019, the International Astronomical Union awarded it the star name HD 86081 Bibha. The star is located in the constellation Sextans.

The recognition gave her name a permanent place in the night sky. As noted by the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory Board, Bibha means “ray of light” in Bengali, a fitting association for a physicist whose work has helped illuminate the invisible world of cosmic particles.

Her story is also a reminder that scientific achievement and public recognition do not always come together.