Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar's most significant contribution in the field of astrophysics is demonstration of evolutionary stages of massive stars.
On this day, 19th October, the great Indian-origin researcher was born. In this article, we will discuss about his life, research and his impact on modern day astrophysics.
He was the nephew of Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, who was also a Nobel laureate. Meanwhile, his uncle Venkata Raman was the first Indian to receive Nobel prize in physics. Chandrasekhar received his preliminary education at Presidency College, in the University of Madras, and in prestigious Trinity College, Cambridge during 1933 to 1936.
Since childhood, he was regarded as Chandra for his prodigious approach in science. By the age of 20, he published his first paper and developed his own theory of the evolution of star. For his excellency, Chandrasekhar was appointed as a deputy professor at the age of 26, in the University of Chicago. He mostly spent his career there. Later, He was selected to serve the prestigious Royal Society of London, which was the world’s oldest scientific organizationat a very young age of 34. He received U.S. citizenship in 1953.
However, Chandrasekhar came up with a miscellaneous idea. He determined a specific limit, now regarded as the 'Chandrasekhar limit', which states that "a star having a mass more than 1.44 times that of the Sun does not form a white dwarf but instead continues to collapse, blows off its gaseous envelope in a supernova explosion, and becomes a neutron star. An even more massive star continues to collapse and becomes a black hole."
His calculations largely contributed to the understanding of supernovas, neutron stars, and even black holes. Chandrasekhar had this idea in mind since his voyage to England in 1930. However, this concept faced a strong opposition from English astronomer Arthur Eddington. It took several years to get his idea accepted by scientific community.
Besides this, Chandrasekhar also worked on the 'theory of colliding gravitational waves'. His mathematical formula of stellar evolution led current estimation of numerous theoretical models of the later evolutionary stages of massive stars as well as black holes.
Some of his books on astrophysics which are still popular includes An Introduction to the Study of Stellar Structure (1939), Principles of Stellar Dynamics (1942), Radiative Transfer (1950), Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability (1961), Truth and Beauty: Aesthetics and Motivations in Science (1987), and Newton’s Principia for the Common Reader (1995). His famous book entitled The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes (1983) provided an idea about black hole and stellar atmosphere.
During the second World War, he did some research for the US Army, and later was invited to join the famous Manhattan Project which led to the discovery of world’s first nuclear bomb. However, a delay in security clearance prevented him from joining Oppenheimer in this project.
By seeing his uncle winning nobel prize, he dreamt of winning one too, worked hard, got support and again betrayed by friends like Eddington, faced rejection by society, again started from scratch and eventually received Nobel prize. Chandrashekhar's life can be described by hope, friendship, betrayal, unputdownable courage, strong intent, and ultimate triumph.
