Ragbir Bhathal was an Australian

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and author, based at the

Western Sydney University Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus public research university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university in its current form was founde ...

(WSU),

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He was known for his work on Optical

Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (usually shortened as SETI) is an expression that refers to the diverse efforts and scientific projects intended to detect extraterrestrial signals, or any evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth. ...

(OSETI). He continued lecturing and research at WSU until he died at the age of 86 on 30 November 2022.

Career

He did his Ph.D. in magnetism at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

. He served as a UNESCO consultant on science policy for the ASEAN group of nations, as an Adviser to the Federal Minister for Science and was the Project Director for the million dollar

Sydney Observatory The Sydney Observatory is a heritage-listed meteorological station, astronomical observatory, function venue, science museum, and education facility located on Observatory Hill at Upper Fort Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of Millers P ...

restoration building program. He designed and built the twin dome Campbelltown Rotary Observatory at the WSU Campbelltown Campus, was Director of the Observatory 2000-2022 and was Patron of

Macarthur Astronomical Society Macarthur Astronomical Society is an organisation of amateur astronomers, based in the Macarthur Region of outer South Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Objectives and activities The constitutionally adopted objectives of the Society ...

from 1997 to 2011. On 16 May 2018, ''The Macarthur Advertiser'' newspaper reported in its printed version that Dr. Bhathal "was recently elected as a Fellow of the London-based

Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...

Research

Dr Bhathal carried out research in nanosecond laser pulsed communications, astrophysics, galactic surveys, astronomical image analysis and processing at UWS. In December 2008, he observed a sharp 'laser look-alike' signal emanating from the

globular cluster A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars that is bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards its center. It can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of member stars, all orbiting ...

47 Tucanae 47 Tucanae or 47 Tuc (also designated as NGC 104 and Caldwell 106) is a globular cluster located in the constellation Tucana. It is about from Earth, and 120 light years in diameter. 47 Tuc can be seen with the naked eye, with an apparent magni ...

. However, despite further searches, the signal has yet to be replicated.

Awards

* Fellow, Royal Astronomical Society. *Fellow,

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere. The Society traces its ...

. * Bicentennial Royal Society of NSW Medal for services to science and research. * CJ Dennis Award for excellence in natural history writing. * Nancy Keesing Fellowship by the State Library of NSW.

Published books

* ''Australian Astronomer John Tebbutt: The Life And World Of The Man On The 100 Dollar Note.'' * ''Under the Southern Cross: A Brief History of Astronomy in Australia'' (1991) (co-author with G.White). * ''Australian Astronomers: Achievements at the Frontiers of Astronomy'' (1996). * ''Australian Backyard Astronomy'' (2006) (co-author with J.Bhathal). * ''Profiles: Australian Women Scientists.'' * ''Selected Documents In Aboriginal Astronomy.'' * ''Aboriginal Astronomy.'' * ''Mt Stromlo Observatory: From Bush Observatory to the Nobel Prize'' (2013) (co-author with Ralph Sutherland and Harvey Butcher). * ''University Physics With Modern Physics''(2011) (co-author with H.Young & R.Freedman). * ''Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence'' (2011). * ''The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum III.'' (2001) (co-author with S.Kingsley). * ''The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (2000). * ''Scientific and Cultural Aspects of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence'' (1998). * ''Searching For ET'' (1996). * '' Astronomy for the Higher School Certificate'' (1993).

References

External links

Faculty profile
at Western Sydney University
UWS Campbelltown Rotary Observatory
official website

Obituary (Macarthur Astronomical Society)

Obituary (Royal Society) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhathal, Ragbir 21st-century Australian astronomers 2022 deaths Writers from Sydney Australian people of Indian descent Year of birth missing (living people) University of Queensland alumni Academic staff of Western Sydney University Fellows of the Royal Society of New South Wales Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society