Ragadeepika Pucha

​I am a graduate student in the Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona. My research interests include Galaxy Formation and Evolution, Observational Astronomy, Dwarf Galaxies, Satellite Galaxies, Stellar Halos, Resolved Stellar Populations, Lyman Alpha Emitters, Supermassive Black Holes, and Active Galactic Nuclei.

I did my Integrated M.Sc (Physics) from Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal, India. I was a DST-INSPIRE scholar in India and as part of the degree, I did several different projects from various research institutes across the country. 

Find my CV here.

My Research

Broadly speaking, I am interested in understanding the theory of galaxy formation and evolution. My research includes an effort to answer questions related to various aspects of this whole story.
  • I am currently working with Dr. Arjun Dey and Dr. Stephanie Juneau on studying the effect on environment on the growth of Lyman-Alpha Emitters at a z~2.7, using a multi-wavelength approach.
  • I am part of the MADCASH Collaboration, the main goal of which is to understand the role of dwarf galaxies in the galaxy evolution. Specifically, we are searching for dwarf galaxies around Magellanic Analogs, outside of the Local Group. I worked with Prof. Beth Willman on searching for a stellar halo using resolved stellar populations for one of the candidate dwarf galaxies, IC 1613. 
Here are some of my publications -
  • "Tidal destruction in a low mass galaxy environment: the discovery of tidal tails around DDO 44", Carlin J., Garling, C., Peter, A., Crnojević, D., Hargis, J., Mutlu-Pakdil, B., Pucha, R., et. al., Submitted to ApJ.
  • "Hyper Wide Field Imaging of the Local Group Dwarf Irregular Galaxy IC 1613: An Extended Component of Metal Poor Stars", Pucha, R., Carlin, J., Willman, B., Strader, J., Sand, D., et. al., 2019, ApJ, 880, 104.
  • "Development of a Code to Analyze the Solar White-Light Images from the Kodaikanal Observatory: Detection of Sunspots, Computation of Heliographic Coordinates and Area", Pucha, R., Hiremath, K.M., et. al., 2016, Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy, 37, 3.

Find all my publications from NASA-ADS.

Community Service and Outreach
Science as a Career - I am really interested in developing enthusiasm in kids regarding science. I believe that every child is born a scientist - it is just the effort to nurture those curiosities that is required. I want to help create a difference in making children realize their true potential - especially, in recognizing that there are many other fields apart from Engineering and Medicine, where a career can be established. Scientific career is something that I want to promote.

Women Education - I am interested in encouraging women to choose their own education and career. I was lucky enough to get the freedom of pursuing my own dreams, but there are still many girls across the world who cannot even choose what they want to do with their education and career. I am always looking for an opportunity to help girls find their inner strength, to realize their own worth and to fight for their dreams.

Know more about my outreach activities in my CV.

Contact Me:

Email: rpucha@email.arizona.edu
Office: Room D317, Steward Observatory,
            933 N Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ - 85719.