People of TALES – Meet Prathamesh Ingale
- Could you tell us a few words about your background?
Hi, I am Prathamesh. I come from Pune, India, where I completed my bachelors at Fergusson College. During that time, I worked with the Indian Pulsar Timing Array for my bachelors project. I eventually moved to Bonn for my masters, where I joined the VLBI group for my thesis research. Currently, I am in Crete pursuing my PhD at the University of Crete under the supervision of Prof. Papadakis.
- What is the most exciting thing about your job?
The most exciting thing about this job is the simple act of finding answers. It sounds general, but there is a specific thrill in truly understanding the “how” and “why” behind the processes. Working with the TALES project specifically involves dealing with the variability of AGNs, and it genuinely excites me when I can piece together the reasoning behind a phenomenon and find something entirely new in the data.
- Why did you choose to become a scientist?
Back when I was in 3rd or 4th grade, I used to watch a cartoon called Ben 10. The storylines involving aliens and outer space were incredibly fascinating to me as a kid. As I grew up, that childhood interest budded into a deep passion for astronomy and astrophysics, which eventually led me down the path to becoming a scientist.
- What is the main focus of your PhD project? The main focus of my PhD project is to study the inner accretion processes occurring around black holes. I study these highly X-ray variable and bright sources by fitting phenomenological models like the Broken Power Law (BPL) and Power Law (PL). By doing this, I can see how the parameters of these models change with energy, which allows us to further constrain our X-ray variability models.
- What do you do for fun?
When I have free time, I really like to play sports such as football or cricket. I also enjoy writing
poetry or spending time sketching and doing charcoal drawings. Beyond that, I love the sense of
adventure that comes with hiking and traveling to new places.
Figure Caption: Prathamesh @Neuschwanstein Castle, Munich, Germany
