Ashwani Pandey

Ph.D. in Physics (Astronomy & Astrophysics)

Who am I?

I am a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. My research area revolves around the fascinating realm of extragalactic astronomy and the high-energy astrophysics, with a particular focus on active galactic nuclei (AGN), relativistic jets, and blazars. These cosmic powerhouses are known for their intense emissions of X-rays and gamma-rays, which provide unique insights into the most energetic processes in the universe. Additionally, I employ Cloudy simulations to simulate and understand the complex interplay of radiation and matter in the environments surrounding AGN, shedding light on the diverse and dynamic processes occurring in these extragalactic systems.

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Skills
  • Programming: Python, IDL, Linux shell programming, HTML/CSS.
  • Version control system: Git, Github.
  • Text editors: LaTeX, Visual Studio code, Libra/Microsoft Office.
  • Experience in using High Performance Computing (HPC).
  • Astronomical data reduction softwares
    • Fermi (γ−ray) data analysis software: Fermitools, Fermipy.
    • X-ray data analysis softwares of several X-ray satellites e.g. NuSTAR, Chandra, XMM-Newton, Swift, NICER: HeaSoft, SAS, CIAO, FTOOLS, XSPEC, DS9.
    • Optical data analysis software: IRAF/DOPHOT
  • Broadband SED modelling package: JetSeT.
  • CLOUDY photoionization code for simulations of astronomical clouds and their spectra.
  • Preliminary understanding of machine learning concepts and algorithms.
Academics

Education

  • 2014–2019: Ph.D. in Physics (Astronomy & Astrophysics)

    • Title: Multi-wavelength Studies of TeV Blazars
    From: Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur, U.P., India

  • 2011–2013: M. Sc. in Physics

    • From: Kumaun University, Nainital, U.K., India

  • 2005–2008: B. Sc. in Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics

    • From: Kumaun University, Nainital, U.K., India

Achievements

  • June 2014: CSIR-UGC National Eligibility Test (NET)

    • National test for college teaching (lectureship)
    All India Rank – 168

  • March 2014: Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE)

    • National test for Masters and Ph.D. admissions
    All India Rank – 275

  • February 2014: Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST)

    • National test for Ph.D. admissions
    All India Rank – 293

My Publications

  • In Peer-reviewed Journals

    1. “Application of the FRADO model of BLR formation to the Seyfert galaxy NGC 5548 and the first step toward determining the Hubble constant”,

      2. V. K. Jaiswal, R. Prince, A. Pandey, M. H. Naddaf, B. Czerny, S. Panda, Amit Kumar Mandal, and F. Pozo Nunez

      Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2024 (under review).(DOI: )
    2. “Exploring the disc-jet scenario in 3C 273 using simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations”,

      3. Ashwani Pandey, Santanu Mondal, and Paul J. Wiita

      Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2024 (under review).(DOI: )
    3. “Dark and bright sides of the Broad Line Region clouds as seen in the FeII emission of SDSS RM 102”,

      4. Alberto Floris, Ashwani Pandey, Bozena Czerny, Mary Loli Martinez Aldama, Swayamtrupta Panda, Paola Marziani, and Raj Prince

      Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2024 (under review). (DOI: )
    4. “Signature of Seyfert-like component in a blazar 3C 273 and its reflection based explanation”,

      5. Haritma Gaur, Main Pal, Muhammad S. Anjum, Kiran Wani, Pankaj Kushwaha, Ashwani Pandey, Liang Chen

      Astrophysical Journal, 2024 (under review). (DOI: )
    5. “New theoretical Fe II templates for bright quasars”,

      6. Ashwani Pandey,Mary Loli Martinez-Aldama, Bozena Czerny, Swayamtrupta Panda, and Michal Zajacek

      Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 2024 (under review).(DOI: )
    6. “B2 1308+326: a changing-look blazar or not ?”,

      7. Ashwani Pandey, Chen Hu, Jian-Min Wang, Bozena Czerny, Yong-Jie Chen, Yu-Yang Songsheng, Yi-Lin Wang, Hao Zhang, and Jesus Aceituno

      Astrophysical Journal, 978, 120, 2024. (DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad9b7c)
    7. “Science with a Small Two-Band UV-Photometry Mission III: Active Galactic Nuclei and Nuclear Transients”,

      8. M. Zajacek, B. Czerny, V.K. Jaiswal, M. Štolc, V. Karas, A. Pandey, D.R. Pasham, M. Sniegowska, V. Witzany, P. Suková, F. Münz, N. Werner, J. Rípa, J. Merc, M. Labaj, P. Kurfürst, J. Krticka

      Space Science Reviews, 220, 29, 2024. (DOI: 10.1007/s11214-024-01062-5)
    8. “Investigation of the correlation between optical and γ−ray flux variation in the blazar Ton 599”,

      9. Bhoomika Rajput, Amit Kumar Mandal, Ashwani Pandey, C. S. Stalin, Walter Max-Moerbeck, and Blesson Mathew

      Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 527, 11900–11914, 2024.(DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stad4003)
    9. “UV Fe II emission model and its relation to broad-line time delays for HE 0413-4031 observed in the optical and IR bands”,

      10. Michal Zajacek, S. Panda, A. Pandey, R. Prince, A. Rodriguez-Ardila, V. Jaiswal, B. Czerny, K. Hryniewicz, M. Urbanowicz, P. Trzcionkowski, M. Sniegowska, Z. Fałkowska, M. L. Martinez-Aldama, N. Werner

      Astronomy & Astrophysics, 683, 140, 2024.(DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202348172)
    10. “Origin of broadband emission from the transition blazar B2 1308+32”,

      11. Ashwani Pandey, Pankaj Kushwaha, Paul J. Wiita, Raj Prince, Bozena Czerny, and C. S. Stalin

      Astronomy & Astrophysics, 681, 116, 2024(DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202347719)
    11. “Broad-line region in active galactic nuclei: dusty or dustless?”,

      12. Ashwani Pandey, Bozena Czerny, Swayamtrupta Panda, Raj Prince, Vikram Kumar Jaiswal, and Mary Loli Martinez–Aldama

      Astronomy & Astrophysics, 680, 102, 2023, (DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202347819)
    12. “Investigating the origin of optical flares from TeV blazar S4 0954+65”,

      13. Ashwani Pandey, Rumen Bachev, Bozena Czerny, Paul J. Wiita, Alok C. Gupta, Anton Strigachev, and Adam Popowicz

      Astronomy & Astrophysics, 679, 28, 2023, (DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202347545)
    13. “Wavelength-resolved reverberation mapping of intermediate-redshift quasars HE 0413-4031 and HE 0435-4312: Dissecting Mg II, optical Fe II, and UV Fe II emission regions”,

      14. R. Prince, M. Zajacek, S. Panda, K. Hryniewicz, V.K. Jaiswal, B. Czerny et al. (including Ashwani Pandey),

      Astronomy & Astrophysics, 678, 189, 2023, (DOI:10.1051/0004-6361/202346738)
    14. “Dusty plasma in active galactic nuclei”,

      15. B. Czerny, M. Zajacek, M. Naddaf, M. Sniegowska, S. Panda, A. Rozanska, T. Adhikari, Ashwani Pandey et al.,

      European Physical Journal D, 2023, 77:56.(DOI: 10.1140/epjd/s10053-023-00630-8)
    15. “Detection of minute-timescale gamma−ray variability in BL Lacertae by Fermi-LAT”,

      16. Ashwani Pandey, and C. S. Stalin,

      Astronomy & Astrophysics, 668, 152, 2022.(DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202244648)
    16. “Study of correlation between optical flux and polarization variations in BL Lac objects”,

      17. Bhoomika Rajput, Ashwani Pandey, C. S. Stalin, and Blesson Mathew,

      Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 517, 3236–3256, 2022.(DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac2619f)
    17. “Characterizing the optical nature of the blazar S5 1803+784 during its 2020 flare”,

      18. A. Agarwal, Ashwani Pandey, Aykut ̈Ozdonmez, Ergun Ege, Avik Kumar Das, Volkan Karakulak

      Astrophysical Journal, 933, 42, 2022.(DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac6cef)
    18. “Variable mass accretion and failed wind explain changing look phenomena in NGC 1365”,

      19. Santanu Mondal, Tek P. Adhikari, Krzysztof Hryniewicz, C. S. Stalin, and Ashwani Pandey

      Astronomy & Astrophysics, 662, A77, 2022.(DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202243084)
    19. “Intra-night optical variability monitoring of gamma−ray emitting blazar”,

      20. K.Subbu Ulaganatha Pandian, A.Natarajan, C.S.Stalin, Ashwani Pandey, S. Muneer and B. Natarajan

      Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy, 43, 48, 2022.(DOI: 10.1007/s12036-022-09826-7)
    20. “Correlation between optical flux and polarization variations in Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars on diverse timescale”,

      21. Ashwani Pandey , Bhoomika Rajput, and C. S. Stalin

      Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 510, 1809–1836, 2022.(DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stab3338)
    21. “Gamma-ray flux and spectral variability of blazar Ton 599 during its 2021 flare”,

      22. Bhoomika Rajput and Ashwani Pandey

      Galaxies, 9, 118, 2021 (DOI: 10.3390/galaxies9040118)
    22. “Investigation of the correlation patterns and the Compton dominance variability of Mrk 421 in 2017”,

      23. MAGIC Collaboration: V. A. Acciari et al., FACT Collaboration: D. Baack et al., Other groups and collaborations: F. D’Ammando et al., (including Ashwani Pandey),

      Astronomy & Astrophysics, 655, A89, 2021 (DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202141004)
    23. “Breaks in the X-ray spectra of high redshift blazars and the intervening medium”,

      24. Haritma Gaur, Prashanth Mohan, Ashwani Pandey,

      Astrophysical Journal, 914, 46, 2021 (DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/abfa9d)
    24. “NuSTAR View of TeV Blazar Mrk 501”,

      25. Ashwani Pandey,

      Galaxies, 8(3), 55, 2020. (DOI: 10.3390/galaxies8030055)
    25. “Optical Variability of Three Extreme TeV Blazars”,

      26. Ashwani Pandey, Alok C. Gupta, G. Damljanovic, Paul J. Wiita, O. Vince, and M. D. Jovanovic,

      Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 496, 1430 - 1444, 2020. (DOI: 10.1093/mnras/staa1598)
    26. “Optical Variability of the TeV Blazar 1ES 0806+524 on Diverse Timescales”,

      27. Ashwani Pandey, Alok C. Gupta, S. O. Kurtanidze, Paul J. Wiita, G. Damljanovic, R. Bachev, Jin Zhang, O. M. Kurtanidze, A. Darriba, R. A. Chigladze, G. Latev, M. G. Nikolashvili, S. Peneva, E. Semkov, A. Strigachev, S. N. Tiwari, and O. Vince,

      Astrophysical Journal, 890, 72 (11pp), 2020. (DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab698e)
    27. “Full Orbital Solution for the Binary System in the Northern Galactic Disk Microlensing Event Gaia16aye”,

      28. Lukasz Wyrzykowski, P. Mroz, K. A. Rybicki, M. Gromadzki, Z. Kolaczkowski, et al. (including Ashwani Pandey),

      Astronomy & Astrophysics, 633, A98, 2020. (DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201935097)
    28. “Characterizing Optical Variability of OJ 287 in 2016−2017”,

      29. Alok C. Gupta, Haritma Gaur, Paul J. Wiita, Ashwani Pandey, P. Kushwaha, S. M. Hu, O. M. Kurtanidze, E. Semkov, G. Damljanovic, A. Goyal, M. Uemura, A. Darriba, Xu Chen, O. Vince, M. F. Gu, Z. Zhang, R. Bachev, R. Chanishvili, R. Itoh, M. Kawabata, S. O. Kurtanidze, T. Nakaoka, M. G. Nikolashvili, L. Stawarz, & A. Strigachev,

      Astronomical Journal, 157, 95 (12pp), 2019. (DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/aafe7d)
    29. “Optical Flux and Spectral Variability of the TeV Blazar PG 1553+113”,

      30. Ashwani Pandey, Alok C. Gupta, Paul J. Wiita, & S. N. Tiwari,

      Astrophysical Journal, 871, 192 (8pp), 2019. (DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aaf974)
    30. “X-ray Intraday Variability of the TeV Blazar Mrk 421 with Chandra”,

      31. Vishi Aggrawal, Ashwani Pandey, Alok C. Gupta, Paul J. Wiita, K. K. Yadav, & S. N. Tiwari,

      Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 480, 4873−4883, 2018. (DOI: 10.1093/mnras/sty2173)
    31. “X-ray Flux and Spectral Variability of Six TeV Blazars with NuSTAR”,

      32. Ashwani Pandey, Alok C. Gupta, & Paul J. Wiita,

      Astrophysical Journal, 859, 49 (11pp), 2018. (DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aabc5b)
    32. “X-ray Intra-day Variability of Five TeV Blazars with NuSTAR”,

      33. Ashwani Pandey, Alok C. Gupta, & Paul J. Wiita,

      Astrophysical Journal, 841, 123 (17pp), 2017. (DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa705e)
    33. “Multiband Optical Variability of the Blazar OJ 287 During Its Outbursts in 2015-2016”,

      34. Alok C. Gupta, Aditi Agarwal, Alka Mishra, H. Gaur, P. J. Wiita, M. F. Gu, O. M. Kurtanidze, G. Damljanovic, M. Uemura, E. Semkov, A. Strigachev, R. Bachev, O. Vince, Z. Zhang, B. Villarroel, P. Kushwaha, Ashwani Pandey, T. Abe, R. Chanishvili, R. A. Chigladze, J. H. Fan, J. Hirochi, R. Itoh, Y. Kanda, M. Kawabata, G. N. Kimeridze, S. O. Kurtanidze, G. Latev, R. V. Muoz Dimitrova, T. Nakaoka, M. G. Nikolashvili, K. Shiki, L. A. Sigua, & B. Spassov,

      Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 465, 4423−4433, 2017. (DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stw3045)

  • Astronomer's Telegram

    1. “Optical brightening of BL Lacertae observed on 26 October and 02 November 2022”,

      2. Ashwani Pandey, Jayesh Sarswat, Ravi Joshi, Vivek Jha, Kiran Wani,

      ATel #15749, 2022.
Seminars/Conferences/Workshops

  • International conference/workshop

    • Poster presentation on “Broad-line region in active galactic nuclei: Dusty or dustless?” in the conference “The restless nature of AGN: 10 years later” at Naples, Italy, during June 26-30, 2023.
    • Attended “Broadband Spectral and Timing Studies with Astrosat, Chandra and XMM-Newton : A COSPAR capacity building workshop” during March 9-20, 2019 at IISER Mohali, India.
    • Oral presentation on “X-ray Intraday Flux and Spectral Variability of TeV Blazars with NuSTAR” in the conference titled “Half a Century of Blazars and Beyond” at Torino, Italy, during June 11-15, 2018.
    • Oral presentation on “X-ray Intra-day Variability of Five TeV Blazars with NuSTAR” in the conference titled “Wide Band Spectral and Timing Studies of Cosmic X-ray Sources” at TIFR, Mumbai, India, during January 10-13, 2017.

  • National conferences/workshops

    • Oral presentation on “Detection of minute-timescale γ−ray variability in BL Lacertae by Fermi-LAT” in the 41st Annual Meeting of the Astronomical Society of India (ASI) hosted by Indian Institute of Technology Indore, India during March 1-5, 2023.
    • Thesis presentation on “Multi-wavelength Studies of TeV Blazars” in the 38th Annual Meeting of the Astronomical Society of India (ASI) hosted by Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER) Tirupati, Transit Campus during 13 - 17 February, 2020.
    • Attended “Broadband Spectral and Timing Studies with Astrosat, Chandra and XMM- Newton : A COSPAR capacity building workshop” during March 9-20, 2019 at IISER Mohali, India.
    • Oral presentation on “X-ray Intra-day Variability of Five TeV Blazars with NuSTAR” in the conference titled “REcent Trends in the study of Compact Objects: Theory and Observation (RETCO-III)” at IIST, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, during June 05-07, 2017.
    • Attended a workshop on “ASTROSAT Data Analysis” held at Tezpur University, from 3-5 May, 2017.
    • Oral presentation on “X-ray Intra-day Variability of Five TeV Blazars with NuSTAR” in the conference titled “Wide Band Spectral and Timing Studies of Cosmic X-ray Sources” at TIFR, Mumbai, India, during January 10-13, 2017.
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