Jitendra Jatashankar Rawal


Jitendra Jatashankar Rawal is an Indian astrophysicist and scientific educator, recognized for his work in the popularisation of science.
Rawal has served as Director of the Nehru Planetarium Mumbai. He has published about 25 research papers in national and international scientific journals, and is the president of The Indian Planetary Society.
Rawal was born in a Gujarati family, in Halvad village at Morbi district, of Gujarat. He received an M.Phil degree in Physical Sciences, from Calcutta University, in 1975, and a PhD degree in Astrophysics, from the University of Mumbai, 1992.
He was also associated with Children Science Congress activities popularizing scientific interest among school children in many Indian States.

Works

Rawal is the author of many scientific and popular science works in the field of astronomy and related subjects, as follows:
He has written eight Science Fiction stories in Gujarati and Hindi, which appeared originally in Janmbhoomi-Pravasi, New Surat Times, Sambhav, Mumbai Samachar and Nav Bharat Times. They have been translated into English and Marathi, as well.
He also wrote the scripts of the following planetarium shows, shown at the Nehru Planetarium:
Dr. J.J. Rawal of the Nehru Planetarium, Bombay, recorded the distance of four satellites, each 35520 km, 57710 km, 96130 km and 71300 km, away from the centre of Neptune.
Rawal has received many prestigious awards, including: