Prof. Mudit K. Srivastava

Symbiotic binary systems consist of a compact hot white dwarf and a large cool red giant star. The contrasting nature of the constituents makes them one of the most exciting laboratories of astrophysics. However, the known number of discovered symbiotics (around 300) is in sharp contrast with their predicted number in our Galaxy, which is estimated to be around 300,000. Thus, the search and possible reasons for the "apparent" absence of symbiotics is one of the long-standing mysteries of modern astronomy. The symbiotic phenomenon also exhibits itself in the form of novae outbursts. While the secondary stars in novae, in general, can be of any spectral type, the symbiotic novae show certain observable signatures, which help to establish the symbiotic nature of the underlying binary system. Given the complex morphologies associated with symbiotic systems and novae, it requires a variety of observations (low to high-resolution spectroscopy, photometric monitoring, etc.) across multi-wavelength domains to explain the physics of such exotic objects. In the talk, the speaker will discuss the multi-wavelength observations (from ultra-violet to near-infrared) from a range of different types of instruments and facilities, which have been extremely helpful in deciphering the nature of symbiotic systems and novae in general. The speaker will then discuss the objectives behind some ongoing and proposed instrumentation projects which are tuned for the studies of such objects.