Jitendra Jatashankar Rawal (born 30 March 1943) is an Indian astrophysicist and scientific educator, recognized for his work in the popularisation of science.
He has published about 25 research papers in national and international scientific journals, and is the president of The Indian Planetary Society.
[2][3] Rawal was born in a Gujarati family, in Halvad village at Morbi district, of Gujarat.
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.
Rawal has received many prestigious awards, including: The following theoretical predictions of Dr. J.J. Rawal have come true through observations by NASA's space probes Pioneer 11, Voyager 2, Hubble Space Telescope, Parker Soar Space probe and Earth-based observations by telescopes [1] Outermost ring of Saturn and its new Satellites Observation by Pioneer spacecraft send by NASA when it flew past Saturn in September, 1976 Published paper: i.
Modified Titius –Bode Empirical Relation, Bulletin of Astronomical Society of India, Vol.
Further consideration of Contraction of Solar Nebula, Earth Moon and Planets, 34, 93–100, 1988 [2] Discovery of 20 more Satellites of Saturn Observation by Astronomers of Carneg Institute of Science in October, 2019 Published Papers: i.
Further consideration of Contraction of Solar Nebula, Earth Moon and Planets, 34, 93–100, 1988 [3] Rings Around Galaxies Observation: New Surveys have unveiled a thick ring of hundreds of millions of stars around the outskirts of our Milky Way Report of Robert Irion Jan 6, 2003; Science, 3, January, p 62 Astronomers at the Sloan Digital Sky survey (SDSS) Apache Point Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico Independently, European and Australian astronomers at the Roque de Los Muchqchas Observatory in La Palma, Canari Islands, spotted the Taurus in two other directions, strengthening the suspicion that it girdles the galaxy, Published papers: i.
Formation of the Solar System Astrophysics and Space Science 119, 159, 166 (1986) [5] Outermost Ring Around Uranus and its new Satellites Observations: Voyager 2 Space craft send by NASA when it flew past Uranus in January 1986 Paper Published: i. Sky and Telescope, December 1981, p 541 ii.
Formation of the Solar System Astrophysics and Space Science, 119, 159-166 (1986) [6] Rings Around Neptune and its new Satellites.
Observations: Voyager 2 space craft sent by NASA which flew past Neptune in September 1989 Paper Published: i.
Formation of the Solar System Astrophysics and Space Science 119, 159–166, (1986) [7] 14th Satellite of Neptune Observations: Hubble Space Telescope Discovery by team of astronomers of such for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute at Mount View California headed by Dr. Mark Solasters in March, 2019 Paper Published: i.
Formation of the Solar System Astrophysics and Space Science 119, 159–166, (1986) [8] Plunge of a comet into Jupiter, July 1994 Observations by Galileo Space craft and Hubble Space Telescope Paper Published: A Hypothesis on the Oort Clouds of Planets Earth, Moon and Planets 54, 89-102 (1991) [9] Disruption of Phobos - a satellite of Mars Paper Published by UC Berkeley team Benjamin Black and Tushar Mittal, 2015 Paper Published by J.J. Rawal: i. Resonant Structures in the Solar System The Moon and Planets 24, 407-414 (1981) ii.
IJFPS, 1, pp 6–10, 2011 [11] Satellites of Jovian System Observed by Voyager 1 and 2 Paper Published: i.
Contractions of Sub-Solar Nebula Earth, Moon and Planets 44, 265-274 (1989) [12] Three New Asteroidal Belts between Mars and Jupiter in addition to one already in existence.
10, 257-259 (1989) [13] 10th Planet Beyond Pluto Observed by Jewitt and Luu 1992 QBI moving beyond the orbit of Neptune on August 30, 1992, using a 2.2 meter telescope and sophisticated Charge Coupled Device (CCD) Camera on Mouna Kea Hawaii Paper Published: i.
10, 257-259 (1989) [15] Tides in the Solar System showing volcanic Activities on Triton, IO Observed by Voyager 2 (1989) Paper was submitted to Bull.
[16] Rawal's theory of Contraction of Solar Nebula provided theoretical support for existence of Chiron small planet between Saturn and Uranus discovered by Charles T. Kowal in 1977.