Scientist Maps Cosmic Origins
Astrophysicist Dr Mugdha Polimera traces a path from Indian mythology to NASA and the Harvard-Smithsonian, uncovering hidden black holes along the way
The Saptarishi — the seven revered sages of Puranic legends — were Dr Mugdha Polimera’s first teachers. Growing up, she looked at the stars, seeing them in the Big Dipper, their wives in the Pleiades. The constellations were a way of looking up at the sky and finding purpose, holds the Hyderabad-born, Dubai-raised astrophysicist, who now works at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
A childhood wonder became a career. She trained first as an engineer, earning a degree in Electronics and Communication. “I learned how to break down big challenges, code systems, and work with data. I didn’t realise then how vital those skills would be for astronomy,” she tells us.
Things aligned at the University of North Carolina. Her PhD focused on a question astronomers had long puzzled over: Where were the black holes in dwarf galaxies? “Most galaxies in the early universe were dwarfs, each thought to host a black hole. But existing methods, designed for big galaxies, kept missing them,” she adds.
Her approach reclassified galaxies that earlier tests had discarded. “We found that many of these so-called ‘oddballs’ were actually dwarf galaxies hiding black holes. By changing the way we analysed the data, we uncovered a population no one had seen before.” The method has since been adopted worldwide.
Moving to the US was never a piece of cake. “It was like managing two full-time jobs — academics and learning how to live from scratch. I had to figure out healthcare, finances, everything. It was overwhelming,” says Dr Polimera, thinking back, as she stands at the intersection of research and infrastructure. At NASA’s Astrophysics Data System and the new Science Explorer, she helps design platforms that millions of scientists depend on. “ADS has been the backbone of astrophysics for over 30 years. With Science Explorer, we’re scaling it across Earth and Space sciences, adding AI tools while keeping it trustworthy.”
But she keeps returning to people, having demonstrated how science is built on curiosity at the beginning and connection at the end. “For me, it’s always been about both,” she says. “Unravelling the universe, and making the path clearer for those who come next.”
She recalls her father sending her a newspaper clipping about her research on hidden black holes. “He was so proud. That meant more to me than any citation.”