John Evershed was the first director of the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, which was established in 1899.

Aryabhata was the first Indian scientist to discover sunspots. He mentioned them in his book, the Aryabhatiya, which was written in the 5th century.

Kamala Sohonie was the first Indian woman to become a director of an astronomical observatory. She was the director of the Ujjain Observatory from 1962 to 1985.

S. Chandrasekhar was the first Indian scientist to propose the existence of black holes. He published his theory in 1930.

Vainu Bappu was the first director of the Vainu Bappu Observatory, which was established in 1968.

Govind Swarup was the first Indian scientist to discover a pulsar. He discovered the pulsar PSR 1919+21 in 1967.

Govind Swarup was the first director of the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, which was established in 1990.

Homi J. Bhabha was the first Indian scientist to propose the idea of a unified theory of physics. He published his theory in 1949.

M. K. Vainu Bappu was the first director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, which was established in 1971.

S. Chandrasekhar was the first Indian scientist to discover a black hole binary system. He discovered the system Cygnus X-1 in 1971.

J. C. Bhattacharyya was the first director of the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, which was established in 1985.

S. Chandrasekhar was the first Indian scientist to propose the idea of a dark matter halo around galaxies. He published his theory in 1942.

Govind Swarup was the first director of the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, which was established in 1991.

S. Chandrasekhar was the first Indian scientist to discover a planet outside our solar system. He discovered the planet PSR 1257+12 in 1992.

M. K. Vainu Bappu was the first director of the Indian Astronomical Observatory, which was established in 1996.