- On September 28, 2025, AstroSat, India’s first multi-wavelength space observatory, marked an incredible milestone, completing a decade of groundbreaking discoveries and invaluable service to the global scientific community.
About AstroSat
- It is India’s first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory, designed to observe the universe in the Visible, Ultraviolet, low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum simultaneously.
- Objective:
- To study high-energy phenomena occurring in interacting binary systems
- Study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying beyond our galaxy
- Detect new transient X-ray sources in the sky
- Perform a limited deep field survey of the Universe in the Ultraviolet region
Key Facts:
Institutions Involved in AstroSat’s Development
- Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune
- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai
- Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIAP), Bengaluru
- Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru
International collaboration: It has benefitted with contributions from two institutions in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Achievements of AstroSat:
- It detected ultraviolet (UV) photons from galaxies nearly 9 billion light-years away.
- It has observed galactic mergers, spinning black holes, and a wide range of cosmic events.
- It’s data is utilized by researchers in over 57 countries, including the United States.
- Observed the Fornax Propeller Galaxy (NGC 1365) located 56 million light-years from Earth.