Syllabus:
GS-3: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
Context: Recently, India’s first dedicated Space Astronomy Observatory, AstroSat completed a decade of operations.
AstroSat
• It is the India’s first multi wavelength space observatory aimed at studying celestial sources in X-ray, optical and UV spectral bands simultaneously.
• It was launched aboard the PSLV-C30 in 2015 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
• The minimum useful life of the AstroSat mission is expected to be 5 years.
• Objectives:
- To understand high energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and black holes.
- To estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars.
- To study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying beyond our galaxy.
- To detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky.
- To perform a limited deep field survey of the Universe in the ultraviolet region.
• Five payloads of the AstroSat:
- Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) observes visible, near, and far ultraviolet light.
- Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC) studies X-ray variations from sources like X-ray binaries and active galaxies.
- Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) monitors time variations in X-rays from 0.3-8 keV.
- Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) detects high-energy X-rays in the 10-100 keV range.
- Scanning Sky Monitor (SSM) scans the sky for bright and transient X-ray sources.
Achievements of AstroSat
• International Collaboration: AstroSat has a registered userbase close to 3400 from 57 countries world over from countries like US to Afghanistan and Angola.
• Research in India: AstroSat has advanced space science in India by incorporating astrophysics research into 132 universities. Almost half of its users are Indian scientists and students, fostering the growth of a new generation of astronomers.
• Farthest Objects: AstroSat detected extreme-UV light from a galaxy located 9.3 billion light-years away, contributing to the understanding of the universe’s early history.
• Gamma-Ray Bursts: The mission detected its 600th gamma-ray burst (GRB), showcasing the performance of its Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI).
• Rare Stars: AstroSat identified unusual hot, UV-bright stars in the Milky Way, with one being 3,000 times brighter than the Sun.
• Stellar and Black Hole Research: The observatory has provided data on stellar brightness and variability, revealing insights into stellar evolution and black hole interactions.
• Galaxy Cluster Dynamics: AstroSat’s observations of galaxy clusters have yielded data on their complex dynamics and the distribution of hot gases within them.