ASTROSAT
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Astrosat'' is India's first dedicated multi-wavelength
space telescope A space telescope or space observatory is a telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Suggested by Lyman Spitzer in 1946, the first operational telescopes were the American Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, OAO-2 launched ...
. It was launched on a
PSLV-XL The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is an expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites ...
on 28 September 2015. With the success of this satellite, ISRO has proposed launching '' AstroSat-2'' as a successor for ''Astrosat''.Isro plans to launch India's 2nd space observatory
Times of India 19 February 2018


Overview

After the success of the satellite-borne
Indian X-ray Astronomy Experiment History IRS-P3 was a remote sensing satellite launched by ISRO on board of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) launch vehicle for remote sensing of Earth's natural resources. It also hosted a scientific instrument, the Indian X-ray Astrono ...
(IXAE), which was launched in 1996, the
Indian Space Research Organization The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...
(ISRO) approved further development for a full-fledged astronomy satellite, ''Astrosat'', in 2004. A number of astronomy research institutions in India, and abroad have jointly built instruments for the satellite. Important areas requiring coverage include studies of
astrophysical Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...
objects ranging from nearby
Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...
objects to distant stars and objects at
cosmological Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...
distances; timing studies of variables ranging from pulsations of hot
white dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...
s to those of
active galactic nuclei An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a compact region at the center of a galaxy that has a much-higher-than-normal luminosity over at least some portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with characteristics indicating that the luminosity is not prod ...
can be conducted with ''Astrosat'' as well, with time scales ranging from milliseconds to days. ''Astrosat'' is a multi-
wavelength In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tro ...
astronomy mission on an IRS-class satellite into a near-Earth,
equatorial orbit A near-equatorial orbit is an orbit that lies close to the equatorial plane of the object orbited. Such an orbit has an inclination near 0°. On Earth, such orbits lie on the celestial equator, the great circle of the imaginary celestial sphere on ...
. The five instruments on board cover the
visible Visibility, in meteorology, is a measure of the distance at which an object or light can be seen. Visibility may also refer to: * A measure of turbidity in water quality control * Interferometric visibility, which quantifies interference contrast ...
(320–530 nm), near UV (180–300 nm), far UV (130–180 nm),
soft X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 Picometre, picometers to 10 Nanometre, nanometers, corresponding to frequency, ...
(0.3–8 keV and 2–10 keV) and
hard X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10  nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&n ...
(3–80 keV and 10–150 keV) regions of the
electromagnetic spectrum The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of frequencies (the spectrum) of electromagnetic radiation and their respective wavelengths and photon energies. The electromagnetic spectrum covers electromagnetic waves with frequencies ranging from ...
. ''Astrosat'' was successfully launched on 28 September 2015 from the
Satish Dhawan Space Centre Satish Dhawan Space Centre - SDSC (formerly Sriharikota Range - SHAR) is a rocket launch centre (spaceport) operated by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is located in Sriharikota, Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. Sriharikota R ...
on board a
PSLV-XL The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is an expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites ...
vehicle at 10:00AM.


Mission

''Astrosat'' is a proposal-driven general purpose observatory, with main scientific focus on: * Simultaneous multi-wavelength monitoring of intensity variations in a broad range of cosmic sources * Monitoring the X-ray sky for new transients * Sky surveys in the hard X-ray and UV bands * Broadband spectroscopic studies of X-ray binaries, AGN, SNRs, clusters of galaxies, and stellar coronae * Studies of periodic and non-periodic variability of X-ray sources ''Astrosat'' performs multi-wavelength observations covering spectral bands from radio, optical, IR, UV, and X-ray wavelengths. Both individual studies of specific sources of interest and surveys are undertaken. While radio, optical, and IR observations would be coordinated through ground-based telescopes, the high energy regions, i.e., UV, X-ray and visible wavelength, would be covered by the dedicated satellite-borne instrumentation of ''Astrosat''. The mission would also study near simultaneous multi-wavelength data from different variable sources. In a
binary system A binary system is a system of two astronomical bodies which are close enough that their gravitational attraction causes them to orbit each other around a barycenter ''(also see animated examples)''. More restrictive definitions require that thi ...
, for example, regions near the compact object emit predominantly in the
X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10  picometers to 10  nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...
, with the
accretion disc An accretion disk is a structure (often a circumstellar disk) formed by diffuse material in orbital motion around a massive central body. The central body is typically a star. Friction, uneven irradiance, magnetohydrodynamic effects, and other f ...
emitting most of its light in the UV/optical waveband, whereas the mass of the donating star is brightest in the optical band. The observatory will also carry out: * Low- to moderate-resolution
spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...
over a wide energy band with the primary emphasis on studies of X-ray-emitting objects * Timing studies of periodic and aperiodic phenomena in X-ray binaries * Studies of pulsations in
X-ray pulsar X-ray pulsars or accretion-powered pulsars are a class of astronomical objects that are X-ray sources displaying strict periodic variations in X-ray intensity. The X-ray periods range from as little as a fraction of a second to as much as several m ...
s *
Quasi-periodic oscillations In X-ray astronomy, quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) is the manner in which the X-ray light from an astronomical object flickers about certain frequencies. In these situations, the X-rays are emitted near the inner edge of an accretion disk in w ...
, flickering, flaring, and other variations in X-ray binaries * Short- and long-term intensity variations in
active galactic nuclei An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a compact region at the center of a galaxy that has a much-higher-than-normal luminosity over at least some portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with characteristics indicating that the luminosity is not prod ...
* Time-lag studies in low/hard X-rays and UV/optical radiation * Detection and study of X-ray transients. In particular, the mission will train its instruments at active galactic nuclei, which are believed to contain super-massive black holes.


Payloads

The scientific payload contains six instruments. * The Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) performs imaging simultaneously in three channels: 130–180 nm, 180–300 nm, and 320–530 nm. The three detectors are vacuum image intensifiers manufactured by Photek, UK. The FUV detector consists of a CsI
photocathode A photocathode is a surface engineered to convert light (photons) into electrons using the photoelectric effect. Photocathodes are important in accelerator physics where they are utilised in a photoinjector to generate high brightness electron be ...
with a MgF input optic, the NUV detector consists of CsTe
photocathode A photocathode is a surface engineered to convert light (photons) into electrons using the photoelectric effect. Photocathodes are important in accelerator physics where they are utilised in a photoinjector to generate high brightness electron be ...
with a fused-silica input optic and the visible detector consists of an alkali-antimonide
photocathode A photocathode is a surface engineered to convert light (photons) into electrons using the photoelectric effect. Photocathodes are important in accelerator physics where they are utilised in a photoinjector to generate high brightness electron be ...
with a fused-silica input optic. The field of view is a circle of ~28′ diameter and the angular resolution is 1.8" for the ultraviolet channels and 2.5″ for the visible channel. In each of the three channels a spectral band can be selected through a set of filters mounted on a wheel; in addition, for the two ultraviolet channels a grating can be selected in the wheel to do slitless spectroscopy with a resolution of ~100. The primary mirror diameter of the telescope is 40 cm. * The Soft X-ray imaging Telescope (SXT) employs focusing optics and a deep depletion CCD camera at the focal plane to perform X-ray imaging in the 0.3–8.0 keV band. The optics will consist of 41 concentric shells of gold-coated conical foil mirrors in an approximate Wolter-I configuration (the effective area of 120 cm2). The focal plane CCD camera will be very similar to that flown on SWIFT XRT. The CCD will be operated at a temperature of about −80 °C by thermoelectric cooling. * The LAXPC Instrument covers X-ray timing and low-resolution spectral studies over a broad energy band (3–80 keV), ''Astrosat'' will use a cluster of 3 co-aligned identical Large Area X-ray Proportional Counters (LAXPCs), each with a multi-wire-multi-layer configuration and a Field of View of 1° × 1°. These detectors are designed to achieve (I) wide energy band of 3–80 keV, (II) high detection efficiency over the entire energy band, (III) narrow field of view to minimize source confusion, (IV) moderate energy resolution, (V) small internal background and (VI) long lifetime in space. The effective area of the telescope is 6000 cm2. * The Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) is a hard X-ray imager. It will consist of a Pixellated Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride detector array of 500 cm2 effective area and the energy range from 10 to 150 kev. The detectors have a detection efficiency close to 100% up to 100 keV, and have a superior energy resolution (~2% at 60 keV) compared to scintillation and proportional counters. Their small pixel size also facilitates medium resolution imaging in hard x-rays. The CZTI will be fitted with a two dimensional coded mask, for imaging purposes. The sky brightness distribution will be obtained by applying a deconvolution procedure to the shadow pattern of the coded mask recorded by the detector. Apart from spectroscopic studies, CZTI would be able to do sensitive polarization measurements for bright galactic X-ray sources in 100–300 keV. * The Scanning Sky Monitor (SSM) consists of three position sensitive proportional counters, each with a one-dimensional coded mask, very similar in design to the All Sky Monitor on NASA's RXTE satellite. The gas-filled proportional counter will have resistive wires as anodes. The ratio of the output charge on either ends of the wire will provide the position of the x-ray interaction, providing an imaging plane at the detector. The coded mask, consisting of a series of slits, will cast a shadow on the detector, from which the sky brightness distribution will be derived. * The Charged Particle Monitor (CPM) will be included as a part of ''Astrosat'' payloads to control the operation of the LAXPC, SXT and SSM. Even though the orbital inclination of the satellite will be 8 deg or less, in about 2/3 of the orbits, the satellite will spend a considerable time (15–20 minutes) in the
South Atlantic Anomaly The South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) is an area where Earth's inner Van Allen radiation belt comes closest to Earth's surface, dipping down to an altitude of . This leads to an increased flux of energetic particles in this region and exposes orbiti ...
(SAA) region which has high fluxes of low energy protons and electrons. The high voltage will be lowered or put off using data from CPM when the satellite enters the SAA region to prevent damage to the detectors as well as to minimize ageing effect in the Proportional Counters.


Ground support

The Ground Command and Control Center for ''Astrosat'' is the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore, India. Command and control of the spacecraft, and scientific data downloads is possible during every visible pass over Bangalore. 10 out of 14 orbits per day are visible to the ground station. The satellite is capable of gathering 420 gigabits of data every day that can be downloaded during the 10 visible orbits by the Tracking and Data receiving center of ISRO in Bangalore. A third 11-meter antenna at the
Indian Deep Space Network Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) is a network of large antennas and communication facilities operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation to support the interplanetary spacecraft missions of India. Its hub is located at Byalalu, Ramanaga ...
(IDSN) became operational in July 2009 to track ''Astrosat''.


AstroSat Support Cell

ISRO has set up a support cell for AstroSat at
IUCAA The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) is an autonomous institution set up by the University Grants Commission of India to promote nucleation and growth of active groups in astronomy and astrophysics in Indian unive ...
,
Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
. A MoU was signed between ISRO and IUCAA in May 2016. The support cell has been set up to give opportunity to the scientific community in making proposals on processing and usage of AstroSat data. The support cell will provide necessary resource materials, tools, training and help to the guest observers.


Participants

The ''Astrosat'' project is a collaborative effort of many different research institutions. The participants are: *
Indian Space Research Organization The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...
*
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a public deemed research university located in Mumbai, India that is dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the D ...
,
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
*
Indian Institute of Astrophysics The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), with its headquarters in Bengaluru,is an autonomous Research Institute wholly financed by the department of Science and Technology, Government of India. IIA conducts research primarily in the areas of ...
,
Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
*
Raman Research Institute The Raman Research Institute (RRI) is an institute for scientific research located in Bangalore, India. It was founded by Nobel laureate C. V. Raman in 1948. Although it began as an institute privately owned by Sir C. V. Raman, it is now fund ...
,
Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
*
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) is an autonomous institution set up by the University Grants Commission of India to promote nucleation and growth of active groups in astronomy and astrophysics in Indian univer ...
,
Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
*
Physical Research Laboratory The Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) is a National Research Institute for space and allied sciences, supported mainly by Department of Space, Government of India. This research laboratory has ongoing research programmes in astronomy and astrop ...
,
Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...
*
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is India's premier nuclear research facility, headquartered in Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by Homi Jehangir Bhabha as the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) in January 195 ...
,
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
*
S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS) is an autonomous research institute dedicated to basic research in mathematics sciences under the Department of Science and Technology of Government of India. It is located in West Beng ...
,
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
*
Presidency University, Kolkata Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly known as Presidency College, Kolkata) is a second major public state aided research university located in College Street, Kolkata. Considered as one of best colleges when Presidency College was affili ...
*
Canadian Space Agency The Canadian Space Agency (CSA; french: Agence spatiale canadienne, ASC) is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the ''Canadian Space Agency Act''. The president is Lisa Campbell, who took the position on September 3, 2020 ...
*
University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...


Timeline

* 29 Sep 2020: The satellite completed its mission life of 5 years and will continue to remain operational for many years. * 28 Sep 2018: The satellite has completed 3 years since its launch on 2015. It has observed over 750 sources and resulted in close to 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals. *15 April 2016: The satellite has completed its performance verification and started its operations. * 28 Sep 2015: ASTROSAT has been successfully launched into orbit. * 10 Aug 2015: All tests passed. Pre-shipment review successfully completed. * 24 July 2015: Thermovac completed. Solar panels attached. Start of final vibration tests. * May 2015 : The integration of ''Astrosat'' is complete and final tests are under way. ISRO issued a press release stating that "The satellite is planned to be launched during the second half of 2015 by PSLV C-34 to a 650 km near equatorial orbit around the Earth." * April 2009 : Scientists from
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a public deemed research university located in Mumbai, India that is dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the D ...
(TIFR) have completed the developmental phase of complex science payloads and have begun integrating them before delivery of the 1,650 kg satellite ''Astrosat''. The challenges in the design of payloads and
Attitude Control System Spacecraft attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of a spacecraft (vehicle/satellite) with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, et ...
have been overcome and in a recent review committee meeting, it was decided that the delivery of the payload to the ISRO Satellite Centre will begin from the middle of 2009 and continue until early 2010 to enable the launch of ASTROSAT in 2010 using ISRO workhorse PSLV-C34.


Results

A
gamma-ray burst In gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are immensely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the most energetic and luminous electromagnetic events since the Big Bang. Bursts can last from ten milli ...
was detected by ''Astrosat'' on 5 January 2017. There was a confusion whether this event was related to the gravitational wave signal detected by
LIGO The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. Two large ...
from the black hole merger event
GW170104 GW170104 was a gravitational wave signal detected by the LIGO observatory on 4 January 2017. On 1 June 2017, the LIGO and Virgo collaborations announced that they had reliably verified the signal, making it the third such signal announced, after ...
on 4 January 2017. ''Astrosat'' helped in distinguishing between the two events. The gamma-ray burst from 4 January 2017 was identified as a distinct supernova explosion that would form a black hole. ''Astrosat'' also captured the rare phenomenon of a 6 billion year old small star or
blue straggler A blue straggler is a main-sequence In astronomy, the main sequence is a continuous and distinctive band of stars that appears on plots of stellar color versus brightness. These color-magnitude plots are known as Hertzsprung–Russell diagrams ...
feeding off and sucking out the mass and energy of a bigger companion star. On 31 May 2017, ''Astrosat'',
Chandra X-ray Observatory The Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), previously known as the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), is a Flagship-class space telescope launched aboard the during STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. Chandra is sensitive to X-ray sources 1 ...
and
Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...
simultaneously detected a coronal explosion on the nearest planet-hosting star
Proxima Centauri Proxima Centauri is a small, low-mass star located away from the Sun in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Its Latin name means the 'nearest tarof Centaurus'. It was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes and is the nearest-kno ...
On 6 November 2017 ''
Nature Astronomy ''Nature Astronomy'' is a peer reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio. It was first published in January 2017 (volume 1, issue 1), although the first content appeared online in December 2016. The editor-in-chief is May Chiao, wh ...
'' published a paper from Indian astronomers measuring the variations of X-ray polarisation of the Crab Pulsar in the Taurus constellation.India's space observatory accomplishes X-ray polarisation
Times of India 6 November 2017
This study was a project conducted by scientists from
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a public deemed research university located in Mumbai, India that is dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the D ...
, Mumbai; the
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) is a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), focusing on rocket and space vehicles for India's satellite programme. It is located in Thiruvananthapuram, in the India ...
, Thiruvananthapuram;
ISRO Satellite Centre The U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), formerly ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) ( hi, इसरो उपग्रह केंद्र) is an Indian Space Research Organisation centre for the design, development, and construction of Indian satel ...
Bengaluru; the
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) is an autonomous institution set up by the University Grants Commission of India to promote nucleation and growth of active groups in astronomy and astrophysics in Indian univer ...
, Pune; and the
Physical Research Laboratory The Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) is a National Research Institute for space and allied sciences, supported mainly by Department of Space, Government of India. This research laboratory has ongoing research programmes in astronomy and astrop ...
, Ahmedabad. In July 2018, ''Astrosat'' has captured an image of a special galaxy cluster that is more than 800 million light years away from Earth. Named abell 2256 the galaxy cluster is made of three separate cluster of galaxy that are all merging with one another to eventually form a single massive cluster in the future. The three massive cluster contain more than 500 galaxies and the cluster is almost 100 times larger and more than 1500 times massive as our own galaxy. On 26 September 2018, the archival data of AstroSat was publicly released. As of 28 September 2018, data from AstroSat has been cited in around 100 publications in refereed journals. This figure is expected to rise after the public release of data from AstroSat. In 2019 AstroSat observed a very rare X-ray outburst in a
Be/X-ray binary Be/X-ray binaries (BeXRBs) are a class of high-mass X-ray binaries that consist of a Be star and a neutron star. The neutron star is usually in a wide highly elliptical orbit around the Be star. The Be stellar wind forms a disk confined to a plane ...
system RX J0209.6-7427. Only a couple of rare outbursts have been observed from this source hosting a neutron star. The last outburst was detected in 2019 after about 26 years. The accreting neutron star in this Be/X-ray binary system was found to be an ultraluminous X-ray Pulsar (ULXP) making it the second closest ULXP and the first ULXP in our neighbouring Galaxy in the
Magellanic Clouds The Magellanic Clouds (''Magellanic system'' or ''Nubeculae Magellani'') are two irregular dwarf galaxies in the southern celestial hemisphere. Orbiting the Milky Way galaxy, these satellite galaxies are members of the Local Group. Because both ...
. This source is the first ULX pulsar discovered with the AstroSat mission and only the eight known ULX pulsar. In August 2020, ''AstroSat'' had detected extreme-UV light from a galaxy located 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth. The galaxy called AUDFs01 was discovered by a team of Astronomers led by Kanak Saha from the
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) is an autonomous institution set up by the University Grants Commission of India to promote nucleation and growth of active groups in astronomy and astrophysics in Indian univer ...
, Pune


In popular culture

In 2019 a documentary titled ''Indian Space Dreams'' on the developmental journey of Astrosat, and directed by Sue Sudbury, was released.


See also

* AstroSat-2 *
Indian Astronomical Observatory The Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) is a high-altitude astronomy station located in Hanle, India and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Situated in the Western Himalayas at an elevation of 4,500 meters (14,764 ft), the ...
*
Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...
*
List of space telescopes This list of space telescopes (astronomical space observatories) is grouped by major frequency ranges: gamma ray, x-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, microwave and radio. Telescopes that work in multiple frequency bands are included in all o ...
*
Ultraviolet astronomy Ultraviolet astronomy is the observation of electromagnetic radiation at ultraviolet wavelengths between approximately 10 and 320 nanometres; shorter wavelengths—higher energy photons—are studied by X-ray astronomy and gamma-ray astr ...
* X-ray astronomy


References


External links


''Astrosat''

ISRO

AstroSat: From Inception to Realization and Launch
{{Use Indian English, date=January 2014 2015 in India Satellites of India Space telescopes Spacecraft launched in 2015 Ultraviolet telescopes X-ray telescopes Spacecraft launched by PSLV rockets