BENGALURU: Raman Research Institute (RRI), headquartered in Bengaluru, has designed and built one of the two payloads on India’s first X-ray polarimetry mission launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday morning. X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat), will operate within a medium X-ray band and aid in studying black holes and neutron stars.
The Indian X-ray Polarimeter (POLIX) instrument was built under the guidance of Biswajit Paul, principal investigator of POLIX at RRI, in collaboration with UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) in the city. X-ray SPECtroscopy and Timing (XSPECT) and POLIX will study X-ray emissions emanating from bright X-ray sources.
POLIX will be the first-ever satellite-mounted scientific instrument that will perform polarization measurements of X-ray sources in the medium band (8-30keV). The instrument will study a few tens of bright astronomical sources of different categories during the planned lifetime of the XPoSat mission of about five years.
“It has taken hard work for a long period and a dedicated team of people to realise the POLIX instrument. We look forward to having some insightful scientific results, investigating the structure of the intense magnetic field in cosmic objects and behaviour of matter and radiation in extreme gravity,” said Professor Paul.
So far, astronomers have largely measured the polarization of stars and celestial objects from radio to optical frequency bands. In space, X-rays can get polarised when they come under the influence of very strong magnetic fields, such as near the surface of neutron stars, magnetars – a neutron star with a very high magnetic field -- as well as due to interactions with material present around black holes.
“This makes them excellent sources of polarised X-rays, making polarization studies an ideal tool to deepen our understanding of these exotic celestial objects. POLIX will undertake measurements of the degree and angle of polarization of X-ray photons from the environment surrounding black holes, neutron stars, and other such cosmic entities,” read a statement. Using this additional information, scientists will be able to better understand the exact nature of emissions from these celestial sources.