India’s first-ever astronomy observatory completes 10 years
BENGALURU: India’s first-ever astronomy observatory, AstroSat, by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), completed a decade of operations on Sunday.
Launched in 2015 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh, AstroSat allows observing the universe in X-Ray, Ultraviolet (UV), and optical spectral bands simultaneously.
According to ISRO, “After injection into orbit, the two solar panels of AstroSat were automatically deployed in quick succession. The spacecraft control centre at Mission Operations Complex (MOX) of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bengaluru manages the satellite during its entire mission life. The science data gathered by five payloads of AstroSat are telemetered to the ground station at MOX. The data is then processed, archived and distributed by the Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) located at Bylalu, near Bengaluru.”
At the time of launch, AstroSat’s mass was 1,515 kg. Its mission to bring clarity to space observation commenced with cracking a two-decade-old mystery involving a giant red star that shone with remarkable brightness. Its many achievements since include the detection of UV photons from a distance of approximately 9 billion light-years. AstroSat has witnessed galaxies converge and black holes spin – in essence, capturing the entire breadth of the universe from creation to destruction.
Over 57 countries are registered users of AstroSat now, including the US. Findings have been used by 132 Indian universities. Despite five years being the initial limit of operations, AstroSat is in sufficient health to carry on into the future, now twice the age of its projected lifespan.