India launched its first artificial satellite, ASTROSAT, into space. Date — September 28, 2015. The satellite is almost entirely designed and built in India. Little urgent foreign aid has been received. The satellite is technologically advanced and is expected to take Indian astronomical research a step further. Astrosat satellite is the brainchild of Prof. PC Agarwal. The then chairman of 'ISRO' (Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO) Dr. Kasturirangan gave him a lot of encouragement in this regard.
That was about 15 years ago. A small X-ray telescope has recently been built by Professor Agarwal, for another artificial satellite. At this time, an idea came to his mind: let's not compete with the developed countries, let's see what they are not paying special attention to, what happens! Various Problems of Astronomical Research Astronomical research has some special problems, problems of which no other subject has to worry about. The first problem is the covering of Earth's atmosphere, which allows only certain wavelengths of light to penetrate.
Hence, it is difficult to complete research just sitting on Earth. As with all things, experiments cannot be designed arbitrarily, and data collected from various sources must be combined. Not only that, it is not possible to rotate a light source and see it from all angles. Again, the denizens of space are enormous in size, spanning thousands upon thousands of miles. Moreover, it is difficult to find more than one of exactly the same cosmic object. So if you get two things that are roughly the same, you have to be satisfied with that.
In all other studies, The test results can be relied upon by performing an experiment on several exact replicas or 'copies' of the same object. But it is rare to find exactly the same thing in astronomical research. The last problem is that these massive cosmic objects themselves are not homogeneous everywhere. If you look at any object outside our solar system, you will see that some places have temperatures in the billions, while others have temperatures of only a few Kelvin (below -270 degrees Celsius). Some places are so dense that we have no way of measuring that density.
And some areas are so thin that if you take a meter-sized container and walk through that area for hundreds of thousands of years, less than a gram of hydrogen will accumulate in that container. Cosmic objects emit different wavelengths of light, From radio waves to gamma waves. This temperature and density gradient results in cosmic objects emitting light of various wavelengths, from radio waves to gamma waves. Radio waves are very long in length, so a very large diameter antenna is needed to receive them.
Gamma waves, on the other hand, are so short that their wavelength is less than the radius of an atomic nucleus. A crystal or crystal of a special material is used to capture these waves. NASA's flagship is NASA's Hubble Telescope, which detects visible and ultra-violet rays. (Image source) Over the past half-century, many countries—including the United States, Russia—have put telescopes into space. Among these, the contribution of America's NASA (NASA) is the highest. NASA's telescopes are very high-resolution, meaning they can distinguish fine-to-fine detail. visible light, gamma, infrared or X-ray rays, They have separate telescopes for all wavelengths.
Telescopes are very powerful and can extract the energy of photons from very little light. NASA has come a long way in this regard. It is difficult to come close to their expertise in sending several tons of machines into space, or controlling them from a distance. Today, no other country can match NASA on any wavelength.
In such a difficult situation, Indian astronauts entered the field. Indian scientists began to dream that one day India would be self-sufficient in astronomical research. Natural steps like 'Mangalyaan' or 'Chandrayaan' were in that direction. But that by no means means that the tasks were easy, 'ISRO' has done them very efficiently. However, the importance of 'Astrosat' is immense, By sending it, India has opened a whole new chapter in astronomical research around the world. Chandra X-rays originate in different corners of the universe, which can be detected by NASA's 'Chandra' telescope.
(Image source) Space Missions While the Blind Man's Elephant Description We already know that cosmic objects are very complex and emit light of all wavelengths. So far all space missions have confined themselves to a particular wavelength class and looked all over space for light of that particular wavelength. But the problem with astronomy is that an object cannot be fully understood if it is limited to light of a particular wavelength.
The matter can be described as the story of the elephant of the four blind men. Each elephant there described where he had touched, But what does it take to get a picture of an elephant? Similarly, to obtain a complete picture of an object, all wavelengths of light emitted from it must be captured. Freq The different wavelengths of light. India's Astrosat will capture all wavelengths of light, from visible light to ultraviolet and X-rays.
A similar thing can be seen in our daily life. Let's say airport security. First the security people will look at us. Then with the help of X-ray, we will see if we have hidden any dangerous objects. In some places, images are also taken using thermal or infrared waves, to look for hidden objects. These three types of waves — optical, X-ray, and infrared — combine to tell what kind of traveler you'll be. Same is the case with astronomy. India has built a multi-wavelength detection satellite that detects visible light to ultraviolet and X-rays, Can capture all wavelengths of light simultaneously. India's Destiny This is where the foresight of Professor Agarwal and other members of the Astrosat team comes into play.
They thought sending another small Hubble telescope was not doing anything new, NASA had already gone that far, it would be much more useful if many wavelengths could be detected together. It may be limited to an object or a corner of space, but a much more complete picture of that object will be obtained. There is no need to scour the entire universe for a particular class of wave. Many powerful telescopes look into space for that. A multi-wavelength satellite has been developed that can capture all wavelengths of light from visible light to ultraviolet and X-rays.
This requires the light source to be a bit brighter, but if it is, Then our Astrosat can provide a complete picture of it. Scientists living on Earth can analyze the various details of the light source from the information of that light wave. Astrosat's various detectors. (Photo – ISRO) Astrosat's various detectors. (Photo - ISRO) The idea is simple yet so beautiful that everyone around the world is in awe. It comes especially at a time when NASA is trying to rein in future missions. Three decades of spending money on instrument research has strained NASA's budget and reduced its freedom to plan arbitrary missions. At a time like this, hopefully this simple method of Astrosat will be remembered by many. Focusing on objects in space instead of wavelengths — this new kind of thinking might change that.
How will future space missions be planned? Prof. Agarwal and other scientists deserve a thumbs up for taking up this incredible project. The scientists who developed the instruments for Astrosat are associated with the following laboratories: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai), Inter University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (Pune) and Raman Research Institute (Bangalore). In addition, two instrument detectors came from the Canadian Space Agency and the University of Leicester. The equipment on the satellite will now be turned on slowly. As a result, hopefully, we will see the space around us in a new way. Comment:-Reserved so friends (no news is absolutely good news) They are affiliated with the following laboratories: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai), Inter University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (Pune) and Raman Research Institute (Bangalore). In addition, two instrument detectors came from the Canadian Space Agency and the University of Leicester. The equipment on the satellite will now be turned on slowly.
As a result, hopefully, we will see the space around us in a new way. Comment:-Reserved so friends (no news is absolutely good news) They are affiliated with the following laboratories: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai), Inter University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (Pune) and Raman Research Institute (Bangalore). In addition, two instrument detectors came from the Canadian Space Agency and the University of Leicester. The equipment on the satellite will now be turned on slowly. As a result, hopefully, we will see the space around us in a new way. Comment:-Reserved so friends (no news is absolutely good news) Inter University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (Pune) and Raman Research Institute (Bangalore). In addition, two instrument detectors came from the Canadian Space Agency and the University of Leicester. The equipment on the satellite will now be turned on slowly.
As a result, hopefully, we will see the space around us in a new way. Comment:-Reserved so friends (no news is absolutely good news) Inter University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (Pune) and Raman Research Institute (Bangalore). In addition, two instrument detectors came from the Canadian Space Agency and the University of Leicester. The equipment on the satellite will now be turned on slowly. As a result, hopefully, we will see the space around us in a new way. Comment:-Reserved so friends (no news is absolutely good news)
