India’s AstroSat space telescope detects more than 600 Gamma-Ray Burst: Basics Explained
India’s AstroSat space telescope has achieved a significant milestone by detecting more than 600 Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB), each marking the death of a massive star or merging of neutron stars. Dubbed as mini big-bangs, GRBs are the most energetic explosions in the universe, emitting more energy in seconds than the sun will emit in its entire lifetime,
AstroSat is the first dedicated Indian astronomy mission aimed at studying celestial sources in X-ray, optical and UV spectral bands simultaneously. It enables the simultaneous multi-wavelength observations of various astronomical objects with a single satellite.
AstroSat with a lift-off mass of 1515 kg was launched on September 28, 2015 into a 650 km orbit by PSLV-C30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The minimum useful life of the AstroSat mission is expected to be 5 years.
Ultraviolet radiation is the one form of radiant energy coming out from the sun. The sun emits a range of energy known as the electromagnetic spectrum.
The various forms of energy, or radiation, are classified according to wavelength. The shorter the wave-length, the more energetic the radiation. In order of decreasing energy, the principal forms of radiation are gamma rays, x-rays, UV (ultraviolet radiation), visible light, infrared radiation, microwaves, and radio waves. The visible spectrum is nothing but the observable region of the electromagnetic wave which is visible to human eyes. In the electromagnetic spectrum, the visible spectrum ranges from the infrared region to the UV region. The visible light lies in between the infrared and ultraviolet range of wavelengths. The human eye can detect the light spectrum ranging from 400 nanometers (violet) to about 700 nanometers (red). Other electromagnetic radiations are either too small or too large to capture for the human eye and are out of biological limitations. ISRO: It was established with it’s headquarter at Bangalore in 1969. It functions under overall control of department of space. S. Somanath, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
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