10 months ago
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- With the successful launch of XPoSAT or the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite, at 9.10 am , India will become the second country after the US to have an 'observatory' to study black holes. The new mission comes on the heels of India's successful moon mission Chandrayaan.
- Using X-ray photons and their polarisation, XPoSAT will help study the radiation from near black holes and neutron stars. It carries two payloads namely POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing).
- The satellite will measure polarisation of X-rays in the energy band 8-30keV emanating from about 50 potential cosmic sources through Thomson Scattering by POLIX payload.
- It will carry out long term spectral and temporal studies of cosmic X-ray sources. It will also carry out polarisation and spectroscopic measurements of X-ray emissions from cosmic sources through POLIX and XSPECT payloads..
- When stars run out of fuel and 'die', they collapse under their own gravity and leave behind black holes or neutron stars.
- Black holes have the highest gravitational force in the universe and neutron stars have the highest densities.
- Gathering more information on this, the mission will help unravel the mysteries of the ultra-extreme environments in space.
- The XPoSat satellite cost around Rs 250 crore (approximately $30 million) while the NASA IXPE – which is on a similar mission since 2021 -- required an outlay of $188 million.
- The Indian satellite is expected to last more than five years compared to the two-year life span of the NASA IXPE,
- The XPoSAT mission will see the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV -- undertake its 60th flight. Besides the 469-kg XPoSAT, the 260-tonne PSLV will lift off with 10 experiments.
Article From:
www.ndtv.com
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