ISRO Chief Prof lectures on X-Rays, Universe

Mumbai, Jul 20: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chair Professor P C Agarwal gave a lecture on astronomy to the city's stargazers at Nehru Centre.

Speaking to an attentive audience, Prof Agarwal gave a detailed lecture on 'Universe in X-Rays' and how many of the phenomenas in the universe like pulsars, supernovas and neutron stars could be studied using X-Rays. The session included slides of galxies, supernovas, nebulae and pulsars taken by hi-tech telescopes like India's Chandra, US space telescope - Hubble and other observatories around the world.

Tracing the life of a star, Prof Agarwal said, ''The star like our sun usually ends up as a ' Red Giant', a 'planetary nebule' then a 'white dwarf' - a massive star would however, end its days like a 'Red Super Giant' then explode as a supernova and end up as a 'Black Hole'. He explained that stars and astronomical phenomenon like neutron stars, pulsars and their characteristics and effects could be detected and measured using telescopes and more sensitive X-rays.

UNI