Indigenously built space telescope 'Astrosat' witnesses birth of black holes for 500th time

New Delhi, May 21: Astrosat, India's first dedicated astronomy mission, witnessed the birth of black holes for the five hundredth time early today. Black holes, the ultimate cosmic enigma, have been a subject of intense scrutiny from astronomers from all over the world. However, Indian scientists are making great headway in studying black hole births using the indigenously built space telescope - Astrosat.

Calling it a landmark achievement, Prof. Dipankar Bhattacharya, the current Principal Investigator of CZTI said, the wealth of data obtained on Gamma Ray Bursts is making a big impact worldwide. It may be noted that astronomers study Gamma Ray Bursts, also called the mini big bangs and X-rays from such bursts to better understand formation of black holes.

Astrosat with a lift-off mass of 1,515 kilogram was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on 28th of September 2015. It is the most sensitive space telescope in the world; consisting of five instruments that can simultaneously study

the universe in ultraviolet, optical and X-ray radiation. One of these instruments is the Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager - CZTI, which discovers the birth of black holes. A unique aspect of CZTI is the ability to measure the polarisation of X-rays: an ability that is lacking in flagship missions like NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Telescope or the US-Europe Fermi Space Telescope.

Speaking to AIR News, Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, who is also responsible for the search for Gamma Ray Bursts, Prof. Varun Bhalerao said, ISRO's Astrosat has once again proved India's prowess in this field.

Prof. Bhalerao added that CZTI started recording Gamma Ray Bursts just hours after the instrument was powered on after launch. Even as the team works continuously to improve the search and detection methods, getting better results every year, numerous studies from CZTI have already been published in reputed journals worldwide.