India’s AstroSat space telescope has achieved a significant milestone by detecting its 600th Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB), showcasing the continued robust performance of the Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) eight years after its launch. GRBs signify either the demise of a massive star or the merging of neutron stars.
Dipankar Bhattacharya, the principal investigator for CZTI, highlighted the achievement, stating, “The detection of the 600th GRB is a great demonstration of the continued undiminished performance of CZTI eight years after launch, and well after its design lifetime.”
Gamma-Ray Bursts release an enormous amount of energy, surpassing what the sun emits over its entire lifetime in a matter of seconds. Often referred to as mini big-bangs, GRBs can last from a fraction of a second to several minutes, and they are associated with the birth of a black hole.
Launched in 2015 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), AstroSat, designed for a five-year lifespan, has exceeded expectations and continues to make significant observations.
As India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory, AstroSat utilizes a suite of payloads to simultaneously observe celestial objects across various wavelengths, ranging from ultraviolet to X-rays.
Varun Bhalerao, associate professor at IIT-Bombay, expressed pride in AstroSat’s accomplishments and revealed plans for the next-generation GRB space telescope called Daksha. Daksha, proposed by multiple institutes, aims to surpass existing satellites worldwide in sensitivity, enabling it to detect in just over a year what CZTI accomplished in eight years.
AstroSat’s CZTI detector recorded the 600th GRB on November 22, and the observation data has been shared with astronomers and researchers globally for further studies.
Gaurav Waratkar, a PhD student at IIT Bombay leading the study of GRBs with AstroSat, expressed amazement at examining data that offers a glimpse into explosions that occurred billions of years ago.
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