Indian Space Program: News & Discussions
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ADITYA-L1/PSLV-C57: ISRO has moved the PSLV-XL launcher from the vehicle assembly building to the 2nd launch pad of SDSC-SHAR spaceport. Launch is scheduled for 2nd September at 11:50 hrs IST.
How is ESA supporting ISRO’s Aditya-L1 solar mission?
31/08/2023
ESA ground stations support ISRO's Aditya-L1 solar observatory
UPDATE: Aditya-L1 was successfully launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota Range (SDSC SHAR), India, on 2 September at 11:50 IST (08:20 CEST).
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to launch its Aditya-L1 solar observatory from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota Range (SDSC SHAR), India, at 11:50 IST (08:20 CEST) on 2 September 2023.
It’s an ambitious mission that will generate vast quantities of science data as the spacecraft balances in an unstable orbit. With its global network of deep space ground stations and experience flying similar missions, ESA has just the right infrastructure and expertise to provide support.
Aditya-L1
Aditya-L1 will be the first Indian satellite mission to study the Sun. After launch, the spacecraft will travel to its new home – the first Lagrange point (L1) of the Sun-Earth system.
Aditya-L1 in the cleanroom
From there, its seven instruments will be used to investigate open questions about our dynamic and turbulent star. Four of them will view the Sun directly, while the other three will carry out in-situ measurements to explore the nature of the space weather that the Sun generates in interplanetary space.
ESA support to Aditya-L1
ESA is supporting Aditya-L1 in two ways: the Agency is providing deep space communication services to the mission, and, last year, ESA assisted ISRO with the validation of important new flight dynamics software.
Communication is an essential part of every space mission. Without ground station support, it’s impossible to get any science data from a spacecraft, to know how it’s doing, to know if it is safe or even to know where it is.
“ESA’s global network of deep space tracking stations and use of internationally recognised technical standards allows us to help our partners track, command and receive data from their spacecraft almost anywhere in the Solar System,” says Ramesh Chellathurai, ESA Service Manager and ESA Cross-Support Liaison Officer for ISRO.
“For the Aditya-L1 mission, we are providing support from all three of our 35-metre deep space antennas in Australia, Spain and Argentina, as well as support from our Kourou station in French Guiana and coordinated support from Goonhilly Earth Station in the UK.”
ESA is the main provider of ground station services for Aditya-L1. ESA stations will support the mission from beginning to end: from the critical ‘Launch and Early Orbit Phase’, throughout the journey to L1, and to send commands to and receive science data from Aditya-L1 for multiple hours per day over the next two years of routine operations.
Lagrange point 1 – a perfect home for solar explorers
When one large mass orbits another, their gravitational forces and orbital motion interact to create five equilibrium points where a spacecraft can operate for a prolonged period of time without having to use a lot of fuel. These locations are known as Lagrange points.
The first Lagrange point, L1, is located between Earth and the Sun, roughly one percent of the distance to the Sun. It’s a great location for solar explorers such as Aditya-L1, as it allows for an unobstructed view of the Sun that is never eclipsed by Earth. At L1, Aditya-L1 will join spacecraft such as the ESA/NASA Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), which has been at L1 since 1996.
The five Lagrange points of the Sun-Earth system. ISRO's Aditya-L1 will operate from a halo orbit around L1.
Spacecraft that are designed to look outwards at the outer Solar System and far beyond, such as the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope or ESA’s Euclid and Gaia telescopes, instead travel to L2. L2 is an opposite to L1, located the same distance from Earth but on the other side of the planet, as seen from the Sun. At L2, these spacecraft always have the brightness of the Sun and Earth behind them as they gaze outwards at faint objects hiding in the darkness of the Universe.
Getting there
Aditya-L1 will not travel to L1 directly from launch. Instead, ISRO operators will need to perform a ‘transfer manoeuvre’ similar to the one that ESA performed recently to take its Euclid telescope to L2.
This manoeuvre will be performed soon after launch, as the amount of fuel required to achieve the necessary trajectory grows quickly with time. Aditya-L1 will first perform manoeuvres to adjust its orbit around Earth after launch, before performing a transfer manoeuvre to L1. The spacecraft will reach L1 approximately 100 days after launch.
Staying there
L1 is one of the ‘unstable’ Lagrange equilibrium points. Keeping a spacecraft exactly at the L1 point is practically impossible.
Instead, spacecraft enter orbit around L1 as if the Lagrange point were an ‘invisible planet’. Even so, due to the instability of this orbit, small trajectory errors will grow quickly. As a result, spacecraft must perform ‘station keeping’ manoeuvres roughly once a month to keep them in the correct orbit.
An inability to perform these monthly manoeuvres can be a big problem. In June 1998, the SOHO mission experienced an issue and failed to carry out its station keeping. The error in its orbit grew so quickly and so unpredictably that contact was lost with the spacecraft, and it began drifting into the void.
A combined team of NASA and ESA experts set to work to safely recover the spacecraft, eventually finding it far from its expected position and reestablishing contact. 25 years later, SOHO is still in orbit around L1 and returning valuable scientific data.
ISRO develops advanced flight dynamics software
To get to L1 and safely stay in orbit, operators need to know exactly where their spacecraft was, is and will be. To do so, they apply mathematical formulas to the tracking data from the spacecraft to calculate its past, present and future location in a process known as ‘orbit determination’.
Orbit determination is carried out with the help of specially designed software. ISRO has designed and developed new orbit determination software for Aditya-L1. However, given the tiny margin for error that comes with operating a spacecraft at L1, they requested support from ESA to validate it.
ESA puts it to the test
From April to December 2022, ESA and ISRO teams worked together intensively to evaluate ISRO’s strategy for operating Aditya-L1 and challenge their new orbit determination software.
“With its experience flying and even rescuing missions at the Lagrange points, ESA was in the perfect position to help ISRO improve their new orbit determination software and demonstrate that it has the fidelity and accuracy that the organisation needs in order to operate a spacecraft at a Lagrange point for the first time,” says ESA Flight Dynamics expert Frank Budnik.
First, the ESA team invented typical scenarios that the ISRO team could face when operating Aditya-L1. Both teams then used their own orbit determination software to predict how Aditya-L1’s orbit would evolve in these scenarios and compared their results.
The next step saw ESA provide ISRO with simulated tracking data similar to the data that ESA uses to train its own flight dynamics teams. This includes data typical of a spacecraft’s critical Launch and Early Orbit Phase, a complex orbit insertion manoeuvre or even a planetary flyby. The ISRO team used their software to analyse the data, and then both teams worked together to detect any areas that could be improved and fine-tune some of the algorithms.
Finally, the ESA team provided the ISRO team with tracking data from a real spacecraft orbiting L1. Both teams used their own software to analyse the data from ESA’s former LISA Pathfinder mission and compared their results once again.
The results of the exercise were valuable for ESA and ISRO and both teams are confident in the capabilities of ISRO’s software.
It’s not just orbits that come full circle
For some of ESA’s flight dynamics experts, this exercise felt familiar. As ESA prepared to launch its own early deep space missions, it faced similar challenges to those ISRO faces today. ESA reached out to a team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to help validate the interplanetary orbit determination software for ESA’s Mars Express mission and for the comet chaser, Rosetta, both of which were then successfully navigated by ESA. The exercise was similar in scope and goal to the one carried out by ESA and ISRO for Aditya-L1 last year.
The international space community
ESA’s two-pronged support to Aditya-L1 demonstrates the value of international spaceflight collaboration. ESA’s ground station network (known as ‘Estrack’) and flight dynamics expertise have been built up over decades of flying the most challenging spacecraft missions and are now cornerstones of the Agency’s support to its partners.
Aditya-L1 will join the international fleet of spacecraft studying our Sun, like ESA's Solar Orbiter depicted here.
On Earth, Estrack is undergoing an expansion. Construction is underway on ESA’s fourth deep space antenna, as the Agency prepares to meet the rising demand for communication bandwidth from its own deep space and space safety missions and from support to an increasing number of partners.
Meanwhile, in space, Aditya-L1 will be the newest member of the fleet of solar explorers, including ESA’s Solar Orbiter, SOHO, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and others, on humankind’s shared mission to unravel the mysteries of our star.
How is ESA supporting ISRO’s Aditya-L1 solar mission?
31/08/2023
ESA ground stations support ISRO's Aditya-L1 solar observatory
UPDATE: Aditya-L1 was successfully launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota Range (SDSC SHAR), India, on 2 September at 11:50 IST (08:20 CEST).
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to launch its Aditya-L1 solar observatory from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota Range (SDSC SHAR), India, at 11:50 IST (08:20 CEST) on 2 September 2023.
It’s an ambitious mission that will generate vast quantities of science data as the spacecraft balances in an unstable orbit. With its global network of deep space ground stations and experience flying similar missions, ESA has just the right infrastructure and expertise to provide support.
Aditya-L1
Aditya-L1 will be the first Indian satellite mission to study the Sun. After launch, the spacecraft will travel to its new home – the first Lagrange point (L1) of the Sun-Earth system.
Aditya-L1 in the cleanroom
From there, its seven instruments will be used to investigate open questions about our dynamic and turbulent star. Four of them will view the Sun directly, while the other three will carry out in-situ measurements to explore the nature of the space weather that the Sun generates in interplanetary space.
ESA support to Aditya-L1
ESA is supporting Aditya-L1 in two ways: the Agency is providing deep space communication services to the mission, and, last year, ESA assisted ISRO with the validation of important new flight dynamics software.
Communication is an essential part of every space mission. Without ground station support, it’s impossible to get any science data from a spacecraft, to know how it’s doing, to know if it is safe or even to know where it is.
“ESA’s global network of deep space tracking stations and use of internationally recognised technical standards allows us to help our partners track, command and receive data from their spacecraft almost anywhere in the Solar System,” says Ramesh Chellathurai, ESA Service Manager and ESA Cross-Support Liaison Officer for ISRO.
“For the Aditya-L1 mission, we are providing support from all three of our 35-metre deep space antennas in Australia, Spain and Argentina, as well as support from our Kourou station in French Guiana and coordinated support from Goonhilly Earth Station in the UK.”
ESA is the main provider of ground station services for Aditya-L1. ESA stations will support the mission from beginning to end: from the critical ‘Launch and Early Orbit Phase’, throughout the journey to L1, and to send commands to and receive science data from Aditya-L1 for multiple hours per day over the next two years of routine operations.
Lagrange point 1 – a perfect home for solar explorers
When one large mass orbits another, their gravitational forces and orbital motion interact to create five equilibrium points where a spacecraft can operate for a prolonged period of time without having to use a lot of fuel. These locations are known as Lagrange points.
The first Lagrange point, L1, is located between Earth and the Sun, roughly one percent of the distance to the Sun. It’s a great location for solar explorers such as Aditya-L1, as it allows for an unobstructed view of the Sun that is never eclipsed by Earth. At L1, Aditya-L1 will join spacecraft such as the ESA/NASA Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), which has been at L1 since 1996.
The five Lagrange points of the Sun-Earth system. ISRO's Aditya-L1 will operate from a halo orbit around L1.
Spacecraft that are designed to look outwards at the outer Solar System and far beyond, such as the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope or ESA’s Euclid and Gaia telescopes, instead travel to L2. L2 is an opposite to L1, located the same distance from Earth but on the other side of the planet, as seen from the Sun. At L2, these spacecraft always have the brightness of the Sun and Earth behind them as they gaze outwards at faint objects hiding in the darkness of the Universe.
Getting there
Aditya-L1 will not travel to L1 directly from launch. Instead, ISRO operators will need to perform a ‘transfer manoeuvre’ similar to the one that ESA performed recently to take its Euclid telescope to L2.
This manoeuvre will be performed soon after launch, as the amount of fuel required to achieve the necessary trajectory grows quickly with time. Aditya-L1 will first perform manoeuvres to adjust its orbit around Earth after launch, before performing a transfer manoeuvre to L1. The spacecraft will reach L1 approximately 100 days after launch.
Staying there
L1 is one of the ‘unstable’ Lagrange equilibrium points. Keeping a spacecraft exactly at the L1 point is practically impossible.
Instead, spacecraft enter orbit around L1 as if the Lagrange point were an ‘invisible planet’. Even so, due to the instability of this orbit, small trajectory errors will grow quickly. As a result, spacecraft must perform ‘station keeping’ manoeuvres roughly once a month to keep them in the correct orbit.
An inability to perform these monthly manoeuvres can be a big problem. In June 1998, the SOHO mission experienced an issue and failed to carry out its station keeping. The error in its orbit grew so quickly and so unpredictably that contact was lost with the spacecraft, and it began drifting into the void.
A combined team of NASA and ESA experts set to work to safely recover the spacecraft, eventually finding it far from its expected position and reestablishing contact. 25 years later, SOHO is still in orbit around L1 and returning valuable scientific data.
ISRO develops advanced flight dynamics software
To get to L1 and safely stay in orbit, operators need to know exactly where their spacecraft was, is and will be. To do so, they apply mathematical formulas to the tracking data from the spacecraft to calculate its past, present and future location in a process known as ‘orbit determination’.
Orbit determination is carried out with the help of specially designed software. ISRO has designed and developed new orbit determination software for Aditya-L1. However, given the tiny margin for error that comes with operating a spacecraft at L1, they requested support from ESA to validate it.
ESA puts it to the test
From April to December 2022, ESA and ISRO teams worked together intensively to evaluate ISRO’s strategy for operating Aditya-L1 and challenge their new orbit determination software.
“With its experience flying and even rescuing missions at the Lagrange points, ESA was in the perfect position to help ISRO improve their new orbit determination software and demonstrate that it has the fidelity and accuracy that the organisation needs in order to operate a spacecraft at a Lagrange point for the first time,” says ESA Flight Dynamics expert Frank Budnik.
First, the ESA team invented typical scenarios that the ISRO team could face when operating Aditya-L1. Both teams then used their own orbit determination software to predict how Aditya-L1’s orbit would evolve in these scenarios and compared their results.
The next step saw ESA provide ISRO with simulated tracking data similar to the data that ESA uses to train its own flight dynamics teams. This includes data typical of a spacecraft’s critical Launch and Early Orbit Phase, a complex orbit insertion manoeuvre or even a planetary flyby. The ISRO team used their software to analyse the data, and then both teams worked together to detect any areas that could be improved and fine-tune some of the algorithms.
Finally, the ESA team provided the ISRO team with tracking data from a real spacecraft orbiting L1. Both teams used their own software to analyse the data from ESA’s former LISA Pathfinder mission and compared their results once again.
The results of the exercise were valuable for ESA and ISRO and both teams are confident in the capabilities of ISRO’s software.
It’s not just orbits that come full circle
For some of ESA’s flight dynamics experts, this exercise felt familiar. As ESA prepared to launch its own early deep space missions, it faced similar challenges to those ISRO faces today. ESA reached out to a team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to help validate the interplanetary orbit determination software for ESA’s Mars Express mission and for the comet chaser, Rosetta, both of which were then successfully navigated by ESA. The exercise was similar in scope and goal to the one carried out by ESA and ISRO for Aditya-L1 last year.
The international space community
ESA’s two-pronged support to Aditya-L1 demonstrates the value of international spaceflight collaboration. ESA’s ground station network (known as ‘Estrack’) and flight dynamics expertise have been built up over decades of flying the most challenging spacecraft missions and are now cornerstones of the Agency’s support to its partners.
Aditya-L1 will join the international fleet of spacecraft studying our Sun, like ESA's Solar Orbiter depicted here.
On Earth, Estrack is undergoing an expansion. Construction is underway on ESA’s fourth deep space antenna, as the Agency prepares to meet the rising demand for communication bandwidth from its own deep space and space safety missions and from support to an increasing number of partners.
Meanwhile, in space, Aditya-L1 will be the newest member of the fleet of solar explorers, including ESA’s Solar Orbiter, SOHO, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and others, on humankind’s shared mission to unravel the mysteries of our star.
How is ESA supporting ISRO’s Aditya-L1 solar mission?
The media posted on the ISRO website for the Aditya-L1 mission is next level. Check out the videos:
Aditya-L1 Videos
Aditya-L1 Videos
Source: Moon, Mars and now Sun - PSLV, India's versatile workhorse rocket turns 30
PSLV has been launched 59 times already. 30 more launches would take the total to 89-90. On average around 4-5 PSLVs are launched every year. This year we have 7 launches scheduled, 3 of which have been launched so far. I doubt we will be able to get all 7 done by the end of 2023. We should be able to get 2 more launches done. Assuming we hold this launch rate, completing 30 launches would take 6-7.5 years.
ISRO chief had previously said that the GSLV Mk-2 will retire after 10 launches from F12. With an average launch rate of 1-2 per year, we probably have another 6-8 years of the Mk-2 in service. So, the PSLV family & the GSLV Mk-2 would be retired around 2030.
The PSLV family gave us 2-4 tons to LEO, Mk-2 gives us 6 tons to LEO. So, 2-6 tons to LEO capability is going to be retired by 2030. All satellites within that bracket has to be launched by the LVM3. The LVM3 will be able to lift ~15 tons to LEO after its upgrades. LMV3's launch rate has to go from 1-2 per year to 5-7 per year.
NGLV is also planned to be operational by 2030. So, that launcher can also take some of the workload.
Grew up hearing her voice on launch days. A huge loss for the nation. She will be missed.
India-made image data processing tech aids unravel cosmic secrets
Photo: MeerKAT Radio Telescope Array in South Africa.
The Automated Radio Telescope Image Processing Pipeline (ARTIP), developed by global technology consultancy firm Thoughtworks, has aided in significant discoveries made by the MeerKAT Telescope in South Africa. ARTIP has processed over 1PB of MeerKAT data, leading to the detection of the hydroxyl radical and the identification of the hydroxyl radical and the identification of huge hydrogen atoms in distant galaxies. The pipeline is highly configurable and can be used on data generated by other telescopes as well.
BENGALURU: An India-built image data processing technology has led to significant discoveries from distant galaxies being observed by the MeerKAT Telescope located in the South African desert.
MeerKAT comprises 64 antennas and serves as a precursor to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Telescope, offering 50 times greater sensitivity and 10,000 times faster sky survey capabilities compared to existing telescopes.
And, the Automated Radio Telescope Image Processing Pipeline (ARTIP) developed at the India offices — Bengaluru and Pune — of global technology consultancy firm Thoughtworks has been helping the MeerKAT Absorption Live Survey (MALS).
Chhaya Dhanani, portfolio head, engineering for research at Thoughtworks told TOI: “ARTIP was built for MALS, on MeerKAT. The principal investigator involved is Neeraj Gupta from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune. This collaboration has been active since 2017, aiming to automate data processing, flagging, calibration, and imaging.”
Discoveries
IUCAA’s Gupta acknowledges the firm’s contribution in leveraging contemporary software engineering tools and practices to process more than 1PB (petabyte) of MeerKAT data, enabling groundbreaking discoveries and benefiting the entire astronomy community.
ARTIP has led to significant discoveries, such as detecting the hydroxyl radical (OH), an important chemical species throughout the atmosphere in a galaxy, and identifying huge hydrogen atoms (Rydberg atoms) in a distant galaxy.
“...The two major discoveries during the course of the survey can be attributed to ARTIP. A publication on the MALS in the international astronomical journal, Proceedings of Science recognises work for MALS data processing with ARTIP,” Dhanani said.
How ARTIP works
ARTIP is a highly configurable and customisable pipeline designed to process data generated by MeerKAT. The deployment is configured for MeerKAT, but the high configurability allows it to be used on data produced from uGMRT, and VLA class of telescopes, Dhanani said.
“It can be deployed on a range of infrastructure ranging from a consumer grade desktop to a high end multi node cluster. It consists of four individual sub-pipelines, including one for calibration, which fit into different stages of the data processing workflow,” she added.
The calibration pipeline (ARTIP-CAL) is used to calibrate the data against known astronomical sources and extract the source of interest or target source.
“Using the cube-imaging pipeline (ARTIP-CUBE), the calibrated target is then used to generate the sky images using the continuum-imaging pipeline (ARTIP-CONT)... All these pipelines work in tandem with a diagnostics pipeline (ARTIP-DIAGNOSTICS) which provides analysis insights into the data processing, data and image quality, and works as a quality assurance pipeline,” Dhanani added.
The collaboration
The Thoughtworks team initially consisted of four-five members based in Pune, India, but has since expanded to include members from other locations like Bengaluru. They currently focus on supporting the public data release.
But the firm’s involvement extends beyond ARTIP development, Dhanani said, adding that it is part of SKA-India and actively participates in future software development for the telescope.
“Additionally, we collaborate with scientific institutes to research and build prototypes for large-scale data processing and analysis,” she said.
India-made image data processing tech aids unravel cosmic secrets - Times of India
Photo: MeerKAT Radio Telescope Array in South Africa.
The Automated Radio Telescope Image Processing Pipeline (ARTIP), developed by global technology consultancy firm Thoughtworks, has aided in significant discoveries made by the MeerKAT Telescope in South Africa. ARTIP has processed over 1PB of MeerKAT data, leading to the detection of the hydroxyl radical and the identification of the hydroxyl radical and the identification of huge hydrogen atoms in distant galaxies. The pipeline is highly configurable and can be used on data generated by other telescopes as well.
BENGALURU: An India-built image data processing technology has led to significant discoveries from distant galaxies being observed by the MeerKAT Telescope located in the South African desert.
MeerKAT comprises 64 antennas and serves as a precursor to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Telescope, offering 50 times greater sensitivity and 10,000 times faster sky survey capabilities compared to existing telescopes.
And, the Automated Radio Telescope Image Processing Pipeline (ARTIP) developed at the India offices — Bengaluru and Pune — of global technology consultancy firm Thoughtworks has been helping the MeerKAT Absorption Live Survey (MALS).
Chhaya Dhanani, portfolio head, engineering for research at Thoughtworks told TOI: “ARTIP was built for MALS, on MeerKAT. The principal investigator involved is Neeraj Gupta from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune. This collaboration has been active since 2017, aiming to automate data processing, flagging, calibration, and imaging.”
Discoveries
IUCAA’s Gupta acknowledges the firm’s contribution in leveraging contemporary software engineering tools and practices to process more than 1PB (petabyte) of MeerKAT data, enabling groundbreaking discoveries and benefiting the entire astronomy community.
ARTIP has led to significant discoveries, such as detecting the hydroxyl radical (OH), an important chemical species throughout the atmosphere in a galaxy, and identifying huge hydrogen atoms (Rydberg atoms) in a distant galaxy.
“...The two major discoveries during the course of the survey can be attributed to ARTIP. A publication on the MALS in the international astronomical journal, Proceedings of Science recognises work for MALS data processing with ARTIP,” Dhanani said.
How ARTIP works
ARTIP is a highly configurable and customisable pipeline designed to process data generated by MeerKAT. The deployment is configured for MeerKAT, but the high configurability allows it to be used on data produced from uGMRT, and VLA class of telescopes, Dhanani said.
“It can be deployed on a range of infrastructure ranging from a consumer grade desktop to a high end multi node cluster. It consists of four individual sub-pipelines, including one for calibration, which fit into different stages of the data processing workflow,” she added.
The calibration pipeline (ARTIP-CAL) is used to calibrate the data against known astronomical sources and extract the source of interest or target source.
“Using the cube-imaging pipeline (ARTIP-CUBE), the calibrated target is then used to generate the sky images using the continuum-imaging pipeline (ARTIP-CONT)... All these pipelines work in tandem with a diagnostics pipeline (ARTIP-DIAGNOSTICS) which provides analysis insights into the data processing, data and image quality, and works as a quality assurance pipeline,” Dhanani added.
The collaboration
The Thoughtworks team initially consisted of four-five members based in Pune, India, but has since expanded to include members from other locations like Bengaluru. They currently focus on supporting the public data release.
But the firm’s involvement extends beyond ARTIP development, Dhanani said, adding that it is part of SKA-India and actively participates in future software development for the telescope.
“Additionally, we collaborate with scientific institutes to research and build prototypes for large-scale data processing and analysis,” she said.
India-made image data processing tech aids unravel cosmic secrets - Times of India
New Indian telescope identifies its first supernova
by Tomasz Nowakowski, Phys.org
A small segment (size: 6 arcmin × 6 arcmin) of a single image frame (102 sec integration time) obtained with the ILMT is displayed. The location of SN 2023af is marked with a white crosshair. Credit: arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.05618.
A newly built International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) in India has identified its first supernova—designated SN 2023af. The finding, reported November 8 on the pre-print server arXiv, proves that ILMT may be capable of detecting hundreds of new supernovae in the coming years.
Supernovae (SNe) are powerful and luminous stellar explosions that could help us better understand the evolution of stars and galaxies. Astronomers divide supernovae into two groups based on their atomic spectra: Type I and Type II. Type I SNe lack hydrogen in their spectra, while those of Type II showcase spectral lines of hydrogen.
ILMT is a 4-m diameter zenith-pointing telescope located at Devasthal Observatory in Nainital, India. It is entirely dedicated to conduct photometric/astrometric direct imaging surveys. Astronomers hope that ILMT will help them detect many new transient objects such as supernovae of gamma-ray bursts. The telescope saw the first light on April 29, 2022, and is currently in the advanced stage of commissioning.
Now, a team of astronomers led by Brajesh Kumar of the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in India, reports that ILMT has spotted its first supernova on March 9, 2023—SN 2023af, which was initially detected two months earlier. The team conducted follow-up observations of SN 2023af using ILMT, as well as the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) and the 1.3m Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT).
"During the commissioning phase of the ILMT, supernova (SN) 2023af was identified in the ILMT field of view. The SN was further monitored with the ILMT and DOT facilities," the researchers wrote.
The International Liquid Mirror Telescope relies on a spinning dish containing 50 liters of mercury. PHOTO COURTESY: ANNA AND JEAN SURDEJ.
The team obtained a light curve of SN 2023af spanning up to 110 days after its discovery. Initial results from ILMT show that hydrogen lines are clearly visible and metal lines also appear in the spectra of this supernova.
Based on the light curve and spectral features of SN 2023af, the authors of the paper suppose that the object as a Type IIP supernova. In general, the type II-Plateau supernovae (SNe IIP) remain bright (on a plateau) for an extended period of time after maximum. This plateau in the light curve of a standard SN IIP typically lasts about 100 days.
It is assumed that SNe IIP like SN 2023af originate from precursor stars that retain a substantial amount of their hydrogen layers (greater than three solar masses) before exploding as core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe).
However, the astronomers added that complementary observations of SN 2023af are needed in order to confirm its Type IIP classification. They explained that a definite conclusion about the plateau length of this supernova is not possible at the moment due to the sparse data points.
Summing up the results, the researchers noted that future ILMT observations will provide a unique opportunity to discover and study different types of supernovae each year, leading to the detection of hundreds of new stellar explosions.
More information: Brajesh Kumar et al, Follow-up strategy of ILMT discovered supernovae, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.05618
Journal information: arXiv
New Indian telescope identifies its first supernova
by Tomasz Nowakowski, Phys.org
A small segment (size: 6 arcmin × 6 arcmin) of a single image frame (102 sec integration time) obtained with the ILMT is displayed. The location of SN 2023af is marked with a white crosshair. Credit: arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.05618.
A newly built International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) in India has identified its first supernova—designated SN 2023af. The finding, reported November 8 on the pre-print server arXiv, proves that ILMT may be capable of detecting hundreds of new supernovae in the coming years.
Supernovae (SNe) are powerful and luminous stellar explosions that could help us better understand the evolution of stars and galaxies. Astronomers divide supernovae into two groups based on their atomic spectra: Type I and Type II. Type I SNe lack hydrogen in their spectra, while those of Type II showcase spectral lines of hydrogen.
ILMT is a 4-m diameter zenith-pointing telescope located at Devasthal Observatory in Nainital, India. It is entirely dedicated to conduct photometric/astrometric direct imaging surveys. Astronomers hope that ILMT will help them detect many new transient objects such as supernovae of gamma-ray bursts. The telescope saw the first light on April 29, 2022, and is currently in the advanced stage of commissioning.
Now, a team of astronomers led by Brajesh Kumar of the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in India, reports that ILMT has spotted its first supernova on March 9, 2023—SN 2023af, which was initially detected two months earlier. The team conducted follow-up observations of SN 2023af using ILMT, as well as the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) and the 1.3m Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT).
"During the commissioning phase of the ILMT, supernova (SN) 2023af was identified in the ILMT field of view. The SN was further monitored with the ILMT and DOT facilities," the researchers wrote.
The International Liquid Mirror Telescope relies on a spinning dish containing 50 liters of mercury. PHOTO COURTESY: ANNA AND JEAN SURDEJ.
The team obtained a light curve of SN 2023af spanning up to 110 days after its discovery. Initial results from ILMT show that hydrogen lines are clearly visible and metal lines also appear in the spectra of this supernova.
Based on the light curve and spectral features of SN 2023af, the authors of the paper suppose that the object as a Type IIP supernova. In general, the type II-Plateau supernovae (SNe IIP) remain bright (on a plateau) for an extended period of time after maximum. This plateau in the light curve of a standard SN IIP typically lasts about 100 days.
It is assumed that SNe IIP like SN 2023af originate from precursor stars that retain a substantial amount of their hydrogen layers (greater than three solar masses) before exploding as core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe).
However, the astronomers added that complementary observations of SN 2023af are needed in order to confirm its Type IIP classification. They explained that a definite conclusion about the plateau length of this supernova is not possible at the moment due to the sparse data points.
Summing up the results, the researchers noted that future ILMT observations will provide a unique opportunity to discover and study different types of supernovae each year, leading to the detection of hundreds of new stellar explosions.
More information: Brajesh Kumar et al, Follow-up strategy of ILMT discovered supernovae, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.05618
Journal information: arXiv
New Indian telescope identifies its first supernova
India's Astrosat captures its 600th Gamma Ray Burst
Understanding these bursts is crucial for astronomers as they provide insights into the most extreme environments and the fundamental physics that govern the universe.
By Sibu Tripathi
New Delhi
UPDATED: Nov 27, 2023 16:38 IST
India's first multi-wavelength space telescope, AstroSat, has successfully detected its 600th Gamma-ray Burst (GRB), an event named GRB-231122B.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched AstroSat in September 2015, and since then, it has been a cornerstone in the field of astronomical research.
Gamma-ray bursts are the universe's most powerful explosions, often associated with the creation of black holes. These bursts emit immense amounts of energy in a short span, ranging from milliseconds to several minutes, and are considered among the brightest events in the cosmos.
The scientific community has widely recognized AstroSat's contributions. Photo: IIT-Bombay.
Understanding these bursts is crucial for astronomers as they provide insights into the most extreme environments and the fundamental physics that govern the universe.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Bombay (IIT-B) said that AstroSat's Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) has been instrumental in capturing these cosmic phenomena. The CZTI detector specialises in high-energy, wide-field imaging, covering an energy range from 20 keV to over 200 keV. Its ability to detect Compton scattered events also allows for the study of the polarisation of incident X-rays, adding another layer to the understanding of GRBs.
This landmark detection not only showcases the the spacecraft's capabilities but also highlights the continued excellence of AstroSat's performance, even eight years post-launch, surpassing its expected lifespan of 5 years.
Astrosat in a clean room undergoing pre-launch checks. Photo: URSC-ISRO.
“We are proud of what AstroSat has accomplished. To build upon this success, multiple institutes have come together and proposed to build Daksha, a next-generation GRB space telescope that will be far better than any such satellite worldwide. Daksha will be sensitive enough to detect in just over a year what CZTI did in eight,” Prof. Varun Bhalerao at IIT-Bombay said.
The scientific community has widely recognised AstroSat's contributions, with over 400 peer-reviewed research articles published based on its data.
Gaurav Waratkar, a PhD student at IIT-Bombay leading the study of GRBs with AstroSat, expressed his excitement about the daily potential for new discoveries, emphasising the privilege of being among the first to witness these ancient cosmic events.
ISRO had launched the Astrosat in 2015 as a part of the PSLV-C30 launch campaign. (Photo: ISRO)
“Coming to work every morning, I am excited to see what the universe may send my way this day. It is amazing to look at data and have the opportunity to be the first one to view these explosions that happened billions of years ago,” Gaurav told IndiaToday.in.
Prof. Dipankar Bhattacharya, the principal investigator for CZTI, remarked on the significance of the 600th GRB detection, praising the enduring performance of the instrument.
With AstroSat continuing to function satisfactorily beyond its anticipated service life, astronomers are eagerly anticipating further groundbreaking discoveries and advancements in high-energy astrophysics.
India's Astrosat captures 600th mega explosion that rocked the universe
Understanding these bursts is crucial for astronomers as they provide insights into the most extreme environments and the fundamental physics that govern the universe.
By Sibu Tripathi
New Delhi
UPDATED: Nov 27, 2023 16:38 IST
India's first multi-wavelength space telescope, AstroSat, has successfully detected its 600th Gamma-ray Burst (GRB), an event named GRB-231122B.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched AstroSat in September 2015, and since then, it has been a cornerstone in the field of astronomical research.
Gamma-ray bursts are the universe's most powerful explosions, often associated with the creation of black holes. These bursts emit immense amounts of energy in a short span, ranging from milliseconds to several minutes, and are considered among the brightest events in the cosmos.
The scientific community has widely recognized AstroSat's contributions. Photo: IIT-Bombay.
Understanding these bursts is crucial for astronomers as they provide insights into the most extreme environments and the fundamental physics that govern the universe.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Bombay (IIT-B) said that AstroSat's Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) has been instrumental in capturing these cosmic phenomena. The CZTI detector specialises in high-energy, wide-field imaging, covering an energy range from 20 keV to over 200 keV. Its ability to detect Compton scattered events also allows for the study of the polarisation of incident X-rays, adding another layer to the understanding of GRBs.
This landmark detection not only showcases the the spacecraft's capabilities but also highlights the continued excellence of AstroSat's performance, even eight years post-launch, surpassing its expected lifespan of 5 years.
Astrosat in a clean room undergoing pre-launch checks. Photo: URSC-ISRO.
“We are proud of what AstroSat has accomplished. To build upon this success, multiple institutes have come together and proposed to build Daksha, a next-generation GRB space telescope that will be far better than any such satellite worldwide. Daksha will be sensitive enough to detect in just over a year what CZTI did in eight,” Prof. Varun Bhalerao at IIT-Bombay said.
The scientific community has widely recognised AstroSat's contributions, with over 400 peer-reviewed research articles published based on its data.
Gaurav Waratkar, a PhD student at IIT-Bombay leading the study of GRBs with AstroSat, expressed his excitement about the daily potential for new discoveries, emphasising the privilege of being among the first to witness these ancient cosmic events.
ISRO had launched the Astrosat in 2015 as a part of the PSLV-C30 launch campaign. (Photo: ISRO)
“Coming to work every morning, I am excited to see what the universe may send my way this day. It is amazing to look at data and have the opportunity to be the first one to view these explosions that happened billions of years ago,” Gaurav told IndiaToday.in.
Prof. Dipankar Bhattacharya, the principal investigator for CZTI, remarked on the significance of the 600th GRB detection, praising the enduring performance of the instrument.
With AstroSat continuing to function satisfactorily beyond its anticipated service life, astronomers are eagerly anticipating further groundbreaking discoveries and advancements in high-energy astrophysics.
India's Astrosat captures 600th mega explosion that rocked the universe