India launches first satellite to study black holes

India’s space agency ISRO has launched its first satellite to study black holes. It has also announced ambitious missions for 2024, including preparing a mission to send its own crew into space.

The country’s X-ray polarimeter satellite was launched on Monday aboard ISRO’s PSLV rocket, making India the second country to use an orbital observatory to study black holes and other celestial objects.

ISRO’s new satellite, carrying two scientific payloads in low Earth orbit, will study various astronomical sources of X-rays.

NASA also launched a similar mission in December 2021 to shed more light on the remnants of supernova explosions and particles ejected from black holes.

India’s new mission, which is expected to be completed in about five years, could help understand the X-ray emission mechanisms of various astronomical sources such as black holes, neutron stars and star-forming nebulae.

These payloads will specifically probe the polarization of intense X-ray sources in space, which can help better understand the radiative mechanisms and geometry of such celestial sources.

Black holes and neutron stars are extremely dense objects in space formed from the remnants of dying stars.

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Black holes contain many times more mass than the Sun in a very small area with gravity that is so deep that even light entering them cannot pass through.

ISRO’s new mission aims to study about 50 potential cosmic sources using its satellites over a long period of time.

This mission comes after several successful missions by ISRO in 2023, including to the Moon’s South Pole. Chandrian– Includes three missions and a satellite launched to study the Sun.

ISRO chief S Somnath said after the launch on Monday that the space agency will have its first crew in 2024. Space Mission is preparing for a film called Gagan Yan.

Somnath told news agency PTI: ‘We are preparing at least 12-14 missions this year. Gagan Yan will be ready in the year 2024, although this is the target for 2025.’

“The Gagan Yan mission started with the TV-D One or Abort mission (in October),” he said. We have four such missions in this series. Our target is to launch at least two more in 2024. Until then, we will perform the abort mission three times.’

ISRO also plans to conduct a helicopter-based drop test this year to test the parachute system for the Gagan Yan mission, the ISRO chief said.

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