Milestone for ISRO's AstroSat as it detects 600th gamma-ray burst

India's AstroSat space telescope has crossed a major milestone by detecting 600th Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB). The Gamma Ray Bursts represent either the death of a massive or merger of neutron stars.

"The detection of the 600th GRB is a great demonstration of the continued undiminished performance of Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) eight years after launch, and well after its design lifetime," Dipankar Bhattacharya, the principal investigator for CZTI, said. Bhattacharya was quoted by Press Trust of India (PTI).

GRBs pack a massive punch as they contain huge amount of energy. All this energy is emitted in a matter of seconds, and it can be greater than what the sun would emit over its entire lifetime. GRBs are hence also called as mini big-bangs. They may last from a fraction of a second to several minutes. They are also accompanied by birth of a black hole.

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AstroSat was launched in the year 2015 by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was designed to last for five years. However, it has exceeded its lifespan and is still functioning fine making important observations.

Mapping space in multiple wavelengths

AstroSat is the first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory launched by India. It has a suite of payloads that enables it to observe celestial objects simultaneously across multiple wavelengths, like from ultraviolet to X-Rays.

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"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," Varun Bhalerao, associate professor at IIT-Bombay, said as reported by PTI.

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AstroSat's CZTI detector observed the 600th GRB on November 22. The observation was notified to astronomers and researchers across the world so that the observation data can be used in their studies.

"It is amazing to look at the data and have the opportunity to be the first one to view these explosions that happened billions of years ago," said Gaurav Waratkar, a PhD student at IIT Bombay as quoted by PTI. Waratkar is leading the study of GRBs with AstroSat.

(With inputs from agencies)