XPoSat: ISRO’s X-ray eye in the sky

XPoSat: ISRO’s X-ray eye in the sky

Subject : S&T

Section: Space tech

Context:

• The Indian Space Research Organisation has launched XPoSat, short for ‘X-ray Polarimeter Satellite’.
• During the mission, the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-3 (POEM-3) experiment was executed to meet the objective of 10 other payloads.

About XPoSat:

• The satellite will study X-rays emitted by phenomena in space and their polarization from the earth-orbit.
• XPoSat is the first dedicated scientific satellite from the ISRO to carry out research in space-based polarisation measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources.
• It carries two payloads, namely POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing).
  • POLIX (developed by Raman Research Institute (RRI) Bengaluru) will study X-rays with energy 8-30 keV emitted by around 40 astronomical sources in five years.
  • XSPECT (Space Astronomy Group of URSC, Bengaluru) will study X-rays with energy 0.8-15 keV and track changes in continuous X-ray emissions.

About X-rays:

• X-rays are electromagnetic radiation whose wavelength is 0.01-10 nanometres (where 1 nanometre is one-billionth of a metre), corresponding to energies of 100-100,000 electron-volt (eV).
• Electromagnetic radiation is characterised by an electric field and a magnetic field vibrating perpendicular to each other.
• The polarisation of electromagnetic radiation refers to the orientation of these two fields as the radiation moves through space.
• X-rays can be polarised when they get scattered. Polarised X-rays are also produced when the path of a fast-moving charged particle is bent by a magnetic field.

Significance of the mission:

Studying these X-rays can reveal which way the magnetic field is pointing, and tracking how these X-rays evolve in time can reveal many things about the body producing such fields, like a pulsar