Question: Recently astronomers have discovered more UV-bright stars using the UVIT placed at the Astrosat satellite of which of the following country?
a) India
b) China
c) US
d) UK
Answer: (a)
Related Facts:-
- Astronomers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) have successfully distinguished the UV-bright star cluster in NGC 2808 a globular cluster in the Milky Way galaxy.
- They have detected these stars among relatively cooler red giant stars and other main sequence stars.
- More than thirty-four UV-bright stars were discovered using the Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT).
- Astronomers from IIA captured these stars using Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) onboard AstroSat, India’s first multi-wavelength space satellite.
- The team of astronomers also derived properties of the stars such as luminosities, temperature and radii, from the images.
- The derived properties of the stars were placed in Hertzsprung-Russel diagram.
- It is the diagram that shows relationship between stars’ absolute magnitudes and luminosities versus their effective temperatures (or stellar classification).
- The diagram was first created in 1910 by Ejnar Hertzsprung and Henry Norris Russell.
- Apart from UVIT, the astronomers also used Gaia telescope and space telescope to identify the stars.
- Gaia is a space observatory of the European Space Agency, launched in 2013.
UV Bright Star
- A UV-Bright Star is brighter than the horizontal branch and bluer than the red giant branch.
- According to the astronomers, the inner core of the stars spotted is almost exposed which is the, that they are extremely hot.
- They were evolved from a solar stage called Horizontal Branch Stars; such stars do not have an outer envelope.
- These stars are in their late stages of evolution just like the sun.
UVIT:
- UVIT is Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope; it is placed in Astrosat satellite.
- It should be known that the Astrosat is the first multi wavelength space satellite of India.
- The Ultra-Violet Imaging Telescope, or the UVIT, is a remarkable 3-in-1 imaging telescope.
- UVIT has the Weight of 230 kg, and it can simultaneously observe in the visible, the near-ultraviolet (NUV) and the far-ultraviolet (FUV).
- UVIT comprises of two separate telescopes.
By – Rajesh Tripathi