The AstroSat Observatory

Abstract

AstroSat is India's first Ultra-violet (UV) and X-ray astronomy observatory in space. The satellite was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on 28 September 2015 from Sriharikota Range north of Chennai on the eastern coast of India. AstroSat carries five scientific instruments and one auxiliary instrument. Four of these consist of co-aligned telescopes and detectors mounted on a common deck of the satellite to observe stars and galaxies simultaneously in the near- and far-UV wavelengths and a broad range of X-ray energies (0.3 to 80 keV). The fifth instrument consists of three X-ray detectors and is mounted on a rotating platform on a side that is oriented 90 degrees with respect to the other instruments to scan the sky for X-ray transients. An auxiliary instrument monitors the charged particle environment in the path of the satellite.