Indian astronomers detect extreme-UV light from galaxy located 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth

Representational Image (www.isro.gov.in)

New Delhi: The Indian Astronomers have detected an extreme-UV light from a galaxy located 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth, said the Department of Space on Tuesday (September 1, 2020)

Sharing the information, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said that it is a matter of pride that India’s first Multi-Wavelength Space Observatory "AstroSat" has detected extreme-UV light from a galaxy located 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth. 

Landmark achievement by Indian Astronomers. Space observatory AstroSat discovers one of farthest galaxy of Stars in the Universe. Hailed by leading international journal “Nature Astronomy”. Very important clue for further study of Light in Universe. pic.twitter.com/WLj6SUj6gT

— Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) September 1, 2020

The galaxy called AUDFs01 was discovered by a team of Astronomers led by Dr Kanak Saha from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics(IUCAA) Pune.

"The importance and uniqueness of this original discovery can be made out from the fact that it has been reported in the leading international journal “Nature Astronomy” published from Britain," said the Department of Space.

India's AstroSat/UVIT was reportedly able to achieve this unique feat because the background noise in the UVIT detector is much less than one on the Hubble Space Telescope of US based NASA.

Dr Jitendra Singh also congratulated India’s Space Scientists for once again proving to the world that India’s capability in Space technology has risen to a distinguished level from where Indian scientists are now offering cues and giving leads to the Space scientists in other parts of the world. 

According to Professor ShyamTandon, the excellent spatial resolution and high sensitivity is a tribute to the hard work of the UVIT core team of scientists for over a decade.

According to Director of Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) Dr Somak Ray Chaudhury, this discovery is a very important clue to how the dark ages of the Universe ended and there was light in the Universe. 

"We need to know when this started, but it has been very hard to find the earliest sources of light," he said.

India’s first Space Observatory AstroSat, which has made this discovery, was launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on September 28, 2015. 

It was developed by a team led by ShyamTandon, Ex Emeritus Professor, IUCAA with the full support of ISRO.