New Delhi:

In a first, scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), have discovered interaction between a radio jet from a dwarf galaxy and interstellar gas causing shock waves.

The team found that the radio jet emitted from the Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) — a black hole — from the centre of the galaxy NGC 4395. AGN is known to emit bright jets and winds and shape their galaxies.

The bright jet interacted with the surrounding interstellar medium at a small spatial scale of about or about 30 light years. The dwarf galaxy is situated at a distance of about 14 million light years.

In the study, published in a paper in the Astrophysical Journal, the team combined data from radio to X-ray wavebands from the galaxy NGC 4395 to find the interaction around the black hole.

“We decided to investigate how the radio jet from a small black hole interacts with the gas in a dwarf galaxy called NGC 4395,” said lead author Payel Nandi, and doctoral student at IIA.

The team used data from the UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) on board AstroSat — India’s first dedicated space observatory — launched by ISRO in 2015, as well as Chandra for X-ray data Gemini-North and Hubble Space Telescope for optical data.

The findings showed a unique radio structure resembling a bipolar jet, whose core was centred at the black hole location.

“This jet is relatively weak, but our multi-wavelength analysis of this 30-light-year region showed that the jet is interacting with the surrounding gas, and possibly causing shock waves to propagate through it,” said Prof. C. S. Stalin at IIA, a co-author of the study.

The light emitted by the ionised oxygen in the optical band, molecular hydrogen in the infrared region, and the X-ray emission, closely match the path of the radio jet.

Nandi noted that the study found “strong evidence for an outflow of material carried by jet into the surrounding medium”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Indian-origin Sunita Williams has said she is looking forward to meeting the Indian astronauts who will fly to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on a joint project with the US’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to send an Indian astronaut to space. Of the four astronauts that India had chosen, two will be sent to NASA for training, and one of them will be selected for the space mission, ISRO chief Dr S Somanath told NDTV last month.

The two space agencies have also collaborated for NISAR (NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), a joint Earth-observation mission.

“India and the US have had much success working together to explore the stars. And our future together could not be brighter,” Sunita Williams said in her video message to the US embassy in Delhi on America’s Independence Day from the ISS, which orbits some 400 kilometers above Earth.

Ladies and gentlemen, brace yourselves for a show-stopping moment! Straight from the International Space Station, we had a special message from the incredible astronauts @Astro_Suni, Tracy Dyson, and @Astro_Jeanette for our space-themed national day celebration in New Delhi last… pic.twitter.com/PsG56LlzVB

— U.S. Embassy India (@USAndIndia) July 11, 2024

She is currently stuck on the ISS due to a problem-plagued Boeing Starliner for almost a month.

“NASA and the ISRO continue to work toward the launch of NISAR, which will launch from India this year to measure changes in our planet’s surface,” she said.

“After returning to Earth, we look forward to meeting Indian astronauts training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Our partnership with India and the countries around the world will help expand humanity’s reach for the sky,” Williams added.

She was joined by her fellow astronauts Tracy C Dyson and Jeanette J Epps.

NASA To Train 2 Indians, Send One Of Them To Space

The ISRO’s work to send an astronaut to space in a joint project with NASA is going on as scheduled, the Indian space agency’s chief Dr S Somanath told NDTV in an exclusive interview on June 29.

Of the four astronauts that India had chosen, two will be sent to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for training, and one of them will be selected for the space mission, he said.

“Similarly, the other two will also get training of a different kind… So all four of them will go through certain levels of training through this programme. Many engineers will also be trained by NASA to handle other aspects of space flight,” Dr Somanath said.

He said the ISRO’s eventual goal is human space flight, and the learnings from the whole programme with NASA will feed into the Indian space agency’s experience in finally sending humans to space.

“When we get the capability, if a head of state wants to fly to space, for example, it must be on our vehicle, from our land. I will wait for our Gaganyaan to be ready, to be proven, to be qualified to do that,” the ISRO chief told NDTV when asked whether key leaders would be eligible to fly to space in the far future.

Mumbai:

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has said America will send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station by the end of this year.

The NISAR project, a joint Earth-observing mission between US space agency NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is also likely to be launched by the end of the year, Garcetti said on Wednesday.

“We are going to put an Indian astronaut into the International Space Station this year,” he said. “We promised when PM (Narendra) Modi came (to the US in 2023) that by the end of this year, we will do this and our mission is still on track to be able to go in space this year,” he said.

The US ambassador was speaking on the sidelines of an event to mark the 248th Independence Day of the United States.

He said both India and the US should look at coordinating research and critical emerging technology so that they can increasingly leverage each other’s strengths.

The diplomat said India landed ‘Chandrayaan 3’ on the Moon last year at a fraction of the cost that the US incurred on a similar lunar mission.

“The US has some capacities that India still doesn’t have today. When the two are combined, both countries have those capacities,” he said.

On the civilian nuclear energy arena, Garcetti said after elections, the Indian government can address outstanding liability issues and move forward “arm in arm and hand in hand”.

Two sites in India – Mithi Virdhi in Gujarat and Kovadda in Andhra Pradesh – have been earmarked for US companies to build nuclear reactors.

However, the companies have raised concerns over the Civil Liability Nuclear Damage Act 2010, which provides for prompt compensation to the victims for damage caused by a nuclear incident through a no-fault liability regime. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)