UltraViolet Imaging Telescope: A Decade of India’s UV Space Achievements

The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) marked ten years of the UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT), the main instrument onboard AstroSat. A special workshop held in Bengaluru highlighted UVIT’s scientific work, technical progress and its growing importance in shaping India’s upcoming UV space missions.

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AstroSat and UltraViolet Imaging Telescope Roles in UV Astronomy

AstroSat, launched in 2015, carries instruments that study light from ultraviolet to hard X-ray ranges. UVIT, activated in November 2015, is India’s first UV space telescope. It is one of the few telescopes in the world capable of far-ultraviolet study, along with the Hubble Space Telescope. Since Earth’s atmosphere absorbs ultraviolet light, only space telescopes can observe it, and UVIT has become a major support for UV astronomy because of its long and steady mission life.

How the UltraViolet Imaging Telescope Was Built and Operated

UVIT was designed at IIA’s Hosakote campus. It includes two telescopes placed side by side—one studies near-UV and visible light, while the other focuses on far-UV. Its development involved several Indian institutes, including IIA, IUCAA, TIFR and ISRO centres, with added support from the Canadian Space Agency.
A special clean-room, the MGK Menon Laboratory, was built to assemble delicate parts, and a Payload Operation Centre was set up to manage data and keep track of UVIT’s performance.

Discoveries and Scientific Impact

UVIT gives sharp images with a resolution better than 1.5 arcseconds and covers a wide area of the sky. These strengths make it useful for understanding stars, galaxies and energetic cosmic events.
So far, UVIT has observed 1,451 space objects and helped produce nearly 300 scientific papers and 19 PhD studies.

Some important results include:

• Finding hot companion stars around Be stars.
• Identifying blue straggler stars in star clusters.
• Discovering extended UV disks in dwarf galaxies.
• Revealing structures in planetary nebulae.
• Observing novae in the Andromeda Galaxy.
• Detecting UV emission from galaxies at redshift 1.42.

Key Points

• UVIT activated on 30 November 2015.
• It gives image resolution better than 1.5 arcseconds.
• It has observed 1,451 celestial objects.
• Developed by IIA, with support from IUCAA, TIFR, ISRO and the Canadian Space Agency.

Future Plans and INSIST

The workshop also discussed INSIST, India’s next proposed UV space mission. It aims to provide advanced UV imaging and spectroscopy, building on the knowledge gained from UVIT’s two decades of experience.
Updated UVIT images are still made available for global researchers through ISRO’s PRADAN platform.