Dr. P.

Siva Prasad Rao

XPoSat: India’s X-Ray

Polarimetry Mission

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 Dr. P. Siva Prasad Rao
XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite) is
India’s first dedicated polarimetry
mission to study various dynamics of
bright astronomical X-ray sources in
extreme conditions.

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 Dr. P. Siva Prasad Rao
The XPoSat spacecraft is designated for
observation from Low Earth Orbit (non-
sun synchronous orbit of ~650 km
altitude, low inclination of approximately
six degree), carrying two scientific
payloads. With these two payloads, the
XPoSat mission is capable of

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simultaneous studies of temporal,

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spectral, and polarization features of the

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bright X-Ray sources.

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 Dr. P. Siva Prasad Rao

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 Dr. P. Siva Prasad Rao

Scientific Goals of the Mission

• To study the distribution of magnetic field, geometric anisotropies, alignment

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w.r.t line of sight, nature of accelerator in galactic cosmic X-Ray sources by

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measuring degree of polarization and its angle.

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• Structure and geometry of magnetic field of neutron stars, mechanism of X-Ray

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beaming and its relation with luminosity and mass of accretion rate of powered

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pulsars.

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• Detailed understanding of galactic black hole binary sources.
• To study and confirm about production of X-Rays is either from polar cap of
neutron star or outer cap of pulsar magnetosphere.
• To distinguish the synchrotron mechanism as dominant over thermal emission
in Supernova remnants.
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