Astrosat pic of Crab Nebula, 6500 light years away.. ..

Astrosat pic of Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant ..

This is the pic of crab nebula of a supernova remnant (exploded star) taken from Taurus constellation, located 6500 light years away as recorded by Astrosat, India's space telescope. (first noticed by Chinese astronomers in 1058 AD). The first western observation of Crab Nebula happens only around 1700 AD, 700 years after the Chinese discovered it. Western astronomy and astrophysics was way behind the eastern systems then..

The first pic is from Indian Astrosat, as we see now is of the crab nebula 6500 years back.

The other detailed pic (second) of crab nebula was taken by US' Hubble in 2000 through a much sharper telescope. (Crab Nebula's 6500 year old pic as light takes 6500 years from Crab Nebula to reach us)

India joins US and Russia to have a space telescope independently (though both Europe and Japan have space telescopes, they are in collaboration with US, so not really an independent effort).

ISRO, we are waiting for you to come out with some amazing discoveries which will help India progress leaps and bounds in astronomy, ahead of other countries' space programmes.

We are sure of that as ISRO is bubbling with confidence as the Astrosat telescope cost just $45 million compared to Hubble's present day cost of $4500 million !! ($2,5 billion at the time of launch in 1990 ..)

The biggest threat to NASA maybe ISRO doing things differently at a fraction of their cost, one hundredth or less. NASA also has no idea of what India is planning ahead, of sending manned missions to moon and Mars (not the initial fake ones like Apollo mission undertaken by US), mercury and so on ..

India had to finally discover the presence of water on lunar surface, 39 years after US' Apollo mission went there and failed to find water. Likewise will the Astrosat come out with some great discoveries which have eluded the heavy  expensive, scientific and research minded NASA, and belittle them beyond redemption ?

Only time can tell ! (photo courtesy ISRO and NASA)

George ..