NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a space telescope weighing about 1.5 tonnes, is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere soon, according to a report by Kerala Kaumudi. The telescope is slowly coming down towards Earth, and this has raised questions about where any leftover debris could fall. Parts of India fall within the possible impact zone.
Key points
- The 1.5-tonne Swift telescope is expected to enter the atmosphere at around 2 pm IST on November 4, with an uncertainty of about 11 hours.
- Most of the telescope should burn up, but some parts could survive and reach the surface.
- In India, areas south of a line from Daman to Cuttack are in the possible zone, including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.
- Some experts believe the telescope is more likely to fall into the ocean.
Where the debris could fall
Brad Cenko, the principal investigator of the mission, said that parts of Africa, Australia, India, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America are among the regions that could fall within the possible impact zone.
In India, the zone covers areas south of an imaginary line running from Daman on the western coast to Cuttack in Odisha on the eastern coast. Major cities such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai lie inside this area. Delhi, Kolkata and most of northern India are outside it. Even so, some experts believe the telescope is more likely to land in the ocean than on land.
Timing of the re-entry
The US space agency says the telescope is expected to enter the atmosphere at around 2 pm IST on November 4. However, the timing is not exact, and there is an uncertainty window of around 11 hours. Most of the structure is expected to burn up as it passes through the atmosphere, but some components could survive and reach the Earth's surface.
A long-serving mission
NASA launched the telescope on November 20, 2004. It was first known as the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer and was planned for a mission of only two years. It instead kept working in space for nearly 22 years and made important contributions to astronomy. During this time it observed more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and over 1,400 supernovae.
The telescope is now heading towards Earth after NASA's final efforts to keep it in orbit did not succeed.
Is India tracking it?
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has a Multi-Object Tracking Radar facility at Sriharikota, which is used to monitor objects re-entering the atmosphere. However, there is no official confirmation on whether ISRO is currently tracking the NASA telescope.
Readers may wish to follow updates from NASA and Indian authorities as the expected re-entry time comes closer.
