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General Knowledge Cluster150 Verified Questions
Space Observatories GK Questions & Answers
Space-based astronomical observatories circumvent atmospheric distortion, light pollution, and electromagnetic absorption, enabling high-resolution cosmic observations across gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, and infrared spectra. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), deployed into Low Earth Orbit by NASA and ESA in 1990 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31), operates across ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths with a 2.4-metre primary mirror. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched on December 25, 2021 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, features a 6.5-metre gold-coated beryllium primary mirror positioned at the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, optimized for deep infrared astrophysics and early galaxy formation. India's Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched Astrosat on September 28, 2015 aboard PSLV-C30, marking the country's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory observing simultaneous ultraviolet, optical, and X-ray bands. In high-energy astrophysics, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory honors Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, who established the Chandrasekhar limit of 1.44 solar masses, the theoretical upper mass boundary for stable white dwarf stars before gravitational collapse.
High-yield conceptual summaries for competitive exams and rapid revision.
The Hubble Space Telescope operates in Low Earth Orbit (approx. 540 km) collecting optical, ultraviolet, and near-infrared astronomical data since 1990.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) operates at the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2) utilizing infrared instrumentation and a 6.5-metre beryllium mirror.
Astrosat, launched by ISRO in September 2015 via PSLV-C30, is India's first multi-wavelength space observatory operating across UV, optical, and X-ray bands.
The Chandrasekhar Limit (1.44 solar masses) defines the maximum stable mass of an electron-degenerate white dwarf star before gravitational collapse.
The Kepler Space Telescope utilized the transit photometry method to detect thousands of exoplanets by measuring periodic dips in host stellar brightness.
Showing 25 Curated Questions150 Total in Bank
1ID: GK-SPCE-00510
mediumSpace Telescopes & Observatories
What global radio telescope network captured the historic first-ever direct image of a black hole shadow (M87*) in April 2019 using Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI)?
Verified Explanation
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration linked millimeter radio dishes across Earth using VLBI at 1.3 mm to achieve Earth-sized aperture resolution, capturing the shadow and emission ring of supermassive black hole M87* in April 2019.
2ID: GK-SPCE-00528
hardSpace Telescopes & Observatories
Which ultra-high-altitude optical-infrared observatory in Ladakh, operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics at 4,500 meters altitude, hosts the Himalayan Chandra Telescope?
Verified Explanation
The Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) at Hanle in Ladakh, situated at an elevation of 4,500 metres (14,764 ft), is one of the world's highest optical/infrared telescope sites, housing the remotely operated 2.01-meter Himalayan Chandra Telescope.
3ID: GK-GSPC-00062
mediumSpace Stations, Telescopes & Treaties
Which wide-angle space telescope launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in July 2023 is mapping billions of galaxies across 10 billion light-years to investigate dark energy and dark matter?
Verified Explanation
ESA's Euclid space telescope operates at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point. By measuring the shapes and redshifts of galaxies across more than a third of the celestial sphere, it creates a 3D cosmic map to study cosmic expansion.
4ID: GK-GSPC-00111
easySpace Stations, Telescopes & Treaties
Which landmark NASA space telescope, operating from 2009 to 2018, used high-precision transit photometry to discover over 2,600 confirmed exoplanets outside our solar system?
Verified Explanation
NASA's Kepler Space Telescope (2009–2018) continuously monitored the brightness of over 150,000 stars in the Cygnus-Lyra region. By detecting minuscule periodic dips in starlight caused by planets transiting in front of their host stars, Kepler discovered 2,662 confirmed exoplanets, revolutionizing exoplanetary science.
5ID: GK-GSPC-00121
mediumSpace Stations, Telescopes & Treaties
What is the primary operational advantage of China's planned 'Xuntian' (Chinese Survey Space Telescope / CSST) co-orbiting along the same orbital plane as the Tiangong space station?
Verified Explanation
The Xuntian (CSST) space telescope is designed with a 2-meter aperture and a field of view roughly 300 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope. By flying in the same low Earth orbit alongside the Tiangong space station, CSST can autonomously conduct all-sky surveys while retaining the capability to periodically rendezvous and dock with Tiangong for refueling, maintenance, and payload servicing by astronauts.
6ID: GK-GSPC-00180
mediumSpace Stations, Telescopes & Treaties
Named after NASA's first Chief of Astronomy ('Mother of Hubble'), which next-generation space telescope features a 2.4-metre mirror with a panoramic field of view 100 times larger than Hubble's?
Verified Explanation
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (formerly WFIRST) is NASA's next flagship astrophysics observatory. Operating at Sun-Earth L2, it has the same 2.4-metre aperture as Hubble but captures an image area 100 times larger per exposure, designed to survey billions of galaxies to study dark energy, exoplanets, and cosmic evolution.
7ID: GK-GSPC-00298
easySpace Stations, Telescopes & Treaties
What international collaborative network of millimeter-wavelength radio observatories synthesized a planet-sized virtual telescope to capture the first direct images of supermassive black holes (M87 and Sagittarius A)?
Verified Explanation
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a global consortium that uses Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) to synchronize atomic clock data from radio telescopes across Hawaii, Chile, Europe, and the South Pole. In 2019 and 2022, EHT produced the historic first shadow images of the supermassive black holes in galaxy M87 and the center of the Milky Way (Sgr A*).
8ID: GK-GSPC-00393
easyMars Exploration, Outer Solar System & Deep Space Probes
At which gravitationally balanced orbital location, approximately 1.5 million kilometres behind Earth, is the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) stationed?
Verified Explanation
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) operates in a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), 1.5 million kilometres from Earth on the night side. This position allows its five-layer tennis-court-sized sunshield to continuously block thermal radiation from the Sun, Earth, and Moon.
9ID: GK-GSPC-00483
mediumSpace Stations, International Treaties & Space Law
What is the primary scientific capability and observation focus of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (scheduled for launch in May 2027 to the Sun-Earth L2 point)?
Verified Explanation
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (formerly WFIRST) is NASA's next flagship astrophysics observatory. Equipped with a 2.4-metre primary mirror and a 300-megapixel Wide Field Instrument with a field of view 100 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope, Roman will survey billions of galaxies to probe Dark Energy, general relativity, and discover thousands of exoplanets.
10ID: GK-RECD-00637
hardMan Made Structures
Located in the Dawodang natural karst depression in Guizhou province, China, what is the world's largest single-dish filled-aperture radio telescope with an active dish diameter of 500 metres (1,600 ft)?
Verified Explanation
FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope) has an effective illuminated aperture of 300 metres and is twice as sensitive as the former Arecibo telescope.
11ID: GK-SPCE-00072
easySatellites Constellations
Which space-based infrared telescope, launched by NASA in August 2003 as the fourth of its Great Observatories, studied the thermal universe in a trailing Earth-heliocentric orbit until 2020?
Verified Explanation
The Spitzer Space Telescope (originally Space Infrared Telescope Facility, SIRTF) was launched in August 2003 and operated for over 16 years, observing cool stars, exoplanets, and dusty interstellar regions.
12ID: GK-SPCE-00082
easyTelescopes Observatories
The "Event Horizon Telescope" (EHT) collaboration made historic astronomical headlines in April 2019 by capturing the first direct visual image of what?
Verified Explanation
The EHT linked radio telescopes across Hawaii, Chile, Spain, and the South Pole via Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) to create an Earth-sized telescope.
13ID: GK-SPCE-00123
mediumTelescopes Observatories
The "Euclid Space Telescope", launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in July 2023 to the Sun-Earth L2 point, is designed to investigate what cosmological mysteries?
Verified Explanation
Euclid uses a 1.2-meter Korsch telescope with optical (VIS) and near-infrared (NISP) instruments to study cosmic shear weak gravitational lensing.
14ID: GK-SPCE-00155
easyDeep Cosmos, Stars & Black Holes
Which giant elliptical galaxy in the Virgo Cluster contains the supermassive black hole whose shadow was the first ever directly imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope in 2019?
Verified Explanation
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) captured the historic first direct visual image of M87*, the 6.5-billion-solar-mass supermassive black hole at the core of galaxy Messier 87.
15ID: GK-SPCE-00174
mediumSpace Telescopes & Observatories
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) captured the first direct image of a black hole's shadow (in M87 and Sgr A*) by synchronizing millimeter radio dishes worldwide using:
Verified Explanation
Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) synchronizes radio telescopes across the globe using atomic clocks, creating a virtual Earth-sized telescope with microarcsecond angular resolution.
16ID: GK-SPCE-00215
easySpace Telescopes & Observatories
Which global virtual telescope array produced the first direct silhouette image of the supermassive black hole in galaxy Messier 87 (M87*) in April 2019?
Verified Explanation
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration linked radio dishes worldwide via very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) to capture the first image of M87*.
17ID: GK-SPCE-00220
easySpace Telescopes & Observatories
Which renowned space telescope, deployed into low Earth orbit in April 1990 by Space Shuttle Discovery, transformed optical and UV astronomy?
Verified Explanation
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 into low Earth orbit and has provided over three decades of groundbreaking astronomical data across ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths.
18ID: GK-SPCE-00253
easySpace Telescopes & Observatories
Which flagship space telescope launched in December 2021 as the scientific successor to the Hubble Space Telescope?
Verified Explanation
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), built jointly by NASA, ESA, and CSA, launched on December 25, 2021, to observe the infrared universe.
19ID: GK-SPCE-00275
mediumSpace Telescopes & Observatories
Which global telescope network produced the first-ever direct visual image of a black hole's shadow in galaxy Messier 87 in April 2019?
Verified Explanation
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is an international collaboration combining radio telescopes across the globe via VLBI, capturing the first direct shadow of M87* in 2019.
20ID: GK-SPCE-00294
hardSpace Telescopes & Observatories
Which mega-science astronomical project currently under construction in Australia and South Africa will become the world’s largest radio telescope observatory?
Verified Explanation
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental radio telescope project spanning Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency), with a combined collecting area of one square kilometer.
21ID: GK-SPCE-00304
easySpace Telescopes & Observatories
Which flagship space telescope, launched on Christmas Day 2021, observes deep cosmic objects primarily in the infrared spectrum from the Sun-Earth L2 point?
Verified Explanation
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) features a 6.5-meter gold-plated segmented primary mirror and five-layer sunshield, operating at Sun-Earth L2 in near- and mid-infrared wavelengths.
22ID: GK-SPCE-00310
easySpace Telescopes & Observatories
Which renowned space telescope deployed in Low Earth Orbit in 1990 provided iconic visible-light deep-field images of distant galaxies for over three decades?
Verified Explanation
The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed by Space Shuttle Discovery in April 1990; its 2.4-meter primary mirror operating above atmospheric distortion transformed modern observational cosmology.
23ID: GK-SPCE-00354
easySpace Telescopes & Observatories
Which flagship NASA/ESA/CSA infrared space telescope, launched on December 25, 2021, orbits the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point with a 6.5-meter gold-coated primary mirror?
Verified Explanation
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket on Christmas Day 2021 and operates at L2, observing infrared cosmos with unprecedented sensitivity.
24ID: GK-SPCE-00360
easySpace Telescopes & Observatories
Which famous optical space telescope was deployed into low Earth orbit by Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31) in April 1990?
Verified Explanation
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 into low Earth orbit (~540 km), providing iconic optical and UV astronomical observations for over three decades.
25ID: GK-SPCE-00374
mediumSpace Telescopes & Observatories
What is the name of the international radio telescope array that captured the first-ever direct shadow images of supermassive black holes in M87 (2019) and Sgr A (2022)?
Verified Explanation
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) links millimeter-wave radio dishes globally via Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) to synthesize an Earth-sized virtual telescope with micro-arcsecond resolution.
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