India’s first solar observation mission has reached its destination. Aditya L1 arrived at the space station where it can watch the Sun continuously on Saturday.
Since its launch on September 2, the spacecraft has spent four months travelling towards the Sun. The space agency Isro has launched the mission just days after India became the first country to land on the south pole of the Moon.
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, called the mission “a landmark” as well as an “extraordinary feat”. PM Modi posted on X (formerly Twitter) that: “It’s a testament to our scientists for their unwavering dedication in realizing one of the most complex and complicated space missions.”
India’s first mission to explore the largest object in the solar system is named Surya, the Hindu sun god also known as Aditya. L1 is the Lagrange Point 1 – that’s the exact location between the Sun, Earth and the spacecraft.
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), a Lagrange Point is a place where the gravitational force of two large objects, such as the Sun, cancels each other out and allows a spacecraft “to hover”. L1 is 1.5 million km (932,000 miles) away from Earth. This is only 1% of Earth-Sun’s distance.
According to the Times of India, Saturday around 16:30 India time (10.30 GMT), a final manoeuvre was performed by Aditya to put it in L1’s orbit.
ISRO Chief S Somanath told TrendsMyth previously that the agency would be able to trap the craft in space and occasionally perform additional manoeuvres in order to keep it there.
Aditya-L1 will orbit the Sun the same as Earth once it reaches the “parking spot”. It will be able to observe the Sun continuously, including during eclipses and other occultations.
The orbiter is equipped with seven scientific instruments that will study and observe the solar corona, the photosphere or the surface of the Sun as seen from Earth and the chromosphere.
After lifting off on September 2, the spacecraft made four orbits around the Earth before leaving the Earth’s sphere on September 30. Isro announced in early October that they had made a small correction to the trajectory of its spacecraft to ensure that it was heading towards its final destination.
Some of the instruments aboard have already begun to collect data and take images, according to the agency. ISRO released the first images of the mission just days after launch.
One photo showed the Earth and the Moon in a single frame, and the other was a selfie that featured two scientific instruments.
Last month, the agency published the first full-disk image of the Sun at wavelengths between 200 and 400 nanometres. They said that the pictures provided “insights” into the “intricate details of the Sun’s chromosphere and photosphere”.
Scientists claim that the mission will allow them to understand solar activity, such as solar flares and solar wind, and how they affect Earth and the near-space environment in real-time.
They also impact the space weather, where nearly 7,800 satellites, including more than 50 from India, are stationed. The space weather is also affected by almost 7,800 satellites, including over 50 Indian satellites.
Scientists claim that Aditya will allow them better to understand solar winds and eruptions in the days ahead. India and other countries can use this to move satellites away from danger.
Isro did not give details on the cost of the mission, but the Indian press reported that it was 3.78bn Rupees (US$46m or PS36m). India has joined a select group that is already studying the Sun, thanks to Saturday’s successful mission.
Since the 1960s, the US space agency Nasa is watching the Sun. Japan launched its solar mission in 1981. The European Space Agency has been monitoring the Sun ever since the 1990s.
Nasa and ESA jointly launched a Solar Orbiter in February 2020. The orbiter studies the Sun at close range and collects data, which, according to scientists, will help them understand its dynamic behaviour.
In 2021, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft became the first ever to fly through the outer atmosphere of the Sun, the corona.
Aditya L1 mission: Top 10 points
- After the successful entry into Aditya-L1‘s designated orbit, it is expected that the satellite will remain in orbit for the next five years. The satellite will continue to orbit Lagrange Point-1 in an irregularly shaped orbit for the duration of its mission, roughly parallel to the line connecting the Earth and the Sun.
- The Aditya L1 Satellite was launched from Sriharikota on September 2, 2023. The satellite is described as “a satellite dedicated to the comprehensive analysis of the Sun.” This is India’s first solar observatory mission, aimed at a detailed study of the Sun.
- The satellite was launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C57. The satellite was successfully launched into an orbit of 235x19500km around the Earth after a flight of 63 minutes and 20 seconds.
- The satellite will carry seven payloads that are designed to study the Sun at different locations. The payloads were built by laboratories across the country. They use electromagnetic particle and magnetic field detectors to observe the photosphere and chromosphere of the Sun, as well as the outermost layers (the corona).
- The VELC instrument of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics is manufactured in Bangalore. The SUIT and ASPEX payloads are made at U R Rao Satellite Centre and Bangalore, respectively.
- After its launch, Aditya L1 performed a series of manoeuvres in order to reach its destination after leaving the Earth’s influence sphere. An orbital manoeuvre is a way to alter the orbit of a satellite using propulsion systems.
- Aditya L1 has as its major objectives the study and analysis of solar upper atmosphere dynamics (chromosphere, corona), the study and analysis of coronal and chromospheric heating, the physics of partially ionized Plasma, the initiation of coronal mass eruptions and flares.
- Its goals also include the observation of the in situ particle and plasma environments and the provision of data for the analysis and study of particle dynamics coming from the Sun. Physics of the corona solaris and its heating mechanism.
- The satellite will also collect data to identify the sequences of events that take place at different layers (chromospheres, bases, and extended coronas), which ultimately lead to solar eruptions.
- It will also measure the magnetic field in the corona of the Sun and observe its topology, as well as the factors that influence space weather, such as the composition and dynamics.
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