Moon conquered, ISRO now eyes the Sun: India's first space mission, Aditya L1, launched!
Reassured by the successful landing of Chandrayaan 3, the Indian Space Research Organization is all set to keep a close eye on the Sun with the launch of Aditya L1 - India's first-ever Solar Mission. This first-ever solar space observatory of India got launched today at 11:50 am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota launch pad by PSLV-C57.
Aditya L1 consists of seven different payloads to study the Sun's outer layer, the Corona, and weather phenomenon in detail. Four out of these payloads shall observe insolation, and the remaining three will measure in-situ parameters of plasma and magnetic fields, thus covering the Photosphere, Chromosphere, and outer layers of the Corona. Out of these payloads, VELC (Visible Emission Line Coronagraph) is the largest.
Aditya L1 is expected to reach its destination, Lagrangian point 1, or L1, within four months. Lagrangian points are those points between the Sun and Earth where their gravities are balanced, thus nullifying mutual effects. The strategic location is, therefore, not affected by eclipses or occultation. The observatory shall image fainter Corona by cutting out light from the Sun, thus making observations clearer. The L1 point is located 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth in the Sun's direction.
The Solar mission objectives includes a deeper understanding of the Universe through the study of weather phenomena in the Solar atmosphere, such as Solar wind acceleration and distribution, temperature anisotropy, the origin of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME), and so on. It also includes the study of the Corona's heating mechanism and other Solar activities.
The successful launchings of Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan-3, coupled with the success of this Solar mission, shall make India a pioneer in the field of space research.
Report by Mansi Sharma
Graphics by Shruti Goyal
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