After moonwalk, India’s place in the sun

Days after the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) exhibited its prowess with Chandrayaan-3, it today launched the Aditya-L1 mission to study the sun.

Isro has confirmed the launch of Aditya-L1 by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, an official press release said, adding that the satellite is placed “precisely” into its intended orbit. With this, India’s first solar observatory has begun its journey to the destination of Sun-Earth L1 point.

With its solar panels deployed, the Aditya-L1 started generating the power, said Isro.

Aditya L1 is the first space-based Indian mission to study the Sun. Through various orbit raising maneuvers and the cruise phase over about the next four months, the spacecraft shall be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange Point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from the Earth.

A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses. This will provide a greater advantage of observing the solar activities and its effect on space weather in real time.

The spacecraft carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic and particle and magnetic field detectors.

Using the special vantage point L1, four payloads directly view the Sun and the remaining three payloads carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields at the Lagrange point L1, thus providing important scientific studies of the propagatory effect of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium.

The Aditya L1 Mission is expected to provide the most crucial information to understand the problem of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare and flare activities and their characteristics, dynamics of space weather, propagation of particles and fields, etc.

Science Minister Jitendra Singh termed the launch as India’s “sunshine moment.” He said, “While the whole world watched this with baited breath, it is indeed a sunshine moment for India.”