Aditya L1 launch: How will ISRO’s new mission unravel mysteries of the Sun?

Four months from now, the spacecraft will be successfully placed on its Halo orbit, L1, near the Sun. Soon after that, its seven payloads will come into action to find out answers to some of the most intriguing questions about the Sun.

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One such question is about the extreme temperature of the Sun’s corona. It is the outermost part of the Sun’s atmosphere and is usually hidden by the bright light of the Sun’s surface.

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“One of our primary goals is to understand why the Sun’s corona is astonishingly hot, reaching temperatures of up to 2 million degrees, in stark contrast to the relatively cooler surface of the Sun at around 5,000 degrees.,” explains Ashoka University’s vice-chancellor and scientist Somak Raychaudhury, reported HT.

In an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, Somak Raychudhury explains about the main objectives of India’s Solar mission. Highlighting how the mission will increase India’s ability to monitor the Sun 24×7, Somak said, “Our primary aim is to continuously observe the Sun for 24 hours a day, a feat not possible from Earth’s orbit, as the planet frequently obstructs the view.” 

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Main objectives of Aditya L1 mission

The primary objective of the mission is to increase India’s ability to observe the Sun for 24 hours a day. The unhindered observation of the Sun will help in closely monitoring its activity. For its accomplishment, Aditya L1 is equipped with two major instruments, along with five smaller ones.

Key instruments of the spacecraft are SUIT, VELC, and five more

SUIT (Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope), is an ultraviolet imager that captures continuous images of the Sun. The ultraviolet spectrum is important for making observations. The reason for its importance is the large amount of ultraviolet and X-ray radiation emitted from the Sun’s corona.

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Another major instrument is VELC. It is a spectrograph that focuses on the Sun’s corona—the outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere. Notably, it extends far beyond the Sun’s visible disk. VELC will also monitor the corona alongside SUIT and will let the ISRO scientists correlate changes in the Sun’s corona with events on the Sun’s surface.

Aditya L1 to discover mysteries of the Sun’s behavior

Explaining the peculiar phenomenon of the high temperature of the Sun’s corona, Somak explains that the Sun’s corona is astonishingly hot. Its temperature can increase up to 2 million degrees. Interestingly, it is in stark contrast to the relatively cooler surface of the Sun at around 5,000 degrees. The significant temperature difference remains a “baffling mystery in solar science,” Romak told HT. Studying the Sun’s high-energy phenomena will help in unraveling the mystery. In a major development for India, Aditya L1 can help ISRO scientists establish casual connections between the Sun and its corona.

Observations made by Aditya L1 will also help in bridging the connection between the Sun’s surface and the emission of high-energy particles during solar storms. These storms are closely related to the Sun’s magnetic activity, underlines Romak in his HT interview. He also warned that these solar storms carry the potential to harm human technologies, including satellites and communication systems.

Updated: 02 Sep 2023, 03:43 PM IST