Mission Aditya L1 : All about Aditya L1 Spacecraft Mission and How Aditya L1 Learn about Sun

MISSION ADITYA L1

Mission Aditya L1 is going to be India's first mission to explore the Sun from space. This special spacecraft will park itself about 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth, right at a point where the gravitational forces of the Earth and the Sun balance out. This spot is called Lagrange point 1 (L1).

Photo by : ISRO 

By sitting at L1, Aditya L1 Spacecraft will have an incredible advantage. It can keep its eyes on the Sun all the time, without any breaks like eclipses. This is super important because it means scientists can watch the Sun's activities nonstop and learn about space weather as it happens.

Mission Aditya L1 is like a space detective with seven tools, called payloads, on board. These tools can study different parts of the Sun, from its surface to its outer layers. Some of these tools can even feel magnetic fields and particles. Four of the tools will stare straight at the Sun, while the other three will look at the space around L1, helping us understand how the Sun's actions move through space.

These tools are like superhero suits that will give scientists vital clues. They'll help us solve the mysteries of why the Sun's outer layer is so hot, what causes powerful solar outbursts, and how these things affect space weather. It's like solving a space puzzle with the best space tools!

ADITYA L1 MISSION

MAJOR SCIENCE OBJECTIVES :

• Understanding the Coronal Heating and Solar Wind Acceleration. 

• Understanding initiation of Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), flares and near-earth space weather. 

• To understand coupling and dynamics of the solar atmosphere. 

• To understand solar wind distribution and temperature anisotropy. 

UNIQUENESS OF THE MISSION :

• First time spatially resolved solar disk in the near UV band. 

• CME dynamics close to the solar disk (~ from 1.05 solar radius) and thereby providing information in the acceleration regime of CME which is not observed consistently. 

• On-board intelligence to detect CMEs and solar f lares for optimised observations and data volume. 

• Directional and energy anisotropy of solar wind using multi-direction observations.

The instruments of Aditya-L1 Spacecraft are tuned to observe the solar atmosphere mainly the chromosphere and corona. In-situ instruments will observe the local environment at L1. There are total seven payloads on-board with four of them carrying out remote sensing of the Sun and three of them carrying in-situ observation.

ADITYA-L1 PAYLOADS

Photo by : ISRO 

Remote Sensing Payloads:

 1. VELC

The Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) studies the solar corona and dynamics of Coronal Mass Ejections. VELC instrument is developed at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore.

 

 2. SUIT 

The Solar Ultra-violet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) payload images the Solar Photosphere and Chromosphere in near Ultra-violet (UV) and also measures the solar irradiance variations in near UV. SUIT instrument developed at Inter University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics , Pune.

 

3. SoLEXS

Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS) studies the soft X-ray flares from the Sun over. SoLEXS payloads developed at U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bangalore

4. HEL1OS

The High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) studies the hard X-ray flares from the Sun over a wide X-ray energy range. HEL1OS payloads developed at U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bangalore

In-situ Payloads:

1. ASPEX

The Aditya Solar wind Particle EXperiment (ASPEX) payloads study the Solar wind/Particle Analyzer Protons & Heavier Ions with directions. ASPEX instrument developed at Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad

2. PAPA

Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA) payloads study the Solar wind/Particle Analyzer Electrons & Heavier Ions with directions. payload developed at Space Physics Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram

3. Advanced Tri-axial High Resolution Digital Magnetometers

The Magnetometer payload is capable of measuring interplanetary magnetic fields at the L1 point. Magnetometer payload developed at The Solar the Laboratory for Electro Optics Systems, Bangalore

All the payloads are developed with the close collaboration of various centres of ISRO. 

ADITYA-L1 TRAJECTORY TO L1

The Mission Aditya L1 will be launched by ISRO PSLV rocket from Sathish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota. Initially the spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit. Subsequently, the orbit will be made more elliptical and later the spacecraft will be launched towards the Lagrange point L1 by using on-board propulsion. As the spacecraft travels towards L1, it will exit the earths’ gravitational Sphere of Influence (SOI). After exit from SOI, the cruise phase will start and subsequently the spacecraft will be injected into a large halo orbit around L1. The total travel time from launch to L1 would take about four months for Aditya-L1. The trajectory of Aditya-L1 mission is shown in the figure above. 

Photo by : ISRO 

WHAT IS L1 

Lagrange point 1, often abbreviated as L1, is a special place in space where the gravitational forces of two large objects, like the Earth and the Sun, balance out in a way. It's located about 1.5 million kilometers (about 930,000 miles) away from Earth, in the direction toward the Sun.

Think of it like a point where you could put a spacecraft and it would feel like it's hanging in place, almost like a space parking spot. Because the forces are balanced, a spacecraft at L1 can stay there without needing to use too much fuel to stay in position.

L1 is unique because from there, a Aditya L1 Spacecraft can have a constant view of the Sun without any interruptions like Earth's shadow during an eclipse. This makes it a fantastic spot to study the Sun's activities and how they affect things in space.

Aditya L1 Spacecraft, the Indian mission you mentioned, is going to be stationed at this point to observe the Sun closely and help scientists learn more about our star and its effects on space around us.

THE SUN

Our Sun is the nearest star and the largest object in the solar system. The estimated age of sun is about 4.5 billion years. It is a hot glowing ball of hydrogen and helium gases. The distance to the sun from the earth is about 150 million kilometres, and is the source of energy for our solar system. Without the solar energy the life on earth, as we know, can not exist. The gravity of the sun holds all the objects of the solar system together. At the central region of the sun, known as ‘core’, the temperature can reach as high as 15 million degree Celsius. At this temperature, a process called nuclear fusion takes place in the core which powers the sun. The visible surface of the sun known as photosphere is relatively cool and has temperature of about 5,500°C. 

WHY STUDY SUN? 

The sun is like our nearest space neighbor, and we can study it really well because it's so close. By studying the sun, we can actually learn a lot about other stars in our galaxy and even in other galaxies far away. The sun isn't just a simple ball of fire; it's very dynamic and does some pretty amazing things that go beyond what we see.

Sometimes, it has explosive moments and releases a ton of energy that can mess with things in space, like satellites and communication systems. If those explosive sun events come towards Earth, they can cause trouble for our technology and even for astronauts. So, being able to predict these events is important to protect our stuff and our astronauts.

Also, the sun acts like a natural science lab. It does things that are super extreme and can't be done in regular labs. So, by studying the sun, we can learn about some really cool stuff that happens in space and that we can't study anywhere else.

WHY STUDY SUN FROM SPACE?

The sun sends out a mix of light and particles in all directions, but luckily, Earth has a shield – its atmosphere and magnetic field. This shield blocks harmful stuff from reaching us. However, this also means that some of the sun's special radiation can't be seen from Earth. To study this hidden stuff, we need to look from space.

Also, if we want to understand how the sun's particles and magnetic field travel through space between planets, we have to measure them far away from Earth's magnetic influence.

Disclaimer- all the information and images used in this article has been taken from the official website of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This information has been taken only for the purpose of giving information about India's space mission to the people.

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