New Delhi

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is over the Moon, quite literally, with the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 and orbiter of Chandrayaan-2 still revolving around Earth's only satellite. India became the first country to land on the Moon's south pole region successfully. ISRO, already a formidable name in space research and exploration now, has again etched its name among the elite space agencies in the world.

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India is now is setting its sights on the next milestone, which is to launch a spacecraft to study the Sun. The mission, Aditya-L1, will seek to unravel secrets of the star nearest to planet Earth.

Why to study the Sun at all

We know that Sun is the reason we exist, survive and flourish. Earth and other planets in the Solar System were formed from stellar material that was left after formation of the Sun was complete. Sun not only formed the Earth but is responsible for the sustenance of life as well. All our energy sources eventually find connection with Sun.

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In addition to its central role in the Solar System, the Sun also has an effect on interstellar medium, which is the extremely thin medium found between the stars. Charged particles given off by the Sun interact with the interstellar medium and give rise to phenomena such as heliosheath and heliopause.

Studying the Sun will not only give us insights into our immediate near-Earth space, but it also has a potential of improving our understanding of other stars in the Universe.

About Aditya-L1 mission

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'Aditya' literally means the Sun in Sanskrit, the ancient Indian language. Aditya-L1 is going to be India's first space-based mission to study the Sun. The spacecraft, after launch will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrange point L1 in space. This point is about 1.5 million kilometres from Earth.

Watch | Aditya-L1 mission: All about the Lagrange point L1, the location of ISRO's spacecraft on Sun

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There is major advantage in placing the observation spacecraft at the L1 point. The spacecraft, at this point, will be able to view the Sun without any occultation or eclipse. This will Aditya-L1 to observe solar activities and its effect on space weather in real-time.

Aditya-L1 will carry seven payloads to observe Sun's photosphere, chromosphere and corona, the outermost layer with the help of electromagnetic and particle and magnetic field detectors.

Also Read | Chandrayaan-3 mission: Pragyan rover finds sulphur on Moon's south pole region, hunt on for hydrogen

Sun constantly emits charged particles. Aditya-L1 will study these particles in-situ. ISRO says on its website that this will be "providing important scientific studies of the propagatory effect of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium."

ISRO expects that Aditya-L1 payloads with give us important information which will lead to us understanding coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare and flare activities and their characters.

Also Read | Meteor remnants found in Pacific not part of solar system, could be 'alien technology': Harvard scientist

In addition, the observations made will also let us understand dynamics of space weather as well as propogation of particle and fields.

What are Langrange points?

Lagrange points are five locations in space around the Earth where gravitational forces of the Earth and the Sun along with orbital motion of the spacecraft interact in order to create a stable location. These are called Lagrangian or 'L' points. These are named after 18th-century Italian astronomer and mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange.

The points are denoted as L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5.

So what are mission objectives of Aditya-L1?

The ambitious Aditya-L1 mission seeks to study several topics:

  • It plans to study Sun's upper atmospheric (chromosphere and corona) dynamics.
  • The mission will also study chromospheric and coronal heating, the physics of partially-ionised plasma, initiation of coronal mass ejections and flares.
  • The mission will observe in-situ particle and plasma environment which will provide data for study of particle dynamics from the Sun.
  • Aditya-L1 plans to study physics of solar corona and heating mechanism.
  • ISRO will observe diagnostics of the coronal and coronal loop plasma. These include temperature, velocity and density.
  • The mission will also study the development, dynamics and origin of CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejections)
  • Aditya-L1 will attempt to identify sequence of processes that occur at multiple layers of the Sun (chromosphere, base and extended corona). These processes eventual lead to solar eruptive events.
  • The magnetic field topology and magnetic field measurements in the solar corona will also be studied.
  • Aditya-L1 will observe and study drivers for space weather, that is, origin, composition and dynamics or solar wind.

How will be Aditya-L1's journey?

Aditya-L1 will first be placed in a low earth orbit by ISRO's PSLV-C57 rocket. After that, the spacecraft's orbit will be made more elliptical. On-board propulsion will be used to launch the spacecraft towards L1 point. As it moves towards L1, the spacecraft will exit Earth's gravitational Sphere of Influence (SOI). After it exits the SOI, the spacecraft will begin its cruise phase. It will then be placed in a large halo orbit around the L1 point. The spacecraft will take four months to reach its destination.

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