Aditya-L1 Mission - India’s First Solar Mission

Why in news?

• Recently, the Visible Line Emission Coronagraph (VLEC), the primary payload on board Aditya-L1, was handed over to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA).

About Aditya-L1 Mission:

• Aditya-L1 mission, is Indian’s first space mission to observe the Sun
• ISRO is planning to launch the Aditya-L1 mission by June or July 2023 to observe the Sun and the solar corona.
• Launch Vehicle:
  • Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) with 7 payloads (instruments) on board.
  • The 7 payloads include:
    • VELC
    • Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT)
    • Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS)
    • Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX)
    • High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS)
    • Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA)
    • Advanced Tri-axial High Resolution Digital Magnetometers

Objectives of the mission:

• Aditya L1 will study the coronal heating, solar wind acceleration, coronal magnetometry, origin and monitoring of near-UV solar radiation and continuously observe photosphere, chromosphere and corona, solar energetic particles and magnetic field of the Sun.
• The mission will be launched by ISRO to the L1 orbit which is about 1.5 million km from the Earth. The orbit allows Aditya-L1 to look at the Sun continuously.
  • L1 refers to Lagrangian/Lagrange Point 1, one of 5 points in the orbital plane of the Earth-Sun system.
  • Lagrange Points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system like the Sun and Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion

Features of VELC Payload:

• VELC will be the main payload among seven designed to study various aspects of the sun and is one of the most precise instruments made in India.
• It was conceptualised and designed in 15 years which will help in solving mysteries related to solar astrophysics.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Aditya L1, India’s first solar mission, aims to study:

1. Magnetic field of the Sun

2. Coronal heating

3. Solar wind acceleration

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1,2 and 3

Answer