The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is prepared to launch Aditya L1, its first space-based solar mission, today at 11:50 a.m. from the Sriharikota space centre after Chandrayaan-3's safe landing close to the south pole of the Moon.
In a remote location near the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L1, which is around 1.5 kilometres from Earth, Aditya L1 will examine the solar corona. ISRO chief S Somanath said that it is an important launch and the satellite will take 125 days to reach the L1 point.
Aditya-Ll is India's first solar space observatory and will be launched by the PSLV-C57. It will carry seven different payloads to have a detailed study of the Sun, four of which will observe the light from the sun and the other three will measure in-situ parameters of the plasma and magnetic fields.
What is L1 or Lagrange Point 1?
Lagrangian points are locations where the gravitational forces acting on two objects balance one another, allowing the spacecraft to "hover" for a longer time.
For solar observations, Joseph Louis Lagrange, a mathematician, discovered the Lagrangian points, of which the L1 point is regarded as the most important.
Aditya-Ll will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrangian Point 1 (or LI), which is 1.5 million km away from the Earth in the direction of the sun. It is expected to cover the distance in four months' time.
Aditya-Ll's advantageous position will allow it to continuously watch the sun without interference from eclipses or occultation, enabling researchers to track solar activity and its effects on space weather in real time. The data from the spacecraft will also contribute to a fuller understanding of space weather factors and help pinpoint the series of processes that lead to solar eruptive events.
The study of the physics of the solar corona and its heating mechanism, the acceleration of the solar wind, the coupling and dynamics of the solar atmosphere, the distribution and temperature anisotropy of the solar wind, and the origin of CMEs, flares, and near-Earth space weather are some of the main goals of India's solar mission.
