Aditya-L1, India's first space-based solar mission, will be launched on September 2, 2023, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced Monday. Aditya-L1 will study the Sun for five years. It will be launched atop a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on September 2, at 11:50 am IST, from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
Aditya-L1 will be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, with the intention of reducing fuel consumption, and ensuring that the spacecraft has an unobstructed view of the Sun for the entirety of its mission life. A Lagrange point is a position in space where a spacecraft remains fixed at one place, which helps reduce fuel consumption. L1 is located 1.5 million kilometres from Earth.
The speciality of L1 is that Aditya-L1, if placed there, will not witness any solar eclipses or occultations, and can continuously view the Sun. An occultation refers to the complete obstruction of the light of an astronomical object by another celestial body such as a star or planet. A solar eclipse is one in which the Sun's view is obstructed by the Moon. Therefore, every eclipse is an occultation, but every occultation is not an eclipse.
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Expected to operate for five years, Aditya-L1 will observe solar activities and their effect on space weather in real time, ISRO says on its website.
Aditya-L1 is equipped with seven payloads, which are of two types: remote sensing payloads and in-situ payloads.
These seven payloads will observe the Sun's photosphere, chromosphere and corona with the help of electromagnetic, particle, and magnetic field detectors. The photosphere is the innermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere, the chromosphere is the reddish and glowing layer above the Sun's photosphere, and the corona is the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere.
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The remote sensing payloads will leverage the uniqueness of the special point L1, and directly observe the Sun. Meanwhile, the in-situ payloads of Aditya-L1 will conduct in-situ studies of particles and fields at L1. Therefore, Aditya-L1 will not only study solar dynamics, but also conduct scientific research on the propagatory effect of the Sun's dynamics in the interplanetary medium.
Aditya-L1 will provide important information that is expected to help scientists understand coronal mass ejections, pre-flare and flare activities, propagation of particles and fields, the problem of coronal heating, and the dynamics of space weather.