First science result from Aditya L1, ISRO’s sun mission, is out

Contact Counsellor

CategorySpace

Last Updated05/11/2024

Scientists who developed Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) onboard Aditya-L1 precisely estimated the onset time of a coronal mass ejection that erupted on the Sun.

The Aditya-L1 mission, launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on September 2, 2023, is India’s first scientific mission dedicated to studying the Sun. The mission is equipped with the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC), its primary payload, developed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIAp) in Bengaluru.
On January 6, the spacecraft was placed in a halo orbit around the Earth-Sun Lagrange point (L1), allowing it to continuously observe solar activity with an expected mission lifespan of five years.

The VELC has already yielded significant insights, with scientists precisely estimating the onset time of a coronal mass ejection (CME) that erupted on the Sun on July 16. CMEs are powerful solar eruptions that release vast quantities of plasma and energy, potentially disrupting satellite electronics and radio communications on Earth.

Close-Up CME Observations: The VELC has allowed scientists to observe CMEs near the Sun’s surface, offering unique data that helps understand their plasma properties and origin regions.
Significance of CME Monitoring: As the Sun nears the maximum phase of solar cycle 25, CMEs are expected to increase. Continuous monitoring by the VELC will contribute valuable data on these energetic solar eruptions.

The VELC’s spectroscopic observations provide detailed insights into CMEs much closer to the Sun's surface than traditional methods, which typically observe CMEs only after they have traveled farther from the Sun. This innovative approach enables researchers to:
Study CMEs in the visible continuum light near their origin on the solar surface.
Gather information on the thermodynamic properties of CMEs, improving understanding of their source regions on the Sun.

The results, soon to be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, demonstrate the VELC's effectiveness in tracking solar activity.
As the Sun’s activity intensifies, the Aditya-L1 mission’s observations are expected to provide further critical insights into solar dynamics and space weather phenomena that can impact Earth’s technology-dependent systems.
India’s Aditya-L1 mission marks a significant achievement in space science, with early results underscoring its potential to contribute to global understanding of solar phenomena and their impacts.