Aditya-L1, India’s first mission to study the Sun, has captured images not only of itself but also of the Earth and the distant moon. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday (September 7) released a “selfie” and images of the Earth and the Moon. These are the first of the images taken by the camera on-board Aditya-L1 solar mission spacecraft.
These images were taken from its current highly elliptical orbit around our planet. It may be noted that Aditya-L1 spacecraft on reaching its intended orbit would begin sending as many as 1,440 images a day to the ground station for analysis.
“Aditya-L1, destined for the Sun-Earth L1 point, takes a selfie and images of the Earth and the Moon,” the Bengaluru-headquartered national space agency said on social media platform ‘X’.
On September 4, Aditya-L1, India’s maiden solar research mission, captured striking images featuring the VELC (Visible Emission Line Coronagraph) and SUIT (Solar Ultraviolet Imager) instruments through its onboard camera. These remarkable snapshots also included views of our Earth and the distant Moon, as shared by ISRO.
What is the purpose of VELC?
VELC, the primary payload aboard Aditya-L1, was meticulously crafted by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) in Bengaluru. Meanwhile, the SUIT payload was developed by the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune.
VELC, functioning as an internally occulted coronagraph, incorporates 40 precise optical elements such as mirrors and gratings. It serves the crucial purpose of isolating sunlight, allowing the observation of the comparatively faint solar corona, visible during a total solar eclipse. According to IIA officials, VELC is poised to transmit a staggering 1,440 images daily to the ground station for meticulous analysis upon achieving its intended orbit.
This technically formidable payload, VELC, considered the largest of its kind on Aditya-L1, underwent integration, testing, and calibration at the IIA’s CREST (Centre for Research and Education in Science Technology) campus in Hoskote. This achievement was made possible through substantial collaboration with ISRO.
All about India’s first solar mission
Aditya-L1, successfully launched on September 2 via ISRO’s trusted PSLV-C57 rocket, carries a total of seven distinct payloads. Four of these payloads are designed to observe sunlight, while the remaining three are tasked with measuring critical in situ parameters of plasma and magnetic fields.
Aditya-L1 will be strategically positioned in a halo orbit around Lagrangian Point 1 (L1), situated at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers from Earth in the direction of the Sun. This unique orbit ensures that the spacecraft maintains a constant relative position with respect to the Sun, enabling continuous and uninterrupted observation of our star.