ISRO Aditya L1: India's first Mission to Sun will be Launched on 2 September

Aditya L1 will be the first space-based mission of India to explore the Sun. The spacecraft will be launched on 2nd September 2023 and placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system which extends up to 1.5 million km from the Earth. ISRO has announced the launch of Aditya L1 on 2 September, at 11.50 a.m. from Sriharikota. This will be the first attempt to launch a space-based observatory to study the Sun by India.

The Major Science Objectives of Aditya L1 mission as per ISRO

• Observation of dynamics in the upper regions of the Sun's atmosphere (chromosphere and corona).
• Study of the heating of the chromosphere and corona, the physics of partially ionized plasma, the initiation of coronal mass ejections, and solar flares.
• Observations of particles and plasma within close proximity to the Sun, providing data for the analysis of particle dynamics from the Sun.
• Exploration of the physics of solar corona and its heating mechanisms.
• Diagnosis of the coronal and coronal loops plasma: Temperature, velocity, and density.
• Study of the development, dynamics, and origins of coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
• Identification of the sequence of events occurring at various layers, including the chromosphere, the base of the corona, and the extended corona, leading to solar eruptions. Observation of magnetic field topology and the measurement of magnetic fields in the solar corona.
• Investigate the causes of space weather, including the origin, composition, and dynamics of the solar wind.

The spacecraft will carry seven payloads in terms of observing the photosphere, chromosphere the corona (outermost layers of the Sun) with the help of electromagnetic, particle, and magnetic field detectors.

The seven payloads of Aditya L1 include

• Visible Emission Line Coronagraph(VELC)
• Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT)
• Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS)
• High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer(HEL1OS)
• Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment(ASPEX)
• Plasma Analyser Package For Aditya (PAPA)
• Advanced Tri-axial High-Resolution Digital Magnetometers

By using the special point L1 in which the spacecraft will be placed the four payloads will directly view the Sun and the remaining three will carry out in situ studies of particles and fields. These studies are expected to provide invaluable information to understand the problem of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare, and flare activities and their characteristics, dynamics of space weather, propagation of particles and fields, etc., says ISRO.