ISRO’s Aditya-L1

Current Context : Recently, two onboard remote sensing instruments of ISRO’s Aditya-L1 spacecraft’s have captured the recent solar fury.

• The Solar Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) and the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) have captured the dynamic activities of the Sun.

ABOUT SUIT AND VELC

• SUIT: To image Solar Photosphere and Chromosphere in near Ultra-violet (UV) and, to measure solar irradiance variations in near UV.
• VELC: To study solar corona and dynamics of coronal mass ejections.

ABOUT ADITYA L-1

• It is India’s first space mission to observe Sun from a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of Sun-Earth system
• Launched in 2023, by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) XL (PSLV-C57) with 7 payloads on board.
• It is located roughly 5 million km from Earth and enables the spacecraft to view the Sun continuously.

OTHER SOLAR MISSIONS OF DIFFERENT NATIONS

• NASA – Parker Solar Probe
• European Space Agency : Solar and Heliospheric Observatory

China – Kuafu-1 solar probe