India has launched its first mission to the Sun, days after it made history by becoming the first country to land near the lunar South Pole. Aditya-L1, India’s first solar observatory lifted off from the launch pad at Sriharikota at 11:50 IST (08:20 CET). The name Aditya-L1 comes from the Hindu god of Sun who is also known as Aditya in Hindi and L1 comes from the position in space where this observatory will be placed. Aditya-L1 will be placed at the L-1 Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system. A lagrange point is a place in space where the gravitational forces of two large objects cancel each other out and thus making it a “perfect parking place”, where satellites could be placed in order to carry out their research without needing much fuel.
After the successful launch, it will now travel several times around the Earth before being launch towards the L1 point. Then it will travel 1.5 million km from the Earth; 1% of the Earth-Sun Distance, to be placed at the L1 point. According to ISRO, it will take four months to travel that far in about 135 days. Aditya-L1 will join the NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) which has been studying the Sun for the past 27 years, sending back vital data. “A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses”, says ISRO. This $46m mission will help scientists to observe solar activities and its effects on Space Weather and our Earth’s climate in real time. The spacecraft carries seven payloads that will observe and study the corona, the photosphere and the chromospheres of the Sun. It will help in our understanding of the solar activities such as solar winds, solar flares and their effect on the Earth and space weather.