First science result from Aditya-L1 mission is out

Aditya-L1 mission's first science result led to the precise estimation of a solar coronal mass ejection onset time, thanks to data from the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph payload.

The first science result from the Aditya-L1 mission, India’s first scientific mission dedicated to studying the Sun, is out.

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 on July 16. VELC is the spacecraft’s primary payload.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched Aditya-L1 on September 2, 2023, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The spacecraft’s VELC payload was developed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIAp), Bengaluru.

The Sun is a very active object and often spews vast quantities of plasma in violent eruptions called coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

“These are the most powerful explosions happening in our solar system,” the team of IIAp scientists involved with the VELC’s operations said in a statement shared with The Hindu. “When a CME blows past the earth, it can damage the electronics in satellites in near-earth space and disrupt radio communication networks on the earth.”

The team added that using unique data obtained with the VELC payload, members could precisely estimate the onset time of a CME that erupted from the Sun on July 16.

The results of the study, by R. Ramesh, V. Muthupriyal, Jagdev Singh, K. Sasikumar Raja, P. Savarimuthu, and Priya Gavshinde, are set to be published in a forthcoming edition of the peer-reviewed journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.