Aditya-L1 is an important launch, will take 125 days to reach: ISRO chief

As the countdown for Indias maiden solar mission AdityaL1 began on Friday Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO chief S Somanath said that it is an important launch and the satellite will take 125 days to reach the L1 pointSomanath offered prayers at Chengalamma Parameshwari Temple in Tirupati district ahead of the launch of AdityaL1 Mission Indias first solar mission on September 2 at 1150 am from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra PradeshToday the countdown of Aditya L1 is starting and it will launch around 1150 am Aditya L1 satellite is for studying our Sun It will take another 125 days to reach the L1 point This is a very important launch We have not yet decided Chandrayaan4 but we will announce it soon After Aditya L1 our next launch is Gaganyaan it will take place by the first week of October Somanath said while talking to the reportersAdityaL1 is Indias first solar space observatory and will be launched by the PSLVC57 It will carry seven different payloads to have a detailed study of the sun four of which will observe the light from the sun and the other three will measure insitu parameters of the plasma and magnetic fieldsThe largest and technically most challenging payload on AdityaL1 is the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph or VELC VELC was integrated tested and calibrated at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics CREST Centre for Research and Education in Science Technology campus in Hosakote in collaboration with ISROAdityaL1 will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrangian Point 1 or L1 which is 15 million km away from the Earth in the direction of the sun It is expected to cover the distance in four months timeThis strategic location will enable AdityaL1 to continuously observe the sun without being hindered by eclipses or occultation allowing scientists to study solar activities and their impact on space weather in real time Also the spacecrafts data will help identify the sequence of processes that lead to solar eruptive events and contribute to a deeper understanding of space weather driversMajor objectives of Indias solar mission include the study of the physics of solar corona and its heating mechanism the solar wind acceleration coupling and dynamics of the solar atmosphere solar wind distribution and temperature anisotropy and origin of Coronal Mass Ejections CME and flares and nearearth space weatherThe atmosphere of the sun the corona is what we see during a total solar eclipse A coronagraph like the VELC is an instrument that cuts out the light from the disk of the sun and can thus image the much fainter corona at all times the Bengalurubased Indian Institute of Astrophysics saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever