India’s Aditya-L1 spacecraft has captured a ‘rare’ full-desk image of the Sun for the first time. India’s Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced this information on Friday (December 8) evening.
The organization published these pictures on micro blogging site Twitter. The images were taken near ultraviolet wavelengths, they said. “This has yielded intricately detailed information on the Sun’s luminous exterior and color spectrum.”
Aditya-L1 spacecraft carries a telescope camera named ‘The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope’ or SWEET. It captured images of the Sun between 200 and 400 nm wavelength (intermediate range). ISRO said in a statement that the SWEET images were taken using various scientific filters.
The images capture various things including sunspots, arrows, and quiet regions of the sun. The Indian Space Research Organization also said that the observation of the Sun by the suite will help scientists in the study of the ‘dynamic magnetic atmosphere of the Sun’ and the ‘tight barrier to prevent solar radiation on the Universe’.
Adihatya-L1 is India’s first space-based observatory. It will observe the Sun from the ‘Sun’s first Sun-Earth Lagrangian center (L1)’ from a halo orbit. This orbit is located at a distance of 1.5 lakh km from the earth. The Aditya-L1 spacecraft was launched on September 2 from the Satish Dewan Space Centre, Sriharikatar.
Aditya-L1 Mission:
The SUIT payload captures full-disk images of the Sun in near ultraviolet wavelengthsThe images include the first-ever full-disk representations of the Sun in wavelengths ranging from 200 to 400 nm.
They provide pioneering insights into the intricate details… pic.twitter.com/YBAYJ3YkUy
— ISRO (@isro) December 8, 2023
After reaching the orbit, the telescope was activated on November 20. After the successful experiment, it sent the first ‘Light Science Image’ on December 6.
