The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) recently shared some cool pictures taken by their Aditya-L1 spacecraft. The pictures show our planet Earth and the Moon.
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft also took a selfie. In the selfie, you can see two important instruments: “VELC” and “SUIT.”
VELC, short for Visible Line Emission Coronagraph, is like the main camera. It’s used to take close-up pictures of the Sun’s outer layers, called the corona.
SUIT, which stands for Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope, keeps an eye on the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation from different parts of its atmosphere.
ISRO posted these pictures on a social media platform called “X” (formerly known as Twitter). They said, “Aditya-L1 Mission: Onlooker! Aditya-L1, going to a special spot between the Sun and Earth, took a selfie and pictures of Earth and the Moon.”
Aditya-L1 is India’s first solar mission. Recently, it did a second maneuver near Earth. The first one happened on the launch day, September 2, 2023. The next one, EBN#3, is planned for September 10, 2023, around 02:30 AM IST.
Aditya L-1 is a project by ISRO and six other Indian institutes. It’s a space mission to study the Sun. It will sit in a special orbit around a point called “L1” between the Sun and Earth. The mission wants to look at different parts of the Sun, like the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona, using special tools to detect particles and magnetic fields.
Aditya L1 will take about four months to get to its spot in space at L1. After that, India will watch the Sun for five years to learn more about it.