NEWS – ISRO successfully launched ADITYA L1

HIGHLIGHTS

• Country’s first space-based mission to study the Sun
• Country’s first space-based mission to study the Sun
• Carrier – PSLV-C57
• Weight – 1,475 kg
• Will be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1)
• Aim –
  • Investigate the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, and its surface, the photosphere
  • Help solve lingering solar mysteries, such as how the corona is considerably hotter than the photosphere despite being around 1,000 miles (1,609 km) further away from the sun’s main source of heat, the nuclear fusion that takes place at its core.
• The concept was given by Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS),2008

LAGRANGE POINTS

• Defined by NASA
• Position in space where “the gravitational pull of two large masses precisely equals the centripetal force required for a small object to move with them. These points in space can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position.”
• Named in honor of Italian-French mathematician Josephy-Louis Lagrange, and there are five of them: L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5
• NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is at L2.