This achievement by Aditya-L1 marks a significant milestone in ISRO's solar observation and research programme
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced on Friday, December 8, that the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) installed in the Aditya-L1 spacecraft had captured the first-ever full-disk images of the Sun in near ultraviolet wavelengths.
This achievement by Aditya-L1 marks a significant milestone in ISRO's solar observation and research programme.
“The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) instrument on board the Aditya-L1 spacecraft has successfully captured the first full-disk images of the Sun in the 200-400 nm wavelength range. SUIT captures images of the Sun's photosphere and chromosphere in this wavelength range using various scientific filters,” said the Indian space agency.
The space agency further said that the SUIT payload was powered on November 20, 2023, and after a successful pre-commissioning phase, the installed telescope captured these images.
“On November 20, 2023, the SUIT payload was powered ON. Following a successful pre-commissioning phase, the telescope captured its first light science images on December 6, 2023. These unprecedented images, taken using eleven different filters (as shown in Table 1), include the first-ever full-disk representations of the Sun in wavelengths ranging from 200 to 400 nm, excluding Ca II h. The full disk images of the Sun in the Ca II h wavelength has been studied from other observatories,” added ISRO.
The notable features revealed by the captured images are sunspots, plage, and quiet Sun regions, as marked in the Mg II h image, providing scientists with pioneering insights into the intricate details of the Sun's photosphere and chromosphere, said ISRO. “SUIT observations will help scientists study the dynamic coupling of the magnetised solar atmosphere and assist them in placing tight constraints on the effects of solar radiation on Earth's climate,” the space agency added.
ISRO also shared that the development of SUIT involved a collaborative effort under the leadership of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune. This collaboration included ISRO, the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), the Centre for Excellence in Space Science Indian (CESSI) at IISER-Kolkata, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics Bengaluru, the Udaipur Solar Observatory (USO-PRL), and Tezpur University Assam.
Meanwhile, Aditya-L1 will be put in a halo orbit, maintaining a steady relative position to the Sun after it reaches the L1 point.
