India’s first solar mission, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, destined for the Sun-Earth L1 point, has taken images of the Earth and the Moon.
India’s space agency ISRO has released selfies and pictures taken by Aditya-L1.
The Earth and the Moon were seen by the camera mounted on Aditya-L1 on September 4, the Indian Space Research Organization said while sharing a video on the social media platform ‘X’.
It is noteworthy that ISRO had launched the country’s first solar mission – Aditya-L1 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on Saturday, September 2.
For in-depth study of the Sun, Aditya L1 carries seven different payloads, four of which will observe light from the Sun and the other three will measure in-situ parameters of the plasma and magnetic field.
Aditya-L1 will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrangian Point 1 (or L1), which is 1.5 million km from Earth in the direction of the Sun.
It is expected to cover the distance in four months’ time.
It is natural that the Sun is a huge ball of gas and Aditya-L1 will study the outer atmosphere of the Sun.
ISRO said that Aditya-L1 will neither land on the Sun nor come close to the Sun.
This strategic location will enable Aditya-L1 to continuously observe the Sun without being interrupted by eclipses or occultation , allowing scientists to study solar activities and their impact on space weather in real time.
Additionally, data from the spacecraft will help identify the sequence of processes that lead to solar outburst events and contribute to a deeper understanding of space weather drivers
