US space agency Nasa, the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan and China have been watching the Sun through their space-based solar missions for decades. With Aditya-L1 – named after the Hindu god of Sun – Indian space agency Isro joined that select group earlier this year.
From its vantage point in space, Aditya-L1 is able to watch the Sun constantly, even during eclipses and occultations, and carry out scientific studies.
Prof Ramesh says when we look at the Sun from the Earth, we see an orange ball of fire which is the photosphere – the Sun’s surface or the brightest part of the star.
It’s only during a total eclipse, when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun and covers the photosphere that we are able to see the solar corona, the Sun’s outermost layer.
India’s coronagraph, Prof Ramesh says, has a slight advantage over the coronagraph in Nasa-ESA’s joint Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
“Ours is of a size that it’s able to mimic the role of the Moon and artificially hide the Sun’s photosphere, providing Aditya-L1 an uninterrupted view of the corona 24 hours a day 365 days a year.”
The coronagraph on Nasa-ESA’s mission, he says, is bigger which means it hides not only the photosphere but also parts of corona – so it cannot see the genesis of a CME if it originates in the hidden region.
“But with Velc, we can precisely estimate the time a coronal mass ejection begins and in which direction it’s headed.”
India also has three ground based observatories – in Kodaikanal, Gauribidanur in the south and Udaipur in the northwest – to look at the Sun. So if we add up their findings with that of Aditya-L1, we can greatly improve our understanding of the Sun, he adds.
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