ISRO reveals how Aditya L1’s SUIT took first-ever-full-disk pictures of Sun | Watch Video
- 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.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) had on 8 December revealed that the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) instrument aboard Aditya L1 had taken the first-ever-full-disk images of the Sun in the 200-400 nm wavelength range.
Now the ISRO has revealed how the SUIT was able to take those images in a video.
The video shared by Hindustan Times, shows the opening and closing of the SUIT probe's aperture, facilitating the entry of solar radiation into the payload and to the thermal filters.
“If all of the radiation from the Sun is allowed to enter the optical cavity, the mirrors and the detector would get damaged due to overheating,” Hindustan Times quoted Manish Purohit, former ISRO scientist,
To prevent this, Purohit added, a metal-dielectric thermal filter is employed, reflecting the majority of solar flux below 200 nm and above 400 nm. Only 1 per cent of the flux in this range is transmitted to SUIT's main optical chamber, Manish Purohit added.
Purohit detailed the use of two filter wheels with distinct filters to balance fluxes at the detector across frequency bands.
“There are two filter wheels with different filters to balance the fluxes at the detector in different frequency bands. The two filter wheels can be driven independently to achieve the desired combination. The shutter mechanism is used to control the exposure with different filter combinations to achieve the desired signal-to-noise ratio,” HT report quoted Manish Purohit.
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 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", ISRO wrote in their official statement.
SUIT observations will help scientists study the dynamic coupling of the magnetized solar atmosphere and assist them in placing tight constraints on the effects of solar radiation on Earth's climate
After the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 near the South pole of the moon, the ISRO launched the country's maiden solar mission -- Aditya-L1 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on September 2.
ISRO had said Aditya-L1 will neither land on the sun nor approach the sun any closer.
This strategic location will enable Aditya-L1 to continuously observe the sun without being hindered by eclipses or occultation, allowing scientists to study solar activities and their impact on space weather in real-time.
Also, the spacecraft's data will help identify the sequence of processes that lead to solar eruptive events and contribute to a deeper understanding of space weather drivers.
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Business NewsScienceNewsISRO reveals how Aditya L1’s SUIT took first-ever-full-disk pictures of Sun | Watch Video
First Published:11 Dec 2023, 08:52 PM IST
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