Aditya-L1 data to start pouring in soon

New Delhi Two days after India’s first solar observatory, Aditya-L1, was parked in an orbit around Lagrange Point-1 to observe various aspects of the Sun for the next five years, scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation on Monday said that all the instruments on the spacecraft have been turned on. The space agency launched the spacecraft on September 2 A senior Isro official said that all the seven key instruments were activated in a phased manner between Saturday and Sunday, and the first set of data may be available next week. Read | Aditya-L1: 127-day journey paves way for crucial data on space weather The Aditya-L1 spacecraft is carrying seven instruments or payloads on-board -- VELC, which is the primary payload; Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope, Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer, and High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer, which are remote sensing payloads; and Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment, Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya, and Advanced Tri-axial High Resolution Digital Magnetometers, which are in-situ payloads — to observe the photosphere, chromosphere and corona using electromagnetic and particle and magnetic field detectors. In its mission document released in July, Isro said, “The suits of Aditya-L1 payloads are expected to provide the most crucial information to understand the problem of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare and flare activities and their characteristics, dynamics of space weather, propagation of particles and fields.” Astronomer and former professor at Indian Institute of Astrophysics RC Kapoor said that Aditya-L1 will be observing the Sun without any interruptions for at least the next five years, providing critical data for the scientific community.