Aditya-L1 Mission: Scientists Observe a Flareless Coronal Mass Ejection

Aditya-L1 Mission: Scientists Observe a Flareless Coronal Mass Ejection

Sub: Sci

Sec: Space sector

Why in News

• Scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) have observed a rare flareless coronal mass ejection (CME) from the solar atmosphere using the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) instrument onboard the Aditya-L1 mission. This marks a significant achievement in India’s first dedicated solar observation mission.

About Aditya L1:

• Aditya L1 is India’s first mission to study the Sun.
• Aditya-L1 is also ISRO’s second astronomy observatory-class mission after AstroSat (2015).
• It was launched using the Polar satellite Launch Vehicle.
• The spacecraft will travel 1.5 million km from the Earth to the Lagrange 1 or L1 point between the Earth and the Sun.
• The main objective of the mission is to get a deeper understanding of the star closest to us, and how its radiation, heat, flow of particles, and magnetic fields affects us.
• The main payload is the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VLEC) which was designed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and will help study the solar corona from the lowermost part upwards.
• The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) designed by the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) will capture the UV image of the solar photosphere and chromosphere.
• The Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS) and High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) are developed by the UR Rao Satellite Centre and will help in studying  X-ray flares.
• The Aditya Solar wind Particle EXperiment (ASPEX) developed by ISRO’s Physical Research Laboratory and Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA) developed by Space Physics Laboratory of ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre are designed to study the solar wind and energetic ions.
• Advanced Tri-axial High-Resolution Digital Magnetometers (MAG) will measure the interplanetary magnetic fields at the L1 point.
• The spacecraft also has a coronagraph that will allow scientists to look much closer to the surface of the Sun and complement the data from NASA and European Space Agency’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission.

Observation of Flareless CME:

• On July 5, 2024, the VELC team detected a CME that erupted from the Sun without any association with a solar flare.
• This unique observation provides crucial insights into solar activity and helps in differentiating between magnetic instabilities responsible for flares and CMEs.
• CMEs and solar flares originate due to magnetic reconnection, where magnetic field lines rearrange and release energy.
• Flares primarily release energy as electromagnetic radiation from heated plasma.
• In contrast, CMEs are massive eruptions of plasma and magnetic fields, with an approximate mass of a trillion kilograms, traveling at speeds of up to 3,000 km/s through interplanetary space.
• The Sun is approaching the maximum phase of Solar Cycle 25, meaning CMEs are expected to occur more frequently.

About Solar Cycle 25:

• Solar Cycle 25, the current 11-year cycle of solar activity, began in December 2019 and has been marked by increasing solar phenomena.
• As of October 2024, Solar Cycle 25 has reached its maximum activity phase.
• A powerful solar storm in May 2024 led to auroras at unusually low latitudes, marking the most intense storm in over 20 years.
• Refer: Solar Flare