Indian probe successfully reaches the Sun’s orbit – 01/06/2024 – Science

The Indian solar observation probe Aditya-L1 reached the Sun’s orbit this Saturday (6), after a four-month journey, and became the latest success in the ambitious space program of the world’s most populous country towards the center of the System. Solar.

The Aditya-L1 probe, launched in September, carries a series of instruments to measure and observe the outer layers of the Sun.

Indian Minister of Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh, declared on social media that the probe reached its final orbit “to unravel the mysteries of the Sun-Earth connection.”

In the 1960s, the United States and the European Space Agency (ESA) sent several probes to the center of the Solar System with NASA’s Pioneer program.

Japan and China have launched their own solar observation missions, but from Earth orbit.

Aditya-L1 is the first mission from an Asian country to enter orbit around the Sun. Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the feat, calling it a new milestone in India’s space program.

“This is a testament to the tireless dedication of our scientists,” he said on social media. “We will continue to explore new scientific frontiers for the benefit of humanity.”

Aditya, which means Sun in Hindi, traveled 1.5 million kilometers from Earth — just 1% of the distance between our planet and the star in the Solar System.

It is now at a point where the gravitational forces of the two celestial bodies cancel each other out, allowing it to remain in a stable orbit around the Sun.

The orbiter, which cost $48 million according to some sources, will study coronal mass ejections, a periodic phenomenon that results in huge discharges of plasma and magnetic energy from the Sun’s atmosphere.

These ejections are so powerful that they can reach Earth and disrupt the functioning of satellites.

The mission also wants to investigate other solar phenomena, through images and measuring particles in the Sun’s upper atmosphere.