Sun’s Fury may fry satellites, but India has a vigilant space defender

ISRO has released the images of the sun captured by Aditya L-1

New Delhi:

India’s first space-based solar observatory, the Aditya L1 satellite, has recently captured ‘solar fury’ and now the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has warned that the Sun is moving towards its “solar maximum, triggering activity added”.

ISRO Chairman S Somanath told NDTV, “Aditya L1 caught when the Sun got angry this May. If it gets angry in the near future, as scientists suggest, India’s 24x7X365 day eye on the Sun will give a warning. We must protect over 50 Indian satellites in space that have cost the country more than 50,000 crore rupees, Aditya L1 is a celestial protector of our space assets.

In a series of images released today by the Indian space agency, the solar storms of May 17 have been effectively captured, and the full disk images show enhanced solar activity and solar flares.

When a large solar flare erupts from the Sun, as it did on May 11, it can literally fry the electronics of satellites. To protect them, space engineers shut down electronics and put them in safe mode until the highly charged storm passes. In the past, SpaceX’s Starlink constellation of satellites has suffered serious damage due to a solar storm.

Mr. Somanath added, “India’s first space-based solar observatory Aditya L1 was a challenging maiden mission for ISRO. Today, all seven instruments on board are happily working as it hovers in the unique 1.5 million halo orbit kilometers from Earth.”

Aditya reached its home on January 6 this year, about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, but closer to the Sun. It will still be very far from the Sun, which is about 150 million kilometers from Earth. From this last point, which is called Lagrangian Point-1, the 1475 kg satellite is conducting scientific experiments to better understand the Sun as the star of our solar system remains an enigma.

“India’s Aditya L1 satellite is a kind of space-based security that keeps an eye on solar flares and solar storms,” ​​explained Somanath. “Aditya L1 will watch the Sun continuously, so it can warn us of imminent solar electromagnetic effects on Earth and protect our satellites and other electrical and communications networks from disruption.”

ISRO said in a statement, “Our Sun is the nearest star and the largest object in the solar system. The estimated age of the Sun is about 4.5 billion years. It is a hot, glowing ball of hydrogen and helium gas. The distance from The sun from the earth is about 150 million kilometers, and is the source of energy for our solar system, life on earth, as we know it, cannot exist System together In the central region of the sun, known as the ‘core’, the temperature can reach up to 15 million degrees Celsius the surface of the sun known as the photosphere is relatively cold and has a temperature of about 5500 degrees Celsius.”

ISRO said the Aditya L1 satellite’s two main science instruments were not fully ready on May 11 to capture the massive solar storm and were still being calibrated and tested. This absence caused some anxiety in the Indian scientific community. It should be noted that only a handful of countries have mastered the art of having a fully functional solar observatory in space.

Aditya L1 is a smart satellite, it will never sleep and keeps a hawk eye on the activities of the Sun. It is essentially a scientific satellite and will give a warning when the Sun is about to have a mood swing, explained Professor Somak Raychaudhury, astrophysicist and Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University. Researchers say the Sun will soon become angrier and Earthlings should be on the lookout.