India’s Aditya-L1 solar mission spacecraft has started collecting data that will help scientists analyze the behavior of particles around Earth, ISRO said on Monday.
Sensors from an instrument on India’s first solar observatory are said to have started measuring ultra-hot high-energy ions and electrons more than 50,000 kilometers from Earth.
“These data help scientists analyze the behavior of particles around the Earth,” the Bangalore-based national space agency said in a post on social media platform X.
The Supra Thermal Energy Particle Spectrometer (STEPS) instrument is part of the Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX) payload.
Related stories
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO): Aditya L1 successfully conducts fourth Earth flight
With the completion of four Earth orbit maneuvers, Aditya-L1 will next perform a trans-Lagrange 1 insertion maneuver
“These STEPS measurements will continue during the cruise phase of the Aditya-L1 mission as it advances towards the Sun-Earth L1 point. They will continue once the spacecraft enters its intended orbit,” ISRO said.
Data collected around L1 will provide insights into the origin, acceleration and anisotropy of solar wind and space weather phenomena, the report said.
STEPS was developed by the Physical Research Laboratory with support from the Center for Space Applications, Ahmedabad.
ISRO launched Aditya-L1 on September 2 using PSLV-C57 rocket.
Aditya-L1 Mission
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft carries a total of seven different payloads to study the sun, four of which will observe light from the sun and the remaining three will measure in-situ parameters of plasma and magnetic fields.
Related stories
A closer look at the Aditya L-1: some questions and answers
ISRO announces that Aditya L-1 spacecraft will be launched on September 2 at 11:50 am on PSLV rocket
Aditya-L1 will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrangian point 1 (L1), 1.5 million kilometers from Earth in the solar direction. It will orbit the sun in the same relative position, so it will have a continuous view of the sun.
STEPS consists of six sensors, each looking in a different direction and measuring ultrathermal energetic ions from 20 keV/nucleon to 5 MeV/nucleon, and electrons above 1 MeV.
These measurements were performed using low- and high-energy particle spectrometers.
Data collected in Earth orbit helps scientists analyze the behavior of particles around the Earth, especially in the presence of the Earth’s magnetic field.
STEPS launched on September 10 at a distance of more than 50,000 kilometers from Earth. ISRO added that this distance is equivalent to more than eight times the radius of the Earth and is well beyond the Earth’s radiation belt region.
