Context
Following the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan 3 near the South Pole, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) celebrated another victory on September 2, 2023, with the launch of its first solar mission, Aditya L1.
Aditya L1 embarks on an incredible journey spanning 1.5 million kilometres. Its final destination is Lagrange point 1 (L1), a strange position in space where the Earth's and Sun's gravitational forces are finely matched. This equilibrium allows a spaceship to remain stationary while using minimum fuel.
 
About Aditya L1 and the Significance of L1 
·         L1 was discovered by mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange.
·         It is one of five sites, about 1.5 million kilometres apart, where the Sun's and Earth's gravitational pulls are equal. 
·         A spacecraft orbiting the Sun at the same speed as Earth will thus provide a continuous view of the Sun.
·         As a result, it is an ideal observation site for solar observatories in orbit.
·         The L1 is being used by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). SOHO tracks the Sun and its movements. 
·         Aditya L1 will collaborate with this observatory to uncover the mysteries of the Sun's behaviour.
·         Aditya L1 will act as an orbiting weather station. Researchers can use the data from these devices to forecast possible geomagnetic storms and gain a better grasp of the physics of space weather.
The Significance of Aditya L1 To understand climate variability
·         Sunspots can number in the hundreds while the Sun is active and are nearly non-existent when the Sun is at rest. 
·         The absorbed energy influences the composition, temperature, and other aspects of the atmosphere. It is vital to understand how much variation in the UV radiation emitted by the Sun influences the Earth's climate.
·         The onboard intelligence system will detect any unexpected appearance of bright spots, such as solar flares on the disc. 
 
Study of Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) 
·         A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) occurs when a component of the corona accelerates suddenly and bursts into interplanetary space. 
·         This cloud is launched at speeds ranging from 250 to 3,000 kilometres per second and contains billions of tonnes of energetic plasma mixed with a solar magnetic field.
·         The corona is only visible in the glare of the radiant Sun during a total solar eclipse. 
·         Solar physicists can use the coronagraph, a solar telescope, to construct artificial eclipses to study the corona. 
  
Study of solar storms 
·         In addition to sunlight and electromagnetic radiation, the Sun emits a continual stream of charged particles and a range of solar magnetic fields that travel across interplanetary space. 
·         The flow near to Earth is known as solar wind, and it moves at an average speed of roughly 300 kilometres per second. 
·         It is continually pounding the Earth's magnetosphere, which acts as a shield and diverts the majority of the solar wind. 
·         Magnetic-induced currents caused by powerful geomagnetic storms in the electrical system and pipelines can cause outages and fires. 
·         Charged particle energy warms the upper atmosphere, increasing density and contributing drag to low-Earth orbiting spacecraft.
 
Conclusion 
Because of the abundance of satellites in the near-Earth environment, changes in space weather can have a direct impact on a large number of spacecrafts. A solar storm's effect on the upper atmosphere has the ability to change the trajectory. International collaboration is required to comprehend space weather, and data from Aditya L1 will aid in model development and storm forecasting.
 
LTX Mains Question
Q. Describe India's Aditya L1 mission's scientific objectives and significance in the context of solar physics, as well as its possible impact on space weather forecasting and climate change mitigation.