ISRO’s Aditya L1 Mission Captures Its First High-Energy Solar Flare

Context: 

• The Aditya L1 solar probe mission by ISRO has captured its first high-energy solar flare in X-ray.

Aditya L1 Captures Solar Flare

• During its first observation period on October 29, 2023, the High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) on board Aditya-L1 recorded the impulsive phase of solar flares. 
• Consistency with NOAA’s Data:
• • The data obtained from Aditya L1’s HEL1OS instrument is consistent with X-ray light curves provided by NOAA’s GOES satellite.
  • GOES, the “Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite,” is operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and supports various applications, including weather forecasting and storm tracking.
• HEL1OS Instrument:
  • HEL1OS is the hard X-ray spectrometer on the Aditya L1 mission.
  • It operates in the wide X-ray energy band between 10 and 150 keV, enabling the study of solar flare activities on the Sun.

What are solar flares?

• A solar flare is a tremendous explosion on the Sun that happens when energy stored in ‘twisted’ magnetic fields (usually above sunspots) is suddenly released.
• Impact: 
• • Solar flares produce high-energy particles and radiation dangerous to living organisms. 
  • The most dangerous emissions from flares are energetic charged particles (primarily high-energy protons) and electromagnetic radiation (primarily x-rays).

To read more about the Aditya-L1 Mission, refer to the embedded link Aditya-L1 Mission.

News Source: Indian Express