ISRO’s Aditya-L1: Observing the Sun Uninterrupted from Lagrange Point L1

Context:

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has placed the Aditya-L1 spacecraft in a halo orbit around the Lagrange Point (L1).

ISRO’s Aditya-L1: Uninterrupted Solar Observation in Halo Orbit at Lagrangian Point

• According to the ISRO, the satellite will spend its whole mission life orbiting around Lagrange Point 1 in an irregularly shaped orbit in a plane roughly perpendicular to the line joining the earth and the sun.
• The Aditya-L1 satellite will be continuously viewing the sun without any occultation or eclipse and provides a greater advantage of observing the solar activities without obstruction.

Lagrange Points: Celestial Parking Spots for Uninterrupted Space Observation

• They have been named after Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange.
• There are five Lagrange points, L1 to L5, between any two-celestial body system. 
• At these positions, the gravitational pull of the celestial bodies equals the centripetal force, thus the forces acting on the third body cancel each other out.
• The Lagrange Point 1 point of the Earth-Sun system provides an uninterrupted view of the sun and is currently home to the Solar and Helio spheric Observatory Satellite SOHO. 
• According to NASA, the points can be used as ‘parking spots’ for spacecraft in space to remain in a fixed position with minimal fuel consumption.

Additional Information: Aditya-L1 Mission

News Source: The Hindu

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