Meet Assam’s Dr Aishwarya Sharma who played key role in India’s Sun Mission

In a proud moment for Assam, a teacher from Jorhat’s Bahona College is involved in India’s Sun Mission that will be launched today at 11.50 AM.

Dr. Aishwarya Sharma, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Bahona College has been appointed as Joint Investigator Scientist on an important aspect of the Aditya L1 programme.

Dr. Aishwarya Sharma will be involved in studying the data collected and transmitted by SUIT, the telescope connected to Aditya L1.

Dr Aishwarya Sharma has been working as the Principal Investigator of the Aditya Telescope since 2015.

Aditya-L1 mission is all set to study the Sun after its launch today from the second launch pad at Sriharikota.

What is the Aditya L-1 mission?

The Aditya L-1 mission is a space journey to explore and learn more about our Sun. It begins with the PSLV rocket placing the spacecraft in a lower Earth orbit. After that, the spacecraft will use its onboard engines to increase its speed and move closer to the Sun. Ultimately, it will settle into a special orbit called a halo orbit around a point between the Sun and Earth, known as Lagrange point 1 (L1), located about 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth. This journey to L1 will take about four months. During its mission, Aditya L-1 will carry seven scientific instruments to observe the Sun for five years.

What are the objectives of the Aditya L-1 mission?

The Aditya L-1 mission has several important goals:

Study the Sun’s upper layers: One of the main objectives is to study the Sun’s upper layers, specifically the chromosphere and corona. The corona is the outermost layer, and just below it is the chromosphere.
Examine Coronal mass ejections (CMEs): Scientists want to investigate coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are powerful releases of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona.
Analyze the Corona’s magnetic field: Understanding the magnetic field in the corona is crucial for predicting space weather and its effects on Earth.
Research the Corona’s high temperature: The mission aims to solve the mystery of why the Sun’s corona is extremely hot, reaching temperatures of over a million degrees Celsius, while the surface of the Sun is much cooler at about 5,500 degrees Celsius.
Study solar wind: By examining particle acceleration on the Sun, the mission will help scientists understand the origins of the solar wind, which is a continuous flow of particles from the Sun into space.

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