Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT)

About Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT):

•  The telescope is one of the seven payloads on Aditya-L1.
• Features
  • It is unique because it will provide full disk images of the sun in 2000 to 4000 A wavelength range which has never been obtained.
  • It will allow us to record images in this wavelength crucial for maintaining the Ozone and Oxygen content in the atmosphere of the Earth.
  • It will also measure the UV radiation hazardous for skin cancer.
  • It will address fundamental questions such as the existence of a higher-temperature atmosphere above the cooler surface of the Sun and the origin and variation of near-ultraviolet radiation and high-energy solar flares.
  • It will help in the measurement of solar radiation from Hard X-ray to Infrared, as well as in-situ measurements of particles in the solar wind, including the Sun’s magnetic field at the L1 point.
• It is expected to last five years.
• Funding: ISRO funded the initial Rs 25 crore required for the hardware, a small portion of the overall project.

Key points about Aditya-L1 Mission

• It is India's first dedicated scientific mission to study the Sun.
• The spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around the first Lagrange point, L1, which is 1.5 million km from the Earth towards the Sun.
• A satellite around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without occultation/eclipses.
• Aditya-L1 carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic and particle detectors.
• The satellite will be launched by a PSLV-XL launch vehicle from Sriharikota.

 

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Q1) What is chromosphere?

The chromosphere is a layer of the Sun's atmosphere located above the photosphere and below the corona. It is named after its reddish color, which becomes visible during solar eclipses when the Moon blocks the bright photosphere, revealing the outer layers of the Sun.

Source: Unique space telescope designed by Pune scientists ready for Sun mission