Aditya-L1 will orbit in L1 point around the Sun; know what Lagrange points are
Photo Credit: NASA
India’s first solar mission Aditya-L1 has successfully started its journey towards the L1 point today where it will orbit the Sun. But do you know what exactly Lagrange points are?
Photo Credit: NASA
Well, According to NASA, Lagrange Points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system like the Sun and Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion.
At these points, the spacecraft can stay still in space with minimal use of fuel.
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There are five special points where a small mass can orbit in a constant pattern with two larger masses. NASA says these are labeled as L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5.
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This concept was introduced by Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange.
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As per ISRO, Aditya-L1 will stay in Earth-bound orbits for 16 days, during which it will undergo 5 maneuvres to gain the necessary velocity for its journey.
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After that, Aditya-L1 will undergo a Trans-Lagrangian1 insertion maneuvre, marking the beginning of its 110-day trajectory to the destination around the L1 Lagrange point.
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After arrival at the L1 point, another maneuvre will bind Aditya-L1 to an orbit around L1, which is a balanced gravitational location between the Earth and the Sun.
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The Aditya-L1 satellite will spend its whole mission life orbiting around L1 in an irregularly shaped orbit in a plane roughly perpendicular to the line joining the Earth and the Sun.
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This strategic placement at the L1 Lagrange point will ensure that Aditya-L1 can maintain a constant, uninterrupted view of the Sun. This location will also allow the spacecraft to assess solar radiation and magnetic storms before they are influenced by Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere.
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The stability of the L1 point’s gravitational stability minimizes the need for frequent orbital maintenance efforts which in turn will optimize the spacecraft's operational efficiency.
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In this mission, Aditya-L1 will stay approximately 1.5 million km away from Earth, looking towards the Sun, which is about 1% of the Earth-Sun distance. From this distance, Aditya-L1 will study the outer surface of the Sun.