In A First, ISRO Captures Solar Flare 'Kernel' Through Aditya-L1 SUIT

Indian space agency ISRO has revealed that its amazing Aditya-L1 spacecraft, which is now fully operational, has snapped a solar flare 'kernel' and thereby scripted history for the country. Aditya-L1 mission is set to revolutionize humanity's understanding of the Sun and its influence on Earth, especially impact of space weather. The initial findings from Aditya-L1 instruments could well put India in a leading role to uncover the Sun’s deepest secrets. It may herald the beginning of what could be a new era in solar physics.

Aditya-L1 has made a ground-breaking observation by capturing the first-ever image of a solar flare ‘kernel’ in the lower solar atmosphere, namely the photosphere and the chromosphere. This latest solar flare findings will likely pave the way to understanding the Sun's massive impact on Earth. Space weather affects humanity and technology in various ways and without adequate protection can lead to harm.

What is a Solar flare?

This is an intense burst of energy from the Sun. The phenomena is caused by Sun’s magnetic field, which suddenly snaps and releases intense burst of energy – like a powerful, short flash. The energy is released in the form of harmful light/radiation.

Fortunately, for humanity, the Earth's atmosphere blocks the harmful radiation from the Sun and does not allow it to reach the ground.

What kind of Solar Flare did Aditya-L1 observe?

Aditya-L1's SUIT payload observed an X6.3-class solar flare, which is one of the strongest categories of solar eruptions. The unique feature of this observation was that SUIT detected brightening in NUV wavelength range (200-400 nm) —a wavelength range never observed before in such great detail. This observation was done on February 22, 2024, but ISRO has divulged the details now. It provides new insights into the complex physics responsible for these massive solar explosions and validates some theories while offering new data that will help to reshape our understanding of the physics of a solar flare.

How Does Aditya-L1 study the Solar flares?

The solar flare observations by Aditya-L1 start before the actual explosion of energy. And during the solar flare explosion that particular region of the Sun becomes brighter in UV and X-ray. Aditya-L1 instruments such as SUIT, SoLEXS and HEL1OS can study these brightening and associated flash of radiation in greater details.

Aditya-L1 spacecraft

ISRO has placed Aditya-L1 spacecraft in a large halo orbit around first Earth-Sun Lagrange Point known as Lagrange Point L1. The L1 point is 1.5 mn km away from Earth. The special vantage point allows the spacecraft to continuously observe the Sun.

Its advanced instruments, including Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT), Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS), and High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS), work together to detect and analyse solar flares from Near Ultra-violet (NUV) wavelength to soft and hard X-rays.

The spacecraft also has SoLEXS and HEL1OS payloads. SoLEXS and HEL1OS instruments monitor solar X-ray emissions, which help in detecting the solar flare activity.

Aditya-L1 SUIT can capture high-resolution images in 11 different waveband in NUV of the full solar disk or a specific region on the solar disk of scientific interest. The instrument allows scientists to study multiple layers of the Sun’s atmosphere.

However, it is only after joint data analysis from different instruments of Aditya-L1 is done by ISRO, that gives a complete picture of how solar energy moves through different layers of the Sun.