Indian satellite ‘Aditya’ being readied for 2012 launch, to study Sun’s corona
28 Feb 2008
New Delhi: Indian Space scientists will soon launch a satellite 'Aditya' under an ambitious project to observe and study the Sun's corona, its outermost region, the government informed the Parliament on Wednesday.
"Satellite 'Aditya' will study the corona, the outermost region of the Sun, and other parameters of Space weather," minister of state in the PMO, Prithviraj Chavan said.
According to the minister's statement, the mission was intended to enhance scientific knowledge of the Sun's radiation and also enable a continuous monitoring of its atmosphere.
'Aditya,' a 100 kg satellite, would likely be launched by 2012 into a near-earth orbit of 600 km.
The Sun's corona is highly active, releasing energy during solar flares in the form of bursts manifesting as geomagnetic storms on earth. These storms can distort the earth's magnetic field, and have a huge bearing on near-earth Space where satellites are located.